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1989 - Macintosh SE/30

That machine changed my life. Got me into creative field. Then the Mac IIfx powerhouse was so awesome.

But then again, these days I am using a Sony Vaio with Windows XP and love it. So much for Apple.

They didn't mention the IIc which was a great compact version of the Apple II family, I always thought it was a great package. The IIGX was a step too far.

I have a hard time thinking of the Lisa and Apple III as 'bad'. The Lisa opened a lot of eyes about what a computer could be, it's biggest problem was a huge price tag and having to compete with the Macs when they became available.

The Apple III was a transition system between the II and the Macs and was the first platform to use a lot of the VLSI chips that formed the basis of the Lisa and Mac systems. The III got a bum rap when new out of the box because a few units had issues with chips working out of their sockets, the Wall Street Journal jumped on the problem and their article killed the III before it ever had a chance. The III was also the first commercial PC to offer a hard drive as a peripheral, the Apple Profile with a whopping 5mb of storage.

We had great fun at the computer store by holding the box against our chests, sticking the fingers of our left hand in the heat sinks on the back and playing our right hand over the keyboard while singing 'Lady of Spain'. You had to be there.

Those were the glory days, Apple hasn't excited me for years, and in my opinion has become the 'evil' corporate entity they denigrated in the 80s.

1993 - MessagePad and Newton OS

The problem with the Newton was that it was rushed to market before it was quite ready for prime time. By the time the Newton 2000 came around, the handwriting recognition was pretty polished -- but it couldn't shake the reputation the earlier generations earned.

I found the handwriting recognition even on the MP120 to be pretty good once you formed the right habits -- with Graffiti, developed as an add-on for the Newton before Palm picked it up, it hit about 100% after a bit of practice.

Then US Robotics came out with the Palm Pilot, which was much less capable but much cheaper and pocket-sized, and the Newt was doomed.

I still hold out hope that Apple will bring back the Newton, under a different name and modernized -- give me something the same size as the old Newton or a little smaller, with a big color screen, the drive and functionality of the iPod, WiFi, USB2, Bluetooth and a cell phone, and I'll be the first in line.

I used to hope Apple would use PalmOS, but it's lagging so far behind Pocket PC these days that I'd prefer a version of OS X built for portables.

The G3 ought to be mentioned in the good column. Firt computer to break out of the beige box rut. I remember firing mine up for the first time after retiring my old Perfoma - wooo, was she fast in comparison! It was like going from a Yugo to a Corvette. She's still productive, too - got her networked to my Mac Mini to use her SCSI connection. A great machine!

In a closet at work is one of the very first iMacs, teal blue.

It was new and on my desk when I arrived on my job several years ago. It crashed more often than any windows machine I have ever seen. A Macphile taught me how to "rebuild desktop" which I would do at least once a day. It kept crashing.

I am now using a windows machine.

In fairness I have heard that the first couple of thousand or so iMacs that shipped had this fault and that it was later fixed.

Forget the machines as a whole. What about Apple general concepts?

BAD
*Not being able to physically turn off an Apple.
*Not being able to physically eject a disk (those old-fashioned 3-1/2ers, at least; I haven't tried a Mac in years). At least, until you find out that you can use a paper clip to stick in the tiny hole hiding in a low corner somewhere on the base PC.