This Computer Is No More: It has ceased to be

Expired and gone to meet its maker, it is time to bid farewell to our beloved 4 year old iMac. It is strange for a computer of ours to suffer such a fate. Negligence (possibly on my part) to plug it back in to the surge protector instead of the wall the last time we moved it caused it to suffer a logic board fried harder than the extra crispy chicken at Popeye's.

Wow, after reading that again... it's totally my fault...

Regardless of blame, it is now time to consider a hefty purchase I didn't plan on making for a while. This also means that I am without the design programs that assist me in practically every aspect of my work. (Does this mean I'll have to revert to sketching and creating things by hand?) This kind of withdrawal has gotten me thinking about our old machines. My family has been proud Mac owners since the mid-eighties when my dad brought home the best computer ever: The Apple II GS.

I adored this computer. It was the most fascinating thing I had ever seen. We had a desk specially built in our kitchen at our old house for the computer. As a toddler, I would stand right under my dad's elbow between his desk chair and the wall watch him play "Kings Quest" in all its 8-bit glory. If he would turn around suddenly, it was common for me to take an elbow to the forehead. "Jesus Christ, Allison, what are you doing hiding there?!" (Eerily, only a few months into our relationship, a similar incident occurred while I was watching Ross play a video game)

This is where I also learned to curse.

The II GS remained a functioning computer well into high school for me. While we didn't use it for word processing or the internet (although it was totally capable of doing both) it was still the central game playing hub of our household. I remember being in 4th grade and using the external CD player to amplify The Lion King soundtrack as loud as I could through the Bose quality external speakers. Hakuna Matata, indeed. The old girl finally joined the choir invisible in 2004. If I had known only a year later we would lose all the floppy disks with the games we had loved so much, I probably would have brought them to higher ground.

In 1997, McGehee introduced an experimental laptop program that became mandatory by the time I hit high school. Never having had a Window's powered computer (like the one designated by school as the proper equipment), I was not really motivated to get one, and my father, who had quite a lot of stock in Apple, was not so keen on purchasing one. Enter the Clamshell iBook. #2 in my greatest computer loves of all time. While it was impossible for me to "join the network" at school, I relish in the fact that the computer I bought served me for 4 years of high school and then served my sister, Julia for 4 more years after that. And I never had to make a visit to Mrs. Nesser or Dan-Dan the Computer Man.

Omgee... what a sweet machine. Here is where I had my first tryst with Photoshop. Who knew then that such a fruitful relationship would proceed?

When it came time for college, I was thrilled to receive a 17" iMac. It could burn CDs and play DVDs (even though all you could get at Wal-Mart in Oxford was VHS). This is still the computer I use today. It has the entire contents of my life for the past 8 years... And it is backed up accordingly. Its such an elegant machine, and the sculptural arm that can swing in every direction made it ideal for late night movies in the dorm. The display is huge. Although its age has really caught up with it for detailed design work, its great for internet and word processing. Not to mention its just damn cool to look at.

When Joanna and I came home for summer after my first year of college, we brought both of our desktops home with us. At that point, Julia was living at home having just graduated, and my dad was doing a lot of work out of the house. We took a count one day, and we had 7 working computers in the house that were all used for one reason or another. These computers ranged in birth dates from 1986 to 2003.

As for the future? Well I got my eye on that 27" iMac desktop. Now all I need is to get some corporate sponsorship...