Apple Mac 40 years old this week. - UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum

electronicskip · 29th Jan 2024, 11:00 am

Saw this interesting article this morning about people who still use the original mac

It's one that got away from me but do others her have them and use them?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/future/article...ging-computers

Nickthedentist · 29th Jan 2024, 11:15 am

When I was at St John's in Oxford in 1992-3, the "computer room" had a few of these, in addition to clunky old IBM PCs. They were a pleasure to use and seemed like a real taste of things to come, which, indeed, they were. Not seen one "in the wild" since though.

Jeremy M0RVB · 29th Jan 2024, 11:19 am

I never had one of those, but I had to network one at work decades ago now. Its owner had made it play the Eastenders tune every time it shut down and I had no idea how to stop it which made the job a lot longer!

Station X · 29th Jan 2024, 11:47 am

I used one of these at work where I used Apple PC's until I retired in 1996.

ortek_service · 29th Jan 2024, 4:07 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nickthedentist

When I was at St John's in Oxford in 1992-3, the "computer room" had a few of these, in addition to clunky old IBM PCs. They were a pleasure to use and seemed like a real taste of things to come, which, indeed, they were. Not seen one "in the wild" since though.

Imperial College in London had a room of the Apple Mac Classics, when I was there back in 1989-92. But I only ever used one to write my final year project report on, as it seemed this was preferred in order to get a high-quality laser printout (IIRC you had to pay per sheet, unlike the free to use dot-matrix line-printer on the Unix terminals) for binding.
On my Beeb, I too only had a dot-matrix printer, as Inkjets hadn't quite replaced these (and there weren't any cheap Laser printers either) back then.

avocollector · 2nd Feb 2024, 4:31 pm

I have one of these still and years ago in a moment of inspired genius put the mouse in the trash bin which apparently wiped the operrating system from the 5 1/4 floppy disk. Anyone know of a way to recover from this

OldTechFan96 · 2nd Feb 2024, 6:55 pm

I remember unwittingly buying an original 1984 Macintosh in 2013 when I used to collect old Apple equipment. There was a period when I wanted one but they always cost more than I was willing to pay.

I won an eBay auction of what looked like a Macintosh SE for a modest sum. There was one poor and dark photo of the Mac; it definitely looked like an SE. The title and description of the auction was also poor.

When I picked up the package from the Post Office I noticed that it was lighter than I expected. I'll always remember the excitement that I felt when realised what was in front of me once the packing had been removed.

It was one of the earlier machines that was simply badged as a 'Macintosh' on its rear case.

At some point in its life it was upgraded with a 512K logic board.

I was only able to find one photo of it.

29th Jan 2024, 11:00 am	#1
electronicskip Nonode Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Gloucester, Glos. UK. Posts: 2,150	Apple Mac 40 years old this week. Saw this interesting article this morning about people who still use the original mac It's one that got away from me but do others her have them and use them? https://www.bbc.co.uk/future/article...ging-computers __________________ Oh I've had that for years dear!! Last edited by electronicskip; 29th Jan 2024 at 11:14 am.

29th Jan 2024, 11:15 am	#2
Nickthedentist Dekatron Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Oxford, UK. Posts: 17,871	Re: Apple Mac 40 yers old this week When I was at St John's in Oxford in 1992-3, the "computer room" had a few of these, in addition to clunky old IBM PCs. They were a pleasure to use and seemed like a real taste of things to come, which, indeed, they were. Not seen one "in the wild" since though.

29th Jan 2024, 11:19 am	#3
Jeremy M0RVB Hexode Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK. Posts: 458	Re: Apple Mac 40 yers old this week I never had one of those, but I had to network one at work decades ago now. Its owner had made it play the Eastenders tune every time it shut down and I had no idea how to stop it which made the job a lot longer!

29th Jan 2024, 11:47 am	#4
Station X Moderator Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Ipswich, Suffolk, IP4, UK. Posts: 21,289	Re: Apple Mac 40 years old this week. I used one of these at work where I used Apple PC's until I retired in 1996. __________________ Graham. Forum Moderator Reach for your meter before you reach for your soldering iron.

2nd Feb 2024, 4:31 pm	#6
avocollector Heptode Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Wellington, New Zealand. Posts: 653	Re: Apple Mac 40 years old this week. I have one of these still and years ago in a moment of inspired genius put the mouse in the trash bin which apparently wiped the operrating system from the 5 1/4 floppy disk. Anyone know of a way to recover from this

2nd Feb 2024, 6:55 pm	#7
OldTechFan96 Octode Join Date: Jul 2017 Location: Newcastle Upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear, UK. Posts: 1,187	Re: Apple Mac 40 years old this week. I remember unwittingly buying an original 1984 Macintosh in 2013 when I used to collect old Apple equipment. There was a period when I wanted one but they always cost more than I was willing to pay. I won an eBay auction of what looked like a Macintosh SE for a modest sum. There was one poor and dark photo of the Mac; it definitely looked like an SE. The title and description of the auction was also poor. When I picked up the package from the Post Office I noticed that it was lighter than I expected. I'll always remember the excitement that I felt when realised what was in front of me once the packing had been removed. It was one of the earlier machines that was simply badged as a 'Macintosh' on its rear case. At some point in its life it was upgraded with a 512K logic board. I was only able to find one photo of it. Attached Thumbnails