Steven MacDonald:
CLASS OF 1986
Iver C. Ranum High SchoolClass of 1986
Denver, CO
University of Northern ColoradoClass of 1995
Greeley, CO
Carpenter Junior High SchoolClass of 1983
Denver, CO
Francis M. Day Elementary SchoolClass of 1980
Denver, CO
Steven's Story
Life
-------
Spring 2004
I usually find myself up late into the night working with my computer. I get things done. It's the quiet, evening hours, as well as the 4-am daybreaks, that remind me of the shifts I used to take for my radio team in the Army. Alone with the mass of microwave, multiplexer, and FM equipment, I would 'chat' with my Radar comrades over the network as I sipped Swiss Miss chocolate and instant coffee. It seems like yesterday. The Army got me to college and got me to my first Macintosh. It was 1990, and it was a music lab full of SE/30s all hooked up to keyboards and running Finale. Eventually deciding on English as my major, I wound up spending most of my time at all the other UNC Mac labs - cutting my teeth with Word 4 and MacPaint, and clamoring for the queue on the nice Apple LaserWriters. It was the rage with my college friends to have the latest Mac. I can remember well the phrase "what are you ever gonna do with 80 Megabytes?!" ... thinking that was HUGE alongside a whopping 8 Megabytes of RAM! Randy would have the best Mac, and we would always converge on him for a new game. And what was that program ... HyperCard? I think I started helping people after I suffered my own first Mac disaster. Typing a next-day-due, doosie of a term paper on his Classic late one night, we got to chatting about Macs or something. Reaching towards an unknown button on his Mac I asked, "Hey Randy, what's this {phhwew} for?" POOF "That's the power switch, Steve." ... ... ... That paper got turned in on time, thankfully. To...Expand for more
this day, pressing Command+S (SAVE) is as subconscious a habit for me as breathing!
Perhaps this is why I have stacks of Macs in my shop -- everything from a 128K to a G3 -- just waiting to still be used. I also have this uncanny ability to fix and make things work - and I have a very giving attitude ... so ... no Mac will die until every person on the planet has been asked if they want it!! I recently helped a couple of customers who were still running their business' off a IIci because of the easy, streamlined software. OS 7, 4 Megs of RAM, 80 Meg hard drive ... what more could they need.
2004 celebrates the 20th anniversary of the Macintosh. Since it's the rage to reminisce I thought I would too. I hope you didn't mind. Although we saw no real 'token' hardware release from Apple (though the mini iPod is insanely great), I'm reminded of 'the point' of this computer stuff. Technology is fun to work with (especially Apple), and it's fun to be riding on a wave of Information change. Whatever your vintage, whatever your task, it's always been good (and fun). The nice thing is ... the future still looks bright. You better get some shades, because Macintosh is --still-- just too cool. Are you kidding?! The 20" iMac has got to be THE best all-around computer on the planet right now.
Be well and prosper,
Steve
P.S. (for all you classmates) : residing in Denver, happily married to Wheatridge HS gal (met in English 351 at UNC), two beautiful G. Shepherds and three cool cats. Still a musician (keeps me sane in the brain). Best.
Register for Free to view all details!
Yearbooks
Reunions
Register for Free to view all events!
Photos