- . Digg It
- . Sphere It
- . E-mail This
- . Save to del.icio.us
- . Permanent Link
Apple World
Macs are where it's at
I first used a computer many years ago. It had a unique graphical interface and didn't run the popular software of its day.
No, it wasn't a Mac, but an Epson QX-10, owned by a friend. And the software was called ValDocs. I almost bought one because I was so jazzed by how easy it was to use. But the model crashed and burned and was discontinued.
Still I saw that computers could be easy. This was a revelation, because I knew I wanted one, though my head began to swim when I started reading up and saw how complicated they could be. Having used the Epson, I was intrigued when I started hearing about Macs from friends. This went against the prevailing wisdom of the reigning computer guru of that time, a character named Peter McWilliams, who had nothing — I mean NOTHING — good to say about Apple.
I bought one anyway. People I knew who had IBM or "IBM-compatible" (which meant they ran Microsoft's MS-DOS operating system) machines made fun of Macs and ridiculed a computer that required the use of something called a "mouse" as just a toy.
But a few years later, I'm sure that some of these same bozos were lining up at midnight, when the latest version of Windows went on sale. Using a mouse was no big deal. Now, the graphical user interface made popular by Apple (but developed by Xerox) is essentially the same on every computer. In fact, Microsoft's exploitation of this icon-and-menu-driven interface made them the dominant force they became, though those days are over.
No, it wasn't a Mac, but an Epson QX-10, owned by a friend. And the software was called ValDocs. I almost bought one because I was so jazzed by how easy it was to use. But the model crashed and burned and was discontinued.
Still I saw that computers could be easy. This was a revelation, because I knew I wanted one, though my head began to swim when I started reading up and saw how complicated they could be. Having used the Epson, I was intrigued when I started hearing about Macs from friends. This went against the prevailing wisdom of the reigning computer guru of that time, a character named Peter McWilliams, who had nothing — I mean NOTHING — good to say about Apple.
I bought one anyway. People I knew who had IBM or "IBM-compatible" (which meant they ran Microsoft's MS-DOS operating system) machines made fun of Macs and ridiculed a computer that required the use of something called a "mouse" as just a toy.
But a few years later, I'm sure that some of these same bozos were lining up at midnight, when the latest version of Windows went on sale. Using a mouse was no big deal. Now, the graphical user interface made popular by Apple (but developed by Xerox) is essentially the same on every computer. In fact, Microsoft's exploitation of this icon-and-menu-driven interface made them the dominant force they became, though those days are over.
What People Are Saying…
Leave a Comment