The Apple High

Apple today hit an all new intra-day high of $428 per share. Whether or not it will close at or above $428 remains to be seen. Seeing the news of the new high caused me to think about just how far my favorite company has come in the past 14 years.

Growing up as a kid my very first computer was a Commodore Vic-20. I distinctly remember asking for this computer (probably more like begging for it in that kid way) when I first laid eyes on it at Montgomery Ward in Tallahassee sometime in 1979 or 1980. I got that computer and it was a dream come true. I didn’t get my hands on an Apple computer until 1981 when my neighborhood friend and his brother’s got an Apple IIe.

Growing up I used the Apple IIe in school, at friends homes, and we eventually got one. But at that time any computer would do. Personal computers at that time for kids were like smart phones for kids today. I didn’t have any particular love or attachment to the platform. In my college years my work study boss had an Apple IIc. It was probably the best Apple computer besides the Macintosh that I’ve ever used.

During my lost years in the Army I had little contact with personal computers, and when I did I used PCs. Again I didn’t care any computer would do. It was not until I left the military and returned to college that my love affair with Apple and the Mac began.

In the 4 years since leaving Florida State (1989), the first time to enter the military, I returned (1994) not to the mainframes initially used for computer classes, but to SUN Systems based Unix computers and Windows PCs. We were encouraged to use the Unix workstations for assignments, but most people were drawn to the PCs and something called “Yahoo!”. I didn’t have time to play with “Yahoo!” I had work to do so I used the Unix workstations.

Anyone who went to school during that time knows that long days and nights in the computer rooms were the norm. I quickly tired of this and wanted to do my work in the comfort of my apartment. So I quickly made the decision to buy a new computer. I wasn’t particular about what computer to get. I just needed one and any computer would do. So one day between classes I headed to the campus store and bought what they had… a Macintosh PowerPC 7500. At the time I thought, a computer is a computer, and it doesn’t matter which one you get as long as you get one. Was I in for a surprise!

Well I had just dropped about $3k for a computer, and I needed to make it suit my needs. $3000 for a computer is a lot of money in any time period, but in the mid-nineties for a college student it was a tremendous amount of money.

I soon learned that using a Mac for school was going to be extremely difficult if not impossible. Everything about Mac OS System 7 was different from Unix and Windows 3.1. And so with my Mac and an internet connection I began to dig in. I began to learn how to circumvent the incompatibilities that existed between my Mac and the other platforms. Because I didn’t know any better, and I had no choice I learned to use and get the most out of my Mac. I also learned to appreciate the differences between MacOS and all the other OSes. And while MacOS did have limitations, some more serious than others, I still felt it was a much better OS for the ease of use it provided.

In 1995 I still remember the hype surrounding the launch of Windows 95. I can remember the reports of its revolutionary user interface and the ease of use that it would provide PC users. At the time I was thinking what the hell are they talking about? MacOS already had many of the “revolutionary” features that they were touting. Now I know that under the hood MacOS had serious problems, and the turmoil and lack of focus at Apple helped to allow Microsoft to catch up after almost 10 years. But as a devoted Mac user I still chaffed at all of the hype and constant comparison to MacOS. It seemed as if everyone forgot that Microsoft blatantly stole the MacOS. It’s uncannily similar to the way that Goole’s Android OS and Samsung’s hardware are attempting to ripoff the iOS and iPhone today. The difference is that today’s Apple is very capable of defending its intellectual property and patents.

If you grew up in the computer era of the mid-nineties then you probably remember reading the Computer Shopper magazine. A brick of a magazine that we would look at for hours dreaming of the hardware that we would buy. Even though I was a Mac user I was jealous and infatuated by the performance achievements of Intel’s Pentium PC chips. The PowerPC while fast just couldn’t keep up with Intel’s relentless release schedule.

With Intel’s hardware and Microsoft’s OS driving PCs with speed and ease of use the increasing commoditization of the PC drove prices down. Macs where considered an expensive dinosaur, and with good reason. Apple just couldn’t get its act together. The more PCs were hyped the more I learned about the history of Apple, and the more I learned about MacOS in general. The more I became apart of the “cult”. I felt it was my sworn duty to defend not only my choice of platform, but the “Cult of Macintosh”.

In 1997 I took a job in South Florida at a water management district. My first day on the job I was told that my mission as a Mac technician was to prepare the current Mac users to get rid of their Macs. I remember it like it happened yesterday. I also remember saying to myself that I would never comply. I would do everything that I could to keep Macs running at the district. And for the next 4 years as a Mac tech that’s what I did. The other thing that burned me was there was no Macintosh computer for me to use. My supervisor at the time told me that I’d have to build a Mac from any scraps that I could find, and that’s just what I did. I built a Mac from scraps of other Macs that I found in my cube and various parts stores.

The first thing that I did was update all the Macs to the latest OS (System 7.5), and updated all of the software. Next I set about letting the users know what this manager had told me. I essentially rallied the users who wanted to keep their Macs. Pressure was intense, and many Mac users gave up their Macs. Many were told that they would not receive a new computer unless they gave up their old Macs. In about two years all of the Macs were gone except the Macs in two areas. Those two areas remained strongholds because of the users and the managers who ran them. With their cooperation we were able to keep most of those Macs from being decommissioned.

I argued for and received a transfer to the graphics department to become their Mac technician and the Mac technician for the other department which was comprised of scientist. Some of these scientist had worked on Macs for more than a decade and didn’t want to give it up. I made sure that the Macs had the best hardware and always had the latest OS and software every year. To make sure they had the best I maxed out the hardware as much as possible each year.

Eventually I became a programmer at the district and was able to hang on to my Mac. I had a very smart and liberal manager who allowed me to continue using my Mac for development. Anyway when I left that job in 2004 the Macs were still there and the users were still fighting to keep them.

It’s funny 1998 – 2001 were very bad years for the Macintosh and Apple. As Mac users we were hanging on, and I can’t lie, but I did entertain the thought of switching.

But Steve Jobs, the iMac, Mac OS X, and the iPod changed all of that. It’s amazing, but over time I have watch friends who never gave any thought to owing a Mac over the course of the late nineties slowly become Mac fans during the period from 2002 – 2011. Apple slowly with the iPod, iMac, and Macbook Pro, and Mac OS X turned the tide. Today almost all of my friends have at least one Apple product. There are a few holdouts.

After a two years in the wilderness having to use PCs at work I’m back using a Mac at work and loving it. And with the number of Macs entering enterprise environments I’m encourage that I’ll be able to continue using Macs in the future.