I wanna play! Let's go back in time!
This was shortly after we moved into this house. I got the G4 at approximately the same time as we moved. This was sort of a bare minimum setup that I got running as quickly as possible. The Apple bag and PowerMac G4 sign covers up some unsightly drywall damage that only got fixed a few months ago. Funny how you can put stuff off and forget about it isn't it?
The G4 was an upgrade from my 5400/180, and I was long overdue. I wasn't able to move to OS X full time for quite a while because all my software was OS 9.
I was a very young geek at the time.
The simplicity didn't last. The PC left has a triple monitor setup. It was probably running Windows 2000. The middle CRT is KVMed to the other PC, barely visible in the bottom left corner. I want to say it was running Debian. Our long running mascot penguin makes its first appearance here. Just got hooked up with DSL. Check out that modem! It only got replaced two weeks ago! Look at that Compaq! It has a ZIP drive! The chair blocks the view of the G4. Mine wasn't really much of a windtunnel compared to others I heard, but the fans would never stay at the same speed. It goes to the 24" Sony Trinitron which is busy being a fatass and bending my table. The 19" CRT had died. When I moved off of those crappy Walmart tables to the glass desk I decided out with the CRTs. I sold the G4 and the 24" monitor to a magazine company for $1,500 and got the 17" MacBook Pro. I often regretted the sale, because I would have much rather have been using the G4 after I got the 17". The 24" synced at 2304x1440. OS X acted kind of funny at that resolution but OS 9 was fine with it. OS X would only draw the screen saver on part of the monitor. The rest would just stay as it was. Weird huh?
The place I sold the G4 setup to still uses it daily, running CS4 on it. I keep waiting for them to replace it so I can buy it back
-- I miss that rig. I can find a use for it.
The little guy next to the 24" is the PC next to the G4. FreeBSD box.
The dark ages. I hated this setup terribly. I had no desktop. That's why I got the 17" MacBook Pro. I had also picked up a ThinkPad somewhere along the way for the Windows side. I thought I could go laptops only but I absolutely hated it. The PowerBook G4 was setup on the right with the external CRT. Look on the left of the glass desk. That's a Sprint Treo. I hated Sprint. (I got the first iPhone on launch day. That should date this picture pretty well.) I hated the top MIDI controller on the keyboard stand even. I hate so many things about this picture that looking at it makes me uncomfortable.
The two PC laptops on the right were not mine. They were being worked on.
This is the most recent shot from the past. December of 2008 probably. The penguin with the snowball was the extent of my decorating.
Yes that is a PowerBook
G3 on the far left of the screen. Wallstreet. 266 MHz. It was still being used, at least every other day. I never really moved old projects to new computers, so when I upgraded I typically only did new projects on the new machines. I didn't bother moving older stuff to the new hardware to finish or maintain it, because it was just easier to keep the older computer around unless something came up or the work was really slow on the older one. When I quit doing work for a division of the chamber of commerce I finally retired the G3 out of its misery, and did it ever need it. Like most, the screen clutches were shot. I kept the SCSI adaptor plugged in the back just to hold the display up.
Much happier in this picture as I went back to using a desktop. I had to get a 30" display!! Anything else would fall short of my old 2304x1440 and it wouldn't really be an upgrade then!
I like how I was adjusting to the aluminum keyboard so I had it sitting on top of the Model M, which I would revert to at times out of frustration.
Here's my current setup, taken today:
Yes. That is still the 12" PowerBook G4. I do still use it daily. Yes it's running Virtual PC, but just to get a few files off the VPC drive.
Mascot penguin is still hanging out. The drywall got fixed!!
The other side of the setup. The 17" MacBook Pro rarely gets used and needs to be sold. I only use it in limited circumstances on onsite jobs. Most of the time it's the PowerBook that goes with me. I need to get a 15" MacBook Pro with a matte display to replace them both.
The other computer is a FreeBSD UNIX workstation that I use quite often.
Yes, I do have enough laser printers.
Bonus shots
Apple mousepads!
I kind of regret that as I was digging to find these that I didn't have more, as I'm sure I missed a lot of interesting variations in the 10 or so years that this spans. Hopefully nobody found this too long winded.
I had a lot of fun writing this post though. What a trip down memory lane!
