Yes, I know.
I know. The original Macintosh was introduced on January 24, 1984.
Which, by the way, happens to be one day after this immigrant landed at JFK.
I have always wondered how Steve knew about it and very much appreciate that he waited for my arrival. Very sweet! But I digress.
When It All Started
Today marks the 25th birthday of my very own Macintosh 128K.
Yes sirree, after seeing a Mac for the first time, it was love at first sight.
The Mac was a quantum leap and made the IBM PC look like a tiny incremental upgrade over the Superbrain computer that I had access to back home.
Heck, the IBM PC even had just one processor whereas the Superbrain had two (two, I tell ya!) zippy Zilog Z80 microprocessors!
There is nothing magical about this date, February 27, 1984, except that after my encounter with a Mac two weeks earlier,
this is how long it took me to borrow the money from my uncle and have it transferred from the UAE.
Paid full retail price, $2,495. There was a waiting list but the sales guy, Brett Latzko, was happy to let me have the one that was on his desk.
He also threw in free issues
of these new magazines called Macworld and St.
Mac. The latter went to magazine heaven after only a few issues.
(BTW, it’s funny how memory works.
I remember the name of the sales rep but not the name of the Washington, DC store where I bought my Mac.)
Epilogue
Nine months later, my Mac and I travelled to the UAE to spend Christmas with my parents. Mom worked at Total ABK, the local operation of the French oil company. Macs in Abu Dhabi were considerably more expensive than in the U.S., so the head of Total ABK (bonjour Monsieur Naylies!) was happy to pay me full price, $2,495.
Twenty five ye ars l
ater, I am typing this post on a Mac.
