Image by Frankenstein via Flickr
(Pictured: My G4 Cube, which I called "Rubik", and its replacement, creatively named "Rubik Jr.")
In chronological order:
- No-name MS-DOS clone, 16 MHz 386sx (circa 1993)
- PowerComputing PowerCenter 150 (Macintosh Clone), PowerPC 604 @ 150 MHz (circa 1996/7)
- PowerMac G4 Cube, PowerPC G4 @ 450 MHz. Upgraded video and HD eventually sold on Craigslist for parts. This was the transitional machine from Mac OS 9 to Mac OS X. (2001)
- Dell Inspiron 1150 Windows XP laptop. Celeron 2.6 GHz. Heavy, and the screen bezel kept cracking (eventually replaced the entire lid). Plus battery life sucked. And I ended up replacing the AC adaptor twice. It did get me through law school, though. (2004)
- Mac Mini. PowerPC G4 @ 1.42 Ghz. Great computer, but just eventually was overtaken by faster and better computers. (2005)
- MacBookPro 15". Intel i5 2.53 Ghz. Great computer, though I already know how and when I'll be upgrading it (i.e. SSD drive). (2010)
Basically, it looks like I get a new computer every four or five years. Which is pretty good, given how fast technology changes. It does seem not impossible, however, that my next computer (due for 2015) won't be a "computer" at all.
A few geeky notes: Never personally owned a 68000-series Mac, though my parents had two (a Macintosh SE and a Macintosh IIsi). Prior to the first computer on the list, I had borrowed from my folks an old IBM XT clone, that I used in college until it died (if memory serves, it was the hard drive controller that croaked, and replacing it was basically impossible). My folks also had an Apple ][+, which is the computer that my father wrote his dissertation on (and got the kids through elementary school and high school).
