Dan

[...] Flipping the power switch responds with a mechanical "clunk" - a sound people born in the 90s or later can hardly imagine. You can feel the power running through the Macintosh before its display comes to life flickering. Everything about the Macintosh feels clunky and loud. It is a dinosaur, a behemoth from "back then".

#Macintosh #RetroComputing

The Love Affair with Vintage Computers
https://www.danvanmoll.com/post/the-love-affair-with-vintage-computers

The Love Affair with Vintage Computers

I am writing this on a 33-years old Macintosh and I love it. But where are these deep feelings for yesterday's tech coming from?

danvanmoll.com
Jan 23, 2023 at 4:51amWeb
Show threadDerek 🌈Jan 23, 2023
@danvanmoll Aweee yes.. and then you would see the "Happy Mac", I would double click on "Macintosh HD", head to the games folder and start building my new city in #SimCity. #KidPix was also right up there as well.
Show threadOS MasterJan 23, 2023
@danvanmoll true. But the thing was still kind of silent compared to other machines from that time.
Show threadDanJan 23, 2023
@SorenApplicati1 Until you started typing on the keyboard :)
Show threadOS MasterJan 23, 2023
@danvanmoll o hell yes. And if you typed fast, the thing turned into a keyboard drumset.
Show threadDanJan 23, 2023
@SorenApplicati1 My son unfortunately broke the Escape key (I glued it back to the keyboard). Been looking for a pristine replacement ever since - not a chance.. most go for +$500 on eBay.
Show threadOS MasterJan 23, 2023
@danvanmoll you are pretty much out of luck there. Except if your sun should come to be ritch at some point.
Show threadDanJan 23, 2023
@SorenApplicati1 He's 4y.. so I'm truly SOL.
Show threadShawn KingJan 23, 2023
@danvanmoll @SorenApplicati1 OMG I loved that sound!
Show threadComputeforloot Jan 23, 2023
@danvanmoll got this guy running again!! #apple
Show threadDanJan 23, 2023
@Computeforloot Oh I've had one of these, too! Sweet memories..
Show threadjen.. ( she/her )Jan 23, 2023

@Computeforloot @danvanmoll

wow. it's a beauty 😊

Show threadComputeforloot Jan 23, 2023
@jenn6161 @danvanmoll yeah, thanks, it’s running great now- put in a new HD
Show threadShawn KingJan 23, 2023

@danvanmoll First computer I ever loved.

All my friends were CompSci geeks. I was a PoliSci major. I hated using computers.

One day, my manual typewriter (I couldn't afford a fancy electric one!) broke. It was during Exam Week in college. Typing Lab was full. Went to the Computer Lab to write my paper. All they had were SE/30s.

Sat down to write my paper and....

It was the first time I ever actually *enjoyed* using a computer.

I've used Macs ever since. I still enjoy using them.

Show threadDanJan 23, 2023
@KingShawn I will never forget the mesmerizing sound of dot matrix printers processing continuous feed paper :)
Show threadBill WestermanJan 24, 2023
@danvanmoll Reminds me of the habit of touching a computer or external hard drive to see if the HD is still spinning, feeling for the stepper motor to see if the app is still processing or if something has crashed. And then there's the oddly-silent emulation of an older Mac on a modern phone.
Show threadDanJan 24, 2023
@billwesterman wait - that’s not an iPhone! 😋
Show threadBill WestermanJan 24, 2023

@danvanmoll Galaxy Z Fold 4 the win (see what I did there?)

Forgot to link to this bit I wrote about the Apple PowerBook 12", thought you might enjoy: https://utilware.com/pb12.html

útilware.com - PowerBook 12” 867

Show threadDanJan 24, 2023
@billwesterman “A Laptop That Batman Could Love” - great read! Thanks for sharing.
Show threadJosh JusticeJan 24, 2023
@danvanmoll I just booted up the SE with SuperDrive I have on my shelf. Just got it last year! I agree about the clunk. Also I grew up with Macs with an "aaah" sound, so hearing the "beep" on startup hearkens back to even older tech!
Show threadDanJan 24, 2023
@CodingItWrong which OS are you running?
Show threadJosh JusticeJan 24, 2023
@danvanmoll System 6.0.7, Finder 6.1.7
Show threadDanJan 24, 2023
@CodingItWrong I’d really like to change mine to 7.5.5 next. But I’m kinda afraid to not be able to setup my SCSI2SD card again.. #neverchangearunningsystem
Show threadJosh JusticeJan 24, 2023
@danvanmoll I have a Twentieth Anniversary Mac running Mac OS 9.x so I don't feel too big a need to get System 7 running. Plus in my mind System 7 = color
Show threadDanJan 24, 2023
@CodingItWrong agree about the color thing. Just would like to see this on my SE as it’s the highest supported.
Show threadJosh JusticeJan 24, 2023
@danvanmoll i have had enough bad experiences running the "highest supported" on my iOS devices that that'd make me nervous 😄 - but of course this was another age
Show threadDanJan 24, 2023
@CodingItWrong interesting thread on this topic: https://retrocomputing.stackexchange.com/questions/8185/what-is-the-highest-version-of-system-7-that-can-be-run-on-a-mac-se-30/8186#8186
What is the highest version of System 7 that can be run on a Mac SE/30?

My recently restored Mac SE/30 has System 7.0 running on it at present, booting from an original SCSI HDD. I’m missing a few key features, like disk image mounting, which I understand were added in...

Retrocomputing Stack Exchange
Show threadjgeorgeJan 25, 2023
@danvanmoll @Seg You KNEW what your computer was doing: what you told it to do. You also knew exactly what it WASN’T doing: pretty much anything else. I look at the console log of the Mac I use today and there are hundreds of messages per second from hundreds of processes, 90% of which I don’t know what they’re doing and some not-insignificant percentage of them are probably working to my detriment - web page analytics, whatever sketchy stuff any of my social media apps are doing, and so on. And I wonder sometimes what percentage of my overall machine’s capabilities are spent on doing all these tasks that I never asked of it, or don’t even want it to do. My old machines, I have none of those concerns.
Show threadDanJan 25, 2023
@jgeorge @Seg I could not agree more. Computers back then were tools. Today they are companions.
Show threadResunaJan 25, 2023
@jgeorge @danvanmoll @Seg Exactly when was "back then"? I was never comfortable saying I knew everything any version of Windows was doing, but I'm pretty sure there's no bloatware shipped in any version of BSD. Ububtu and Red Hat have never made me entirely comfortable, particularly not since systemd. On the Mac, I certainly never had any worries about Jaguar...
Show threadDanJan 25, 2023
@resuna @jgeorge @Seg We’re talking about Macs back in the 80s (see my original post).
Show threadResunaJan 25, 2023

@danvanmoll @jgeorge @Seg Oh.

That was hardly to the Mac's credit. They didn't even have a credible attempt at an OS until 1991 with 7.1. And even 9.2 never had a proper scheduler by the time it finally died in the early 2000s.

And yet people managed to hide all kinds of shenanigans in DAs.

Show threadResunaJan 25, 2023
@danvanmoll @jgeorge @Seg Oddly, my SE/30 was an exception. It ran A/UX.
Show threadJosh JusticeJan 27, 2023
@danvanmoll i just remembered the other part of this. when i got the SE some coworkers were like "don't open the case unless you know what you're doing, the capacitor will kill you." classic computers are HARDCORE
Show threadDanJan 27, 2023
@CodingItWrong I once opened it (had to buy a special screwdriver on eBay first) to replace the lithium battery. I couldn’t find it so I closed the case again.. 😂