the apricot
Running through pixel loving sites always points me towards old video games and vintage computers. The latest rummaging dredged up an old memory of a trip to St. Louis long ago with my friend Dave B. and his dad. They were shopping for computers, perhaps their first if I remember correctly. (Well there was that Intellivision game system and calculators too…) I saw lots of cool stuff that I could never hope to afford but I was so excited to see all the neat gear in the “big city” stores. I remember some of the discussion around the VGA monitors vs. the SVGA monitors and the tough decision between Amber or Green when considering the more affordable monochrome monitors.
I was happy to be a part of the shopping experience but it only made me yearn for a machine of my own. At a smaller shop I noticed that they had a large backroom filled with shelves of used systems. Suddenly my heart leapt when I saw a small computer system with an odd keyboard and tiny screen. Was this some strange Apple machine I hadn’t seen in the pages of Compute before? The price was even low enough to convince me that with enough savings and hard work I could somehow return to purchase it. Oh how I wanted this thing that I knew so little about. When I pointed it out to Dave he may have mentioned something about compatibility or the actual functional and performance aspects of the strange little machine. I just knew it was cool and that I would love to get it.
Sadly, I left the store never to return but I’ve always had that little machine on my mind. There are so many material things that we want and wish for. Most of those things do us much less good than the extraordinary amount of wonder, excitement and utility we had assured ourselves that they would add to our lives. Sure, it would be nice to have gotten it, found it since then or continue to track it down even now; but I’m guessing it wouldn’t be much more useful than another neat dust-collecting artifact for my already crowded shelves.
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(It could be said that I’ve got an eye for spotting unique, funky and, in the long run, essentially useless but still somehow valuable gear. I still have that mint condition NeXT Cube color promotional and tech specs flyer I snagged from some college library. But then again, nearly everything that’s ever been made is valuable to someone.)
6 April 2003, 23:49 ::
commenting closed for this article
— sisawat 2003-04-07 19:31 #
— jesse 2003-04-08 09:29 #