end of an era...

moments ago via the magic of the interpixies I learned of the passing of Steve Jobs

in the computer world it seems you're either passionate or horrified about Jobs and Apple

and despite his/its obvious shortcomings - I've long been a self-proclaimed Apple gal

I saw and played with an Apple first in 1985 (and retrospectively I now know that it was indeed the first actual Apple computer...)

It was love at first sight

I've not been one of those devout Applettes who would stand for days in lines for a new product... but I DID know great things when I saw it.... 

I bought my first Mac in 1993 (a second hand IIcx.... 16Mb of brute power.... with ittty bitty screen... on it I ran Photoshop 2.0 and Adobe Illustrator 5 - hooked up to a HP B&W scanner, a HP laser printer and a Roland cutter/plotter ..... even though I wasn't a geek - I had accidentally created one of the most original and powerful computer sign graphics set-ups of the 1990s - my strange concoction was light years ahead of the PC game.... my love of the Mac was cemented)

In 2000 I saved up for a iMac (ahhhhh the beautiful thing.... my father took one look at it and raced to the Mac store.... we've since joked to each other 'once you go Mac, you never go back')

that Mac led me into a job at the local (Apple infused) newspaper and then at an Apple-infested high school.... I ended up being the number two Apple techie teacher in the school (based primarily on the fact that I loved the Apples whilst other geeky teachers loathed them!)

Last week I presented my work at Impact on an iPad (a birthday gift last year from my dear mac-loving daddy), I blogged away, took piccies and called home on my iPhone....

I still have every Apple product I've ever bought (the 'bubble' mac with its system 7 is STILL operating perfectly thank you very much....)


Love him or hate him, it's undeniable that Jobs changed the face of technology forever - the world lost a unique visionary today....