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25th for 128 WOW


George introduces this generation to the last

The Apple store in the picture is the Millenia Mall Apple store on Conroy Road in Orlando, Florida. The Geniuses in the picture were the residents on duty that morning, along with their Administrator, Catherine Ashe.

I just transitioned to the new 2.8 Quad Zeon and was telling 'Catherine Ashe' (Genius Administrator-the lady in the picture) about my Mac 128 System and would she want to see it. She said that would be great and that her Genius's would love to see it boot up.

Well, friends, you know me, just give me a User Group audience and clear me a path to the stage. I came in loaded with my original Beige Mac 128 carrying bag (colored Apple logo showing) and a 2nd Imagewriter carry bag and proceeded to set up in a provided area. Within minutes, my System 1.1 booted up with the old Al Capps finder and I was printing on my Imagewriter printer.

George with original Mac 128
enlarge

The crowd started oooh'ing and ahh'ing around this Mac that started the whole Macintosh family and desktop publishing revolution that followed. Next thing I knew, I was handing out printouts of my MacPaint and MacWrite document I wrote just for that little demo. People were saying that 'It's so quiet!' Well yeah! There's no fan! No fan, no noise!

The Geniuses were drooling over my little baby. I looked at one Apple store rep and said 'that little Mac is older than you are! That little Mac will be 25 years old in less than a year!' I hate to think that I have to sell that whole system, but I have to.

For lunch, I went across the Mall and met a guy and he recogized me. Maybe from my 20+ year old T-Shirt (Fall in LOve with your Macintosh All Over Again!) Remember that one? And my old Apple Baseball cap with the multi-colored ribbon striped Logo. Hmmm, maybe I'n not too hard to recognize after all. Anyway, he said he saw the old Mac 128k system in the store and recognized what he loved in the old Apple. Since he moved to PC, he was tired of the Virus situation and just came down to look. He said after he sqw my Mac 12k still working after 24 years, he decided to go for it and bought an iMac on the spot and they were setting it up for him. Hooray for him! He shook my hand and said thanks.

I thought, "What a great Applestore display that would make for the coming 25th Anniversary of Mac 128!" Oh well.

I showed the Apple Store Bench Technicians the original Mac 128 Manuals, like MacWrite, MacPaint, etc. for some more giggles. Than for the final dagger I brought out the original MacWorld, volume 1, March 1984 edition with Steve on the cover. Then brought out the March BYTE cover for March. Then 'Personal Computing' and others. Then the original MacAddict, volume 1 still in shipping plastic w/CD. THEN, the original 'Wizardry' for Mac 128 400k floppy disk. Copyright 1981 Greenburg and Woodhead (Sir-Tech software.) Wow! Still had the orignal warranty card #413525 in it. Full manuals boxes and everything.

George EngelWhat a great time we all had. Customers, Geniuses and technicians. I felt that it was a true Apple Experience! But then again, Fred, you and I have been having that 'Apple Experience' for the past 25 years! Now I'm in love again with this new Quad Zeon and having 'another' experience.

George engel

George Engel, Naked Serviceman, Mac Guru, author, reviewer, and editor at large

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CREDITS:
George Engel has been a computer guru probably longer than he will admit -- as a computer expert, he authored The Naked Serviceman book, about his journey through the history of Apple's Macintosh as owner/founder of an authorized Apple Service Center. He owned one of the first Apple II computers as well as one of the first Macintosh 128s. He hangs out with the Lakeland User Group in sunny Florida ... Event dates are subject to change. Some products, programs, or promotions are not available outside the U.S. Prices are estimated retail prices and are listed in U.S. dollars. Product specifications are subject to change. Apple, the Apple logo, Mac, Mac OS, Macintosh, Power Mac, Velocity Engine, FireWire, AirPort, Safari, Sherlock, QuickTime, iLife, iTunes, iChat, iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, iCal and Apple Store are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Apple. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners. Mention of third-party products is for informational purposes only and constitutes neither a recommendation nor an endorsement.

 

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