This week was the 40th anniversary of the announcement of the Apple Macintosh. I still remember the day I got my first Macintosh. It was a Mac SE/30, a compact all-in-one computer with a 9-inch monochrome display. It was the fastest (Motorola 68030 powered) and most powerful of the original black-and-white Macs, and I loved it.
Up until that point I was an IBM PC user having bought my first IBM PC as part of the employee purchase program IBM offered. By the time I got my first Mac I had moved on from IBM and my son had inherited by PC. I remember him being a fan of Borland’s Turbo Pascal on the PC where he really learned programming.
The SE/30 was released in January 1989, and I got mine a few months later at Fry’s in Palo Alto. It came with a 16 MHz 68030 processor, 4 MB of RAM, and an 40 MB hard drive.
The SE/30 was a versatile machine. It had a Processor Direct Slot (PDS) that allowed me to add expansion cards, but I never opted to install any. It could also support up to 128 MB of RAM, which was a huge amount at the time, but it required a ROM swap or a system extension to enable 32-bit addressing.
The SE/30 was my faithful companion for many years. I used it for the usual applications: word processing, spreadsheet, graphics, and games. I also used it to connect to the Internet, using a dial-up modem and a web browser. I was amazed by the amount of information and entertainment that was available online especially on CompuServe where I became a forum sysop responsible for managing several online forums.
The SE/30 was not only a powerful computer, but also a beautiful one. It had a sleek and elegant design, with a platinum-colored case and a friendly smiley face icon on the startup screen. It was easy to use, with a graphical user interface and a mouse. It was also reliable and durable, with no problems needing repairs. I had a carrying case for it and took it on several airplane trips storing it up in the overhead compartment!
The SE/30 was more than just a machine. It was a part of my life during those years. It was my first Macintosh, and it will always have a special place in my heart!
