The Mac is now officially middle aged! My first Mac was a Performa 475 with
4Mb RAM and (if remember correctly) a 80Mb hard drive.

--
Cheers, Alan

On 22 Jan 2024 at 9:26:40 am GMT, "Alan B"
<alanrichardbarker@gmail.com.invalid> wrote:

> The Mac is now officially middle aged! My first Mac was a Performa 475 with
> 4Mb RAM and (if remember correctly) a 80Mb hard drive.

Mine was an LC II, and I too - extravagantly - splashed out on an 80MB HD.
--
TimH
pull tooth to reply by email

On 2024-01-22 09:41:59 +0000, TimH said:

> On 22 Jan 2024 at 9:26:40 am GMT, "Alan B"
> <alanrichardbarker@gmail.com.invalid> wrote:
>
>> The Mac is now officially middle aged! My first Mac was a Performa 475 with
>> 4Mb RAM and (if remember correctly) a 80Mb hard drive.
>
> Mine was an LC II, and I too - extravagantly - splashed out on an 80MB HD.

Mine was a Powerbook 145b. Don't remember the HD size (Mactracker tells
me 40 or 80 MB).

When the trackball started playing up I took it out and tried to remove
the built-up 'crud' on the rollers. Of course, this was the rubber that
was SUPPOSED to be there (to provide friction). Idiot.
--
Cheers ... Mark

On 22/01/2024 11:35, Mark wrote:
> On 2024-01-22 09:41:59 +0000, TimH said:
>
>> On 22 Jan 2024 at 9:26:40 am GMT, "Alan B"
>> <alanrichardbarker@gmail.com.invalid> wrote:
>>
>>> The Mac is now officially middle aged! My first Mac was a Performa 475 with
>>> 4Mb RAM and (if remember correctly) a 80Mb hard drive.
>>
>> Mine was an LC II, and I too - extravagantly - splashed out on an 80MB HD.
>
> Mine was a Powerbook 145b. Don't remember the HD size (Mactracker tells me 40
> or 80 MB).
>
> When the trackball started playing up I took it out and tried to remove the
> built-up 'crud' on the rollers. Of course, this was the rubber that was
> SUPPOSED to be there (to provide friction). Idiot.

Mac Plus with a 20Mb Rodime...

:-(

I still have an LC and a Mac Portable stashed away somewhere, both working
when stored.

On 22 Jan 2024 at 13:45:58 GMT, "David Kennedy"
<davidkennedygm@gmail.com> wrote:

> I still have an LC and a Mac Portable stashed away somewhere, both working
> when stored.

If they're near the surface it might be worth checking their batteries.
I looked at my Mac Plus (external battery, leaked) and LC-III (internal
battery, surprisingly ok) recently.

Leaky batteries kill machines.

Cheers - Jaimie
--
Sent from my Amiga 1000

On 22/01/2024 09:26, Alan B wrote:
> The Mac is now officially middle aged! My first Mac was a Performa 475 with
> 4Mb RAM and (if remember correctly) a 80Mb hard drive.

Wow, I guess it is.

I actually started 30 years ago this year with a Mac.

My first was a Performa 5200, 8MB RAM and a 500MB HDD. I nearly bought
the 6200, as I preferred the separate screen, but the model in the store
only had 250MB storage, so I went for the 5200 instead (I did regret the
choice later I must admit).

--
Andy H

On 22/01/2024 14:48, Jaimie Vandenbergh wrote:
> On 22 Jan 2024 at 13:45:58 GMT, "David Kennedy"
> <davidkennedygm@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I still have an LC and a Mac Portable stashed away somewhere, both working
>> when stored.
>
> If they're near the surface it might be worth checking their batteries.
> I looked at my Mac Plus (external battery, leaked) and LC-III (internal
> battery, surprisingly ok) recently.
>
> Leaky batteries kill machines.
>
> Cheers - Jaimie
>
That thought occurs to me periodically but they are not within easy reach and,
every time I'm in the vicinity, other things take priority.

:-(

On 22 Jan 2024 at 09:26:40 GMT, "Alan B"
<alanrichardbarker@gmail.com.invalid> wrote:

> The Mac is now officially middle aged! My first Mac was a Performa 475 with
> 4Mb RAM and (if remember correctly) a 80Mb hard drive.

My first Mac was an LCIII. Before that I had an Apple II Europlus with
twin floppy drives.

--
mhphillips at gmail dot com

Alan B <alanrichardbarker@gmail.com.invalid> wrote:
> The Mac is now officially middle aged! My first Mac was a Performa 475 with
> 4Mb RAM and (if remember correctly) a 80Mb hard drive.

What constitutes middle aged these days? Asking for a friend...

Chris <ithinkiam@gmail.com> wrote:
> Alan B <alanrichardbarker@gmail.com.invalid> wrote:
>> The Mac is now officially middle aged! My first Mac was a Performa 475 with
>> 4Mb RAM and (if remember correctly) a 80Mb hard drive.
>
> What constitutes middle aged these days? Asking for a friend...

When I was a lad, it was thought it began on turning 40. Anyone over 60 was
considered old. Not sure I agree with the 60 limit though - for obvious
reasons!!!

<https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_age>

--
Cheers, Alan

On 22 Jan 2024, Alan B wrote
(in article<uoma02$r5nl$1@alanrichardbarker.eternal-september.org>):

> > What constitutes middle aged these days? Asking for a friend...
>
> When I was a lad, it was thought it began on turning 40. Anyone over 60 was
> considered old. Not sure I agree with the 60 limit though - for obvious
> reasons!!!

middle-age (noun)
Between youth and old age, variously reckoned to suit the reckoner

The Chambers Dictionary

On 22 Jan 2024, Michael Phillips wrote
(in article<SlXQzDTAIgsqWzFEzMvKRhofKJIaHrsk@news.usenet.farm>):

> On 22 Jan 2024 at 09:26:40 GMT, "Alan B"
> <alanrichardbarker@gmail.com.invalid> wrote:
>
> > The Mac is now officially middle aged! My first Mac was a Performa 475 with
> > 4Mb RAM and (if remember correctly) a 80Mb hard drive.
>
> My first Mac was an LCIII. Before that I had an Apple II Europlus with
> twin floppy drives.

One of my happiest Christmases was one I spent with a new girlfriend who
suggested we spend it away from our families, together in her flat in London.
I picked her up from work on Christmas Eve, and she had borrowed from her
company a Mac 512k together with *all the Mac software that existed at that
time*. Including, if I remember correctly, John Raymonds's "Dungeon of Doom".
No hard drive, of course - it was all on floppies.

MST

On 22/01/2024 13:45, David Kennedy wrote:
> On 22/01/2024 11:35, Mark wrote:
>> On 2024-01-22 09:41:59 +0000, TimH said:
>>
>>> On 22 Jan 2024 at 9:26:40 am GMT, "Alan B"
>>> <alanrichardbarker@gmail.com.invalid> wrote:
>>>
>>>> The Mac is now officially middle aged! My first Mac was a Performa
>>>> 475 with
>>>> 4Mb RAM and (if remember correctly) a 80Mb hard drive.
>>>
>>> Mine was an LC II, and I too - extravagantly - splashed out on an
>>> 80MB HD.
>>
>> Mine was a Powerbook 145b. Don't remember the HD size (Mactracker
>> tells me 40 or 80 MB).
>>
>> When the trackball started playing up I took it out and tried to
>> remove the built-up 'crud' on the rollers. Of course, this was the
>> rubber that was SUPPOSED to be there (to provide friction). Idiot.
>
> Mac Plus with a 20Mb Rodime...
>
> :-(
>
> I still have an LC and a Mac Portable stashed away somewhere, both
> working when stored.

My first Mac was a Color Classic II.

It was sold at some point to fund something that I forget now. It was
seriously dinky which helped a lot when house sharing.

I still have the DeskWriter 310 that went with it. :-)

--
Bruce Horrocks
Surrey, England

On 22 Jan 2024 at 09:26:40 GMT, "Alan B" <alanrichardbarker@gmail.com.invalid>
wrote:

> The Mac is now officially middle aged! My first Mac was a Performa 475 with
> 4Mb RAM and (if remember correctly) a 80Mb hard drive.

My first was a Mac 512K. It arrived on my desk in February or March 1985 - it
couldn't have been later because it was bought with "come in handy" funds that
would have vanished on 5 April.

Like Martin, it came with pretty much all the Mac software there was -
MacWrite, MacDraw and MacPaint. Each was on its own single-sided floppy disk
complete with the system, so if I wanted to include a diagram in a report
there was a good deal of ejecting and inserting of floppies.

I also had an ImageWriter. So for the first time in my career I was
independent of the typing pool and the drawing office. Bliss!

I too had Dungeon of Doom. There was a rumour that if you played on Christmas
Day the entrance hall was decorated with Christmas trees, but I never got a
chance to try that.

Before long I acquired Red Ryder and joined MacTel. Whoosh!

Old John.

--
You're not an old dog until you can't learn new tricks.

John Hill <watcombeman@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
> On 22 Jan 2024 at 09:26:40 GMT, "Alan B" <alanrichardbarker@gmail.com.invalid>
> wrote:
>
>> The Mac is now officially middle aged! My first Mac was a Performa 475 with
>> 4Mb RAM and (if remember correctly) a 80Mb hard drive.
>
> My first was a Mac 512K. It arrived on my desk in February or March 1985 - it
> couldn't have been later because it was bought with "come in handy" funds that
> would have vanished on 5 April.
>
> Like Martin, it came with pretty much all the Mac software there was -
> MacWrite, MacDraw and MacPaint. Each was on its own single-sided floppy disk
> complete with the system, so if I wanted to include a diagram in a report
> there was a good deal of ejecting and inserting of floppies.
>
> I also had an ImageWriter. So for the first time in my career I was
> independent of the typing pool and the drawing office. Bliss!
>
> I too had Dungeon of Doom. There was a rumour that if you played on Christmas
> Day the entrance hall was decorated with Christmas trees, but I never got a
> chance to try that.
>
> Before long I acquired Red Ryder and joined MacTel. Whoosh!

I spent many wasted hours playing with HyperCard trying to produce whacky
presentations.

<https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/HyperCard>

--
Cheers, Alan

Alan B <alanrichardbarker@gmail.com.invalid> wrote:

> John Hill <watcombeman@yahoo.co.uk> wrote: > On 22 Jan 2024 at 09:26:40
> GMT, "Alan B" <alanrichardbarker@gmail.com.invalid> > wrote: >
> >> The Mac is now officially middle aged! My first Mac was a Performa 475 with
> >> 4Mb RAM and (if remember correctly) a 80Mb hard drive.
> >
> > My first was a Mac 512K. It arrived on my desk in February or March 1985
> > - it couldn't have been later because it was bought with "come in handy"
> > funds that would have vanished on 5 April.
> >
> > Like Martin, it came with pretty much all the Mac software there was -
> > MacWrite, MacDraw and MacPaint. Each was on its own single-sided floppy disk
> > complete with the system, so if I wanted to include a diagram in a report
> > there was a good deal of ejecting and inserting of floppies.
> >
> > I also had an ImageWriter. So for the first time in my career I was
> > independent of the typing pool and the drawing office. Bliss!
> >
> > I too had Dungeon of Doom. There was a rumour that if you played on
> > Christmas Day the entrance hall was decorated with Christmas trees, but
> > I never got a chance to try that.
> >
> > Before long I acquired Red Ryder and joined MacTel. Whoosh!
>
> I spent many wasted hours playing with HyperCard trying to produce whacky
> presentations.

I've still got that on my current G3* but I've never put in the effort
of learning how to use it. Perhaps I would find it useful.

Claris Works 4 is my 'go-to' application, it does everything from word
processing to customer databases, accounts, addressing envelopes,
slideshow presentations and quite complex technical and artistic
drawings. Most of the websites and slideshows I have written use Claris
Works for the graphics -- and nearly every article I have written for
over 20 years has been edited and illustrated by Claris Works.

*The machine I am typing this on.

--
~ Liz Tuddenham ~
(Remove the ".invalid"s and add ".co.uk" to reply)
www.poppyrecords.co.uk

On 23 Jan 2024, John Hill wrote
(in article <uonth9$16ud9$1@dont-email.me>):

> I too had Dungeon of Doom. There was a rumour that if you played on Christmas
> Day the entrance hall was decorated with Christmas trees, but I never got a
> chance to try that.

Entrance hall? This doesn't sound like Dungeon of Doom, but there was a game
(I forget the name) from that era where you entered a castle through a huge
entrance hall where there was a suit of armour at the foot of the main
staircase. On Christmas Day the armour was replaced with a Christmas tree.

MST

On 23 Jan 2024 at 11:15:06 GMT, "Martin S Taylor"
<correspondence@mRaErMtOiVnEsTtHaIySlor.com> wrote:

> On 23 Jan 2024, John Hill wrote
> (in article <uonth9$16ud9$1@dont-email.me>):
>
>> I too had Dungeon of Doom. There was a rumour that if you played on Christmas
>> Day the entrance hall was decorated with Christmas trees, but I never got a
>> chance to try that.
>
> Entrance hall? This doesn't sound like Dungeon of Doom, but there was a game
> (I forget the name) from that era where you entered a castle through a huge
> entrance hall where there was a suit of armour at the foot of the main
> staircase. On Christmas Day the armour was replaced with a Christmas tree.
>
> MST

That was the one, I remember. It's about all I remember about it!

I was never much into games; then, because I was pretty busy in those days and
nowadays I've got more interesting things to do.

Old John.
--
Mony a mickle maks a muckle.

On 23 Jan 2024 at 08:50:00 GMT, "Alan B" <alanrichardbarker@gmail.com.invalid>
wrote:

> John Hill <watcombeman@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
>> On 22 Jan 2024 at 09:26:40 GMT, "Alan B" <alanrichardbarker@gmail.com.invalid>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> The Mac is now officially middle aged! My first Mac was a Performa 475 with
>>> 4Mb RAM and (if remember correctly) a 80Mb hard drive.
>>
>> My first was a Mac 512K. It arrived on my desk in February or March 1985 - it
>> couldn't have been later because it was bought with "come in handy" funds that
>> would have vanished on 5 April.
>>
>> Like Martin, it came with pretty much all the Mac software there was -
>> MacWrite, MacDraw and MacPaint. Each was on its own single-sided floppy disk
>> complete with the system, so if I wanted to include a diagram in a report
>> there was a good deal of ejecting and inserting of floppies.
>>
>> I also had an ImageWriter. So for the first time in my career I was
>> independent of the typing pool and the drawing office. Bliss!
>>
>> I too had Dungeon of Doom. There was a rumour that if you played on Christmas
>> Day the entrance hall was decorated with Christmas trees, but I never got a
>> chance to try that.
>>
>> Before long I acquired Red Ryder and joined MacTel. Whoosh!
>
> I spent many wasted hours playing with HyperCard trying to produce whacky
> presentations.
>
> <https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/HyperCard>

I used to play with HyperCard too.

Another much used application (we didn't call them apps then) was MacAuthor,
as used by Douglas Adams for much of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. I
regretted its demise, I suppose Word came along and killed it.

Old John.
--
Classic computing: Computers do what you tell them to do, not what you want them to do.
Modern computing: Computers do what they want to do, no matter what you tell them to do.

John Hill <watcombeman@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
>
> I used to play with HyperCard too.
>
> Another much used application (we didn't call them apps then) was MacAuthor,
> as used by Douglas Adams for much of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. I
> regretted its demise, I suppose Word came along and killed it.

I don’t remember MacAuthor. For things requiring tools with more features
than SimpleText, I used Claris later AppleWorks. WordPerfect was (and maybe
still is) a decent word processor. I also recall producing a club magazine
using the OpenDoc suite.

--
Cheers, Alan

On 24 Jan 2024, Alan B wrote
(in article<uoqoec$1ovu2$1@alanrichardbarker.eternal-september.org>):

> > Another much used application (we didn't call them apps then) was MacAuthor,
> > as used by Douglas Adams for much of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. I
> > regretted its demise, I suppose Word came along and killed it.
>
> I don’t remember MacAuthor. For things requiring tools with more features
> than SimpleText, I used Claris later AppleWorks. WordPerfect was (and maybe
> still is) a decent word processor. I also recall producing a club magazine
> using the OpenDoc suite.

MacWrite Pro. Much the best word processor I ever used.

MST

On 24 Jan 2024, John Hill wrote
(in article <uoqn21$1oo4u$1@dont-email.me>):

> > Entrance hall? This doesn't sound like Dungeon of Doom, but there was a game
> > (I forget the name) from that era where you entered a castle through a huge
> > entrance hall where there was a suit of armour at the foot of the main
> > staircase. On Christmas Day the armour was replaced with a Christmas tree.
> >
> > MST
>
> That was the one, I remember. It's about all I remember about it!
>
> I was never much into games; then, because I was pretty busy in those days and
> nowadays I've got more interesting things to do.

I remember a wonderful moment in that game where in the depths of the dungeon
you met a big brute of a man who was whipping two prisoners who were
suspended by their wrists. As you approached him, he turned his attention to
you, and you had to dodge his whip and defeat him in some way which I can't
remember but was certainly difficult.

If/when you managed to defeat him, there was a door to pass through and two
keys hanging on the wall. One opened the door, one dropped a 20 ton weight on
your head. Which key was the right one varied randomly from game to game.

But... (spoiler alert)... if you looked *very* carefully, it wasn't a random
shot. As you reached for one or other key, the guys hanging by their wrists
either vigorously nodded yes with relief or shook their heads no in a panic.
It was very subtly done, and very funny (though not, perhaps, for them).

MST

On 24/01/2024 17:50, Martin S Taylor wrote:
> On 24 Jan 2024, Alan B wrote
> (in article<uoqoec$1ovu2$1@alanrichardbarker.eternal-september.org>):
>
>>> Another much used application (we didn't call them apps then) was MacAuthor,
>>> as used by Douglas Adams for much of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. I
>>> regretted its demise, I suppose Word came along and killed it.
>>
>> I don’t remember MacAuthor. For things requiring tools with more features
>> than SimpleText, I used Claris later AppleWorks. WordPerfect was (and maybe
>> still is) a decent word processor. I also recall producing a club magazine
>> using the OpenDoc suite.
>
> MacWrite Pro. Much the best word processor I ever used.

I still miss Arnor's Protext on the old Atari ST ;-).

But yeah, AppleWorks still did the job well enough.

I also tried OpenDoc, but it was never reliable enough to be usable for
long. I liked the concept though. I guess the advances in hardware
performance and storage capacity at that time negated the point of it
quite quickly though.

--
Andy H

On 24/01/2024 10:11, John Hill wrote:
> On 23 Jan 2024 at 08:50:00 GMT, "Alan B" <alanrichardbarker@gmail.com.invalid>
> wrote:
>
>> John Hill <watcombeman@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
>>> On 22 Jan 2024 at 09:26:40 GMT, "Alan B" <alanrichardbarker@gmail.com.invalid>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> The Mac is now officially middle aged! My first Mac was a Performa 475 with
>>>> 4Mb RAM and (if remember correctly) a 80Mb hard drive.
>>>
>>> My first was a Mac 512K. It arrived on my desk in February or March 1985 - it
>>> couldn't have been later because it was bought with "come in handy" funds that
>>> would have vanished on 5 April.
>>>
>>> Like Martin, it came with pretty much all the Mac software there was -
>>> MacWrite, MacDraw and MacPaint. Each was on its own single-sided floppy disk
>>> complete with the system, so if I wanted to include a diagram in a report
>>> there was a good deal of ejecting and inserting of floppies.
>>>
>>> I also had an ImageWriter. So for the first time in my career I was
>>> independent of the typing pool and the drawing office. Bliss!
>>>
>>> I too had Dungeon of Doom. There was a rumour that if you played on Christmas
>>> Day the entrance hall was decorated with Christmas trees, but I never got a
>>> chance to try that.
>>>
>>> Before long I acquired Red Ryder and joined MacTel. Whoosh!
>>
>> I spent many wasted hours playing with HyperCard trying to produce whacky
>> presentations.
>>
>> <https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/HyperCard>
>
> I used to play with HyperCard too.
>
> Another much used application (we didn't call them apps then) was MacAuthor,
> as used by Douglas Adams for much of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. I
> regretted its demise, I suppose Word came along and killed it.

MacAuthor was brilliant but buggy, what pushed us to Word was Word
didn't crash so much (and you could sort of have styles) and support for
MacAuthor dried up.

The subsequent near 40 years have consisted of trying persuade people to
use styles in Word!

D

On 26 Jan 2024 at 09:18:43 GMT, "David Sankey" <David.Sankey@stfc.ac.uk>
wrote:

> The subsequent near 40 years have consisted of trying persuade people to
> use styles in Word!

Yes.

1) to get them to understand that a word processor is not a f***ing typewriter
and would they please stop imagining that in order to have space between
paragraphs, they need to press Return twice.

2) and that, further to the typrewriter issue, there is no need to press
return 50 times at the end of a document. But then, perhaps they imagine that
a sheet of paper with their scribblings will emerge from a slot at the top of
the display. Who knows.

--
Tim