Five on the Fifth of 05--#5; The Dozer
To show that I'm not entirely an elitist snob and exclusively Mac oriented, I have owned a Windows machine in my past. But I never gave it a name. I just never felt inspired to do it. It's kind of like people name boats and planes and cars---things they have a romance with. People don't name lawn mowers or vacuum cleaners --No matter how much the like the way they get the work done.
I recently read a comment that I think applies here: "Jason Snell, the editor of Macworld magazine, says is the essential difference between Windows people and Mac people: Mac people love their computers on a personal, emotional level. Windows people, on the other hand, prefer to think of their machines as office tools, gadgets no more special than the stapler." And for me it wasn't just the way I loved my computers--I had that kind of experience with Macs. I just didn't ever feel the connection to this laptop no matter how much we went through.
I've christened it Dozer as of this posting (which a nickname off of the term "Windoze" that Mac users in the Mac forums are so fond of using in reference to the Microsoft product).
I originally got it because Gateway (it's a Gateway) had a real good reputation at that point and were much more customizable than they are now. I was able to pick a DVD drive (for watching movies at work) when that was far from a standard feature, and a disk drive that took regular floppies as well as "Superdisks" that held 120 MB. I still use this one as a scanning station (because it has Visioneer Paperport software on it which I love) and when I need to do a Windows program or something (which is almost never).
When I use it for scanning, I put the images on a superdisk and move it over to the Mac and it works seamlessly. This is because, besides being fabulous machines, Macs also play well with others.
And yes, that's my sweet little girl on the wallpaper there. I made that a few years ago with a picture of her in a Halloween costume---she was a beautiful butterfly.
posted by Will at 4:46 PM
3 Comments:
Are you sure your not related to my husband? We have a closet full of old Mac computers that I've been trying to get Marc to get rid of. CanI ask, why keep them?
Karoni
Oh, Karoni, haven't I taught you anything? I thought you had it with your post yesterday.
Darling, you don't have to ask "why keep them?"
You keep them because:
1) They're works of art; and
2) Because of an emotional attachment. Would you just unleash your dog and let it run away just because it was old and couldn't chase a Frisbee anymore? Of course not.
CJD, that's a really nice collection of Macs.
My old 520c laptop and SE are still stored downstairs as is my //c. All, to Karoni's chagrin, of course.
Marc
Marc is right, and puts it quite well. I have actually tried to find some of these other computers new homes with the schools in town, the trouble is that they don't want them without monitors. And buying monitors on eBay, you can get a good deal at the bid price, but it costs an arm and a leg to ship the things because are so heavy.
As far as the "works of Art" thing, I know some people will regard that as being an exaggeration by Mac fans---but the truth of the matter is this: These computers may have not been designed with a museum display in mind, but there are Apple products that have actually ended up in National Art Museums like the Museum of Modern Art!
So Karoni, don't think of those things in your basement as junk taking up space as much as . . .a Monet that you still need to buy a frame for!
Marc, a IIc ---very cool. That takes me back. That was my first real life contact with a personal computer ever. My Junior High math department got one and I had to use my connections with my Advanced Math friends to get in to see and play one it (and Advanced Math student I was not--although my daughter currently is. Oh the mysteries of genetics). Since I couldn't get much time on that one, my friend and I would sneak into the computer lab at a local college during the slow times and summer break to play on one.
I seem to have done a lot of sneaking in my past to get a Tech fix.
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