LETTER OF THE MONTH

In 1984 I got a loan to make it possible for me to buy an Apple computer. If memory serves, it was about $2,500. In 1984 money, that’s like $1 million today. (A slight exaggeration.) I had been smitten with the Apple II machines that I was using in the history department of Texas State University when I was a graduate assistant there. The Macintosh had just come out — it looked really cool! But there was also the Apple IIc, which was being marketed as a portable computer. There were lots of programs available for the Apple IIc, too, not so much for the Macintosh.

So I bought the Apple IIc. This wasn’t the last time I would not be on the cutting edge of the latest technological developments. Regardless, that Apple IIc is now sitting in my closet, and it still works! I lost the GreatWorks disk that I used on it, along with some other utility discs, and a fun little program I got for my son called Kids on Keys! He was only two years old, but he loved it.

Regardless, having that Apple computer made it possible for me to become a prolific writer. Being able to write something, and then go back and edit it, and to be able to type faster than I could ever possibly write by hand, helped me to succeed in college and later in life with things like program development, grant writing, newsletter productions, and more. STEWART DALE SPENCER, CANYON LAKE, TEXAS

Fantastic bit of history Stewart, and your case certainly highlights the “problem” with Apple’s never–ending pursuit of faster = better. You don’t necessarily need the latest and greatest to be able to do what you want with a Mac. Sure, many people — perhaps those doing more complex video editing, and the like — need the performance, but most people would probably be able to get by with much less power. (The editor works on an “old” Intel–based MacBook Pro 2019, and manages to make this very magazine with it.)