I was 4 years old when I first saw one at a Rolling Meadows community center. I was not sure what it was but it was something that really opened my eyes. You can pretty much say it was a beginning a love affair with a computer. Not just any computer, it was an Apple computer. It was that moment that I remember my life would not be the same. Anytime I would go to a computer lab, I would be transfixed at the computers around the lab. At that time, there were no Windows, as I haven’t seen one what windows is at the time.
From Kindergarten through 8th grade, I always was in front of an Apple computer. I have done my homework at class with it and also played games on a compatible one at home. My next-door neighbor had a Macintosh and I was transfixed on this kind of computer not only using a mouse with a point and click of a mouse. There is nothing like an Apple Computer. It was simple, easy and it was able to get the job done. By 9th grade, there were no Apple computers around except of an Apple IIgs in in one room and a couple of Macintoshes in one computer lab. I first heard of Windows through this time and it was all WordPerfect, and that was the beginning that I was on a IBM compatible computer. I was able to get my homework done and still learn from it but I knew something was missing.
Despite working on IBM and Windows computer for most of my high school and college years, I always see an Apple computer. Despite all of those years working on Windows, I would never forget the first time that I laid my eyes on a Apple product. From 2001 through 2005 I was mostly using Windows and it was my first computer I ever bought with my own money. Through that time, I hear about the buzz when it comes to the iMac since my college days. I was getting tired with Windows due to everything about it. So I decided to get a iMac. It was a big risk since not much people have heard it and a lot of PC users were bashing it. But ever since I got it, it felt something that I was missing all those years when I first saw a computer. It still has that Apple trademark. It was simple and easy to use.
I still have the iMac that I have bough those years ago and I never really had any problems in the 5 years I’ve had it. I never got a virus warning, never got a warning saying that I “performed an illegal operation.” I made videos on it. I collected my photos and I play music and even record them. You can do that with other computers but for me, there is nothing like an Apple computer. When I learned about Steve Jobs passing this evening, it made me think of all those years why we have computers, iPods and iPhones today. Where would be if we didn’t have those products? In 1998 when he came back to the company that he had founded, he told everybody to “Think Different” than what everyone else was thinking. I can understand why some people can’t ever forget about the first time they saw or used an Apple Computer, iPod or a iPhone. Maybe that has why it has gotten to a point when it is the most valuable company in the world today. There will not be another person like Steve Jobs in our lifetime and I am happy that I was able to experience it. You will be missed and thank you for the vision that you shared with us and most importantly, the products that you introduced to us.
