Back on a Mac

Well, I have come full circle.

The first computer I ever used was an old bulky (yet small!) Kaypro when I started working at Walk Thru the Bible in 1984. The old green characters on black screen with tons of code. I could pack that thing up and carry it home to work. But in a few years, we had investigated computers, knew we wanted to go desktop publishing, and checked out these funky Macintoshes, the tiny upright box with a tiny screen that was so cool because it was WYSIWYG. I was in love. I worked on those Macs for several years and then quit my job to save my sanity (and my soul) and started working at the ad agency in Atlanta. Macs have long been associated with the creative arts, and ad agencies by and large use them for their work (I assume that's still true). This agency had not been computerized yet, and one of the things I did when I started was to be the Mac expert as they bought computers and started using them for all the design and production of ads and brochures. I was there for 11 years, all Mac.

Meanwhile, my first home computer was an ancient Macintosh I bought refurbished. One of the original Mac XL (or Lisas) that had been upgraded to the current Mac system. It was much wider than the little Mac box and had no hard drive, just diskettes. I wrote three books on that thing. Next came a new Mac desktop (the first of those produced that had a separate monitor). That's the one I got started online with, eventually discovering all my internet buddies!

And then I changed jobs again to work at this small nonprofit that produced a radio program. Our audio engineer had long used a Mac to edit the audio programs. But everything else in the office was PC-based. Including the laptop I inherited. Since everything I was working on as the executive was on the PC, I ordered a Dell desktop for office use. And because I had to work back and forth (and at that time it wasn't as seamless a transition for files between a PC and a Mac) I replaced my home Mac with a Dell desktop. When that grew slow and aging, I replaced it was a spiffy Dell Inspiron laptop, which has been a great little machine.

But at work, our new tech division head (yes, we've grown as an organization!) is a Mac man to the max. So when my 5 year old Dell desktop was getting way too slow to keep up with things, I went Mac. I have a gorgeous iMac all in one (back to the original concept!) which a beautiful screen and incredible features. Since I had used a Mac, the operating system had been reinvented, and it took a while to get used to the changes--not only from the PC but from the old Mac system I had left nearly 6 years ago. I also bought my own iPod, an incredible 60gig video which I have thoroughly enjoyed.

I had the bug again bad. So, using some freelance money I recently made, I decided to switch my personal computer at home to a Mac as well. I ordered a 13" MacBook 2GH/512/60Gigs/White from MacMall and got a good price, a $100 rebate, a free laser printer, and other rebates totaling upwards of $150. It arrived yesterday and I spent last night putting it all together and loading my files, music, photos, software, etc. It's gorgeous. I'm happy. I'm home.