How Scary Nerdy I Am (aka How Jobs and Woz Changed My Life)

I've been an avid Mac user and self diagnosed Mac Addict since my first Apple purchase in 1998. It was mine, my very own computer, my Bondi Blue iMac. While in elementary school I used Mac computers, which is where I used my first Macintosh Plus and my first Apple II. I was never fully aware of the difference between the Mac and the PC back in the day except that there was one that had a rainbow apple and there were others that had various names such as IBM, Commodore and Acer (of course there are so many others but who can remember them all). I remember using the Apple II most in the classroom and the awesome dot matrix printers that I could use to print up reports, graphics and most of all banners.

When I first got to college at ASU I didn't own my own computer so I often went to the Computer Commons on campus to do reports and of course email. There were two sides to the Commons, the Mac side and the Microsoft side. I chose the Mac side. I'm not sure why I was drawn to the Mac because I had nothing against the Windows PC (and still really don't). I also took several computer classes while at ASU and always used the Macs. One class in particular that I took really sold me on being an avid Mac user; Dance, Computers and Multimedia. The teacher of the class was so enthusiastic and showed me so many things that I could do on that computer that my world was forever changed. As soon as I had the money to do so I bought my first iMac from CompUSA. It was a refurbished model, which meant it was less expensive, but it was no less than brand new.

 I loved that computer and in fact I had it until just last year when I sold it to a retired teacher just so she could send emails to her kids. I sort of regret getting rid of it but it was sitting around being unused and I felt, unloved and I didn't want it to feel unloved, it deserved to be used frequently. I took that Bondi Blue with me to school when we had newer Macs at home and I was always the teacher on campus that was called when another teacher was having issues with their Mac.

Computers have come a long way since then. I (We) have since then owned, an iMac (15 inch early 2003) which is now Ammon's computer, a MacBook (13 inch early 2006), an iPod Mini (pink), an iPod Nano (black), an iMac (27 inch late 2009), 2 iPhone 3Gs, an iPhone 3GS, an iPhone 4, an iPad 2 and Apple TV2. Our iPhones and our iPad are far more powerful than that first Bondi Blue but no more impressive and innovative in my opinion. If I had more money I would have also owned a Strawberry iMac, a tangerine iBook clamshell, a MacBook (13 inch black), and a Cube.

I have been an influence in turning others to the Mac Side (Dark Side?). I'm no better than anyone else but I am nerdier than you are. ;)

This poster still hangs in my room.

For Steve.

My sad iPad.