Ed. note: I was only trying to write a quick answer to the “Who are you and where are you from?” question on the Welcome to Macintosh Network. Little did I know that I was going to write a short story. It was a good exercise to write something that just flowed out of my head, but then also have a little bit of sense to edit some of it. This certainly knocked some of the rust off. This really doesn’t have anything to do with the interview with the film makers… if everything works out, you’ll see that soon. What you see below is a reprint, warts and all, of what I posted on the WtM Network forum.
Who are you and where are you from?
I’m new to this game but not really. I’ve used Apple products since the IIe in 4th grade. Our computer lab had 30 Apple IIe models and a few color Imagewriters. In 5th grade, we were lucky enough to be part of an experiment in the state of Indiana where they put 10 Apple IIc computers in our classroom. I have vivid memories of Lemonade Stand, Oregon Trail, and Number Munchers. I was one of the few students allowed to use a real robotic “turtle” that would plot out lines on a large sheet of paper with various colored pens which would mimic my Logo commands on the screen. Jr. High and High School gave me limited access to Mac labs mainly for word processing. That stuff was boring. The cool stuff was the mini recording studio at Harrison Jr. High School tucked away in a repurposed storage closet. I had exposure to MIDI sequencing on an Atari 1040ST my dad bought for us at home, but it was never this elegant. Merrillville High School had a Mac lab dedicated to music theory, sequencing, and production where I had exposure to early versions of Pro Tools and MOTU software… and who could forget Band in a Box!
After high school, I didn’t have any direct exposure with Apple products unless I saw a Mac pressed into service as a sequencer for a band or at the heart of a Vari*lite lighting rig.
I bought a refurbished 3rd generation 30Gb iPod that I still use every day. I used to carry large folders of CDs (about 300 CDs total) but now I could fit them all into my pocket. This was an amazing product! I wish I could say this was my gateway drug because that would sound cool, but it was a turning point. From that time, I followed Apple, waiting for the next product announcement. My dad liked my iPod, so I convinced my mom to buy him one a few years ago for his birthday… another refurb 3G 30Gb model. Christmas that year, I bought yet another refurb 3G 30Gb for my girlfriend, Geri. That led to my mom conspiring with me to upgrade my dad’s iPod to a 5G 60Gb model. His old 3G 30Gb went to my sister with my help. Then dad bought mom a 1st gen 2Gb Nano that she loves for her workouts. Geri’s 30Gb iPod started showing signs of wear after many drops and a few car accidents, so for Valentine’s day, I upgraded her to a refurbished 5G 30Gb model. Fortunately I was able to save Geri’s old iPod, and my aunt is enjoying it today. It would be an understatement to say that the iPod had the halo effect on me.
On the third day of Geri and my honeymoon, I used the work laptop to connect through the Disney World guest network and ordered my new computer, the 24″ Aluminum 2.8Ghz iMac. I convinced Geri that just the iLife suite alone would make our wedding photos and video easier to manage. (Rob and Josh heard the real story.) I’ll be honest, it wasn’t an easy transition. I had to unlearn old habits in order to learn a new way of seeing things, but I’ll never look back.
I convinced my father to switch to Mac as well. He was true to form… he had to one-up me. As soon as he ordered the same iMac that I had, he put in his order for 4Gb of RAM. Now his transition was no where near as smooth as mine. I must say the Leopard’s screen sharing features just work. That feature alone has saved me hours of troubleshooting and training over the phone.
I have recently joined the ranks of the iPhone owners and I am eagerly waiting the next batch of announcements about the product in June.
Sorry for the short book. I started writing and kept on going…
Thanks Rob and Josh for bringing the film to Madison and not only allowing me to interview both of you, but for also entertaining Geri and I for over two hours with your stories.
