I suffered through using terminals wired to BIG dedicated machines such as WANGs and PD-1011s. We had giant stacks of flimsy disks that could barely hold a 200 word document, stuff was still maintained on rolls of IBM tape. I, along with thousands, learned the first iterations of BASIC as undergrads. I learned IBM's COBOL for AIX so I could waste hours trying to access and compile info from different enterprise data bases. Enterprise, a word some of you might recognize as technobabble for getting "middle ware" to "interfacer" with old information in even older data bases. And there was the sudden need in the Neolithic era to quickly become proficient in FORTRAN to crunch numbers. I thought FORTRAN would soon die (1980), but no. It still lives and data written in FORTRAN 30 years ago is easily retrieved and remains valuable as long as you understand C and how to write interface software for FORTRAN and C compilers. Ah, yes, compiling. If you're a programmer you know how much fun that is. Two or three days working overtime to create language bridges that can also be rendered in C++ object modules only to discover one command lacks a [ or a ] or / and the whole thing is fucked, then someone who makes more money than you, but can't program their way out of a paper bag, has a one-to-one meeting with you to remind you for the umpteenth time to carefully write "in well-formed code." A phrase that usually means the person using that phrase hasn't a fucking clue what he or she is talking about. It's just an excuse to pass on all the responsibility of missing a deadline on YOU. People who make larger salaries, by definition, do no make mistakes. No, not THEM.
But I digress.
While everyone was learning and relearning DOS (ewe for ick!) and all we had were command lines to invoke and control chunks of software, we all had to pick up JAVA on the side and figure out how to write mini programs that did mini things -- like turn on and off your house lights with a device attached to your key chain. Yeah. THAT was fun.
Then Steve Jobs, usually regarded as someone working for the good side of the force, was ousted by his own company so an ex exec from Coca Cola could run Apple. Apple barely survived. Coca Cola execs know shit from Shine-Ola when it comes to writing programs with fun guided user interfaces (GUIs) that are intuitive and teach as you learn. That dark period of Apple's history was when Microsoft caught up with the GUIs you PC lovers use today. Macs always had them. Apple had copied them from research at XEROX in Menlo Park decades earlier. But XEROX made photo copiers.
I still know programmers from my era who complain they can't run DOS session as they once did. With enough time my Golden Lab could have mastered DOS. And they also complain the rear engine air-cooled VW Bug is dead. Poor things.
When Steve Jobs was asked to return to head up Apple it was a good day. Apple has a well-deserved reputation for working with outside software companies (ADOBE) to enhance and create quality software with few bugs. And those bugs that occurred were more "wish list" commands and options to do things cross platform than software that didn't work. In contrast, Microsoft has a reputation for shipping mediocre quality software that "will be fixed in the next release." By the time the "next release" became available, Moor's Law had overtaken Microsoft's best intentions and we waited for the "next, next release." (Anybody remember Windows 3.0 or 3.1?)
Apple made one of it's early compatibility requirements that it would run Microsoft software. Granted, you have to install a shell operating system within which Microsoft Office, et al, must work. But it works. Microsoft never thought there was a need to return the favor.
Everything made by Apple is far from perfect, but it is infinitely better designed, intuitive, and generally just way more cool. This cannot be said as a general rule for products not made by apple. I was constrained to use PCs for most of the 80s, 90s, and 2000s. But a few years ago when my trusty Dell laptop died I was free to buy whatever I wanted to replace it. My first MacBook Pro showed up three days later. I now have two plus an iPad (II), and soon I'll get a new iPhone. My life will be complete when I get a new iStick and iRock.
You get what you pay for and there's no question Apple makes quality stuff. It just isn't for everyone. Most folks who buy Apple products and are disappointed/angry just don't have the attitude for an Apple product. Blackberries are very efficient. I like them. However they REALLY excel as address books and text messaging. I'm happier with the iPhone -- shiny colors and all that. But I'm so glad I don't need to write command lines to prove that 2+2=4 that words fail me.
Mind you, FOTRAN, COBOL, C++, BASIC (in various flavors), PASCAL. and a whole bunch of other programming languages are still in use and will be for the next 90 years. Some of these languages are actually used to make Apple compatible software (but the majority are rendered in some flavor of UNIX).
Steve Job's genius was envisioning how to make the world communicate using good design and panache. Given enough time he would have most likely pushed the creation of communication tools that don't have any moving parts. But he checked out early and whether you hate him (certainly, you didn't know him well enough to hate him) or loved him (he had a small circle who truly loved him) -- it doesn't matter. He was a visionary and we aren't. :smile::smile::smile::smile:
ADDITION: And one sweet thing, one truly sweet, great thing about the ancient Mac 512s was a letter written to Steve Jobs from Arthur C. Clark who thanked Steve and Woz for producing a product that allowed Mr. Clark to make the font size big enough that he could once again read a computer screen and continue to write without the use of his glasses. This is something that I often do, zoom in two or three levels when I haven't got my bifocals. But now every computer does that. At least I know an iPhone does. Do Androids and Blackberries?