Happy 20th

Twenty years ago, on January 24, 1984, Apple Computer launched the Macintosh. It contained virtually unknown features, including simple icons, and an odd little attachment called a mouse.

Many newspaper stories at the time had to include a definition. Silicon Valley's newspaper The San Jose (California) Mercury News, for example, described the mouse as "a handheld device that, when slid across a table top, moves the cursor on the Mac's screen."

More here.

I suppose I should be grateful that Macintoshes have always occupied a niche market--Windows is guaranteed job security for an IT worker. Still, I have an old Quadra 605 that I power up about once a year, just to see if it still works (it does, although the monitor is starting to show its age).

Then again, I know that Windows Networking has a MUCH more detailed means of establishing security across a domain (speaking in Windowsese, not quite in the internet sense of the term). Still, a G4 or G5 would be my dream computer. Given the cost, that's exactly where it will remain--in the realm of dreams.

When describing Macs versus Wintel, I use a car analogy (in spite of a certain antipathy towards private fossil burners): Macs are akin to a vehicle like an Infinity or Lexus--smooth, powerful, responsive, and easy to drive. Wintel machines, in contrast, are more like a 1958 Edsel--they feature a push-button transmission, and a BIG steering wheel--but you'll either have to learn how to work on em or they'll spend a lot of time in the shop.

I'll end continuing the theme of the previous post: Macintosh "came to life," as it were, in the year of the Rat. Fitting. BTW--in Spanish, a mouse of the computer variety is called 'el raton.' The rat.