Remembering

By now probably just about everyone has heard - Steve Jobs passed away. I've been going through the last few days kinda sad for the loss - the man was an incredible innovator and an incredible mind. I've been reading blog posts about him and see how the loss has affected some in profound ways. But I consider myself a recent convert to Apple (I've only had an iPhone for two years now) , so not so much of an impact on me.

Just now I realized that Apple has been in my life for a very, very long time. From the time I was eight years old we have owned Apple machines. The first computer that I ever worked on was an Apple III - a dinosaur, and insanely expensive at the time (I think it was the price of a small car back then - around $6,000 when we bought it), but I learned to program on it, found my way around DOS, and learned all about dot matrix printers and floppy discs. We had that dinosaur for a while, and I was able to make the screen dance (or at least the little snake on the screen). It sat impressively on my dad's desk, and unless I'm mistaken, it was our very first family computer.

We branched off after that into a Apple IIc, that I eventually dragged

with me to college (after it was discontinued even). But by the time we bought the IIc the Mac revolution had begun. However, I had my own portable computer to take with me to school, external floppy drive, little LCD screen, and all, and I thought that was the coolest thing ever. At college I walked away from Macs completely. The lure of the PC that did more, faster, easier, was too strong, and my IIc was too slow and old. And up until this last Spring I'd never even toughed a Mac. But now I'm back in the fold, happy as a clam with my Apple once again.

So, thanks Steve jobs for all the time you've shared with me over the years. It turns out that it was much more than I would have ever imagined.

*Apple III photo courtesy of Alexander Schaelss