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My Favourite Computer, An Old Mac
08-OCT-2022
A picture of a Mac Classic II
This Macintosh Classic II wasn't the best computer of its day, it
wasn't even the best Mac available at the time, but 30 years on and as
its second owner it has unexpectedly become one of my favourite
computers.
The Classic II sits on a desk in the corner of my living room, just
beside my main front window. It takes up a small amount of space, is
unassuming, and always looks happy, ready to serve me whenever I call
on it.
With a heavy clunk of the Mac's power switch it turns on and as soon as
the screen comes to life I am greeted with a smiling Mac, an icon
bearing a strong resemblance to the computer itself. The Mac proceeds
to quickly boot into Mac OS 7.1 in almost total silence thanks to a
modern replacement fan and a ZuluSCSI hard disk.
I have no nostalgia for this machine, I don't remember these from
childhood and didn't get to experience the classic Mac OS until 2015
for the first time. I can look at this computer from a modern
perspective without nostalgia and appreciate it for what it is.
This Mac was designed to be a useful machine, a companion when you
needed it, but to leave you alone when you didn't. When the power is
switched off the machine is truly off, no background updates, noises,
or other nonsense occurs.
This Mac has no form of notification system built in, it never begs for
your attention and its applications never try to distract you from what
you are doing, begging you to look at them instead. If I get distracted
while using this Mac the fault lies squarely on me, not the computer
and not the programs running on it.
This Mac is uncharging in a world where things change by the minute. It
will never receive another software update and is thoroughly obsolete,
but it's comforting to have something that you know will stay the same
forever, remaining in a known state every time you return to it.
When using this Mac I don't have to worry about my data being stolen or
being spied on. What happens between the Mac and myself stays between
us. I can tell it my thoughts and my secrets without wondering if it's
going to share them with others, or with corporations.
I have total control over this computer, no one else can tell it what
to do and the computer makes no real attempt to stop me from
misbehaving. It is thoroughly documented with complete schematics
available and every single system call documented in great detail.
An image of browsing Gopherpedia on the Mac
Surprisingly this Mac can still play with the modern world, at least a
little bit. I can load Wikipedia via gopher, I can read Hackernews, I
can edit my website and manage my servers from it, I can even chat with
friends on it via IRC. It's not much, but it's something and it allows
me to be productive whether I be typing a document, or writing a
program in Think Pascal.
Above all this computer allows me to step back, take a break, and relax
from the stresses of my life and the modern world. I appreciate this
computer for what it is and what it provides me, not what it was or
could have provided me in the past.
For now I will finish writing this post, upload it, turn off the Mac,
and when I need it again it'll still be sitting in the corner waiting
for me.
References
1.
http://muezza.ca/
