Apple: remembering my first Mac, and the long legacy the Mac started

When I first saw the Macintosh, I've seen how simple and easy it was to use, despite being born to a family that adopted an IBM compatible PC for their home computer. After I first saw the iMac back in primary school in 1998, I then thought to myself: because I got so assimilated into Microsoft, I don't know if there'll ever be a chance that I'll have a Mac. Then, I proved myself wrong, but it took almost 9 years until I then finally got my first Mac (a white mid 2007-revision MacBook from brand new), having got an iPod Nano a few years before then. The tiresome Blue Screens of Death and meaningless errors, as well as a rather confusing infrastructure lured me to the Macintosh platform. Having learnt about the legacy the Mac created, I then realised that it was Apple's magnum opus, the platform that started the whole GUI craze back in the 1980s, well before my time. After my first Apple product, I then fell in love with Apple and as a result, joined the thousands that became part of a legacy that forever continued, like Steve Jobs when he was first diagnosed with pancreatic cancer during what was year 7 or 8 in secondary school. In terms of competition in the computing market, the Mac was to David what the PC was to Goliath, but then eventually, the differences became blurred when one then became the other, but nonetheless, had it not been for the IBM PC, where would industry standards be now, and had it not been for the Mac, where would the GUI operating system be now, and where would the industries that both created be? It was all thanks to both competing platforms that helped the Mac get to where it is now, but competition from smartphones and tablets are starting to eat into the market, but after all, it was Apple that kickstarted the revolution, and perfected both at the same time. The same rhetoric applies to the founding of Apple; where would Apple be had it not been for Steve Jobs founding the company and then returning to it after he left? Apple did, however, had its dark years when Jobs first departed in 1985, but even so, it still helped an industry long confined to physical media to become part of the whole computing boom, and Adobe's first products were launched on the Mac during his absence. However, the early to mid 90s were a dark era for Apple as consumers were confused about the profusion of Macintosh computers and the confusing specifications they had, and the many flops that came out of Apple's first diversification. Even in the dark ages came innovation: the Newton PDA would then give way to the iPhone about a decade later, and would later provide inspiration for the Palm Pilot. Steve Jobs' return to Apple in 1996 brought along with him new ideas from his old company he also founded that would help evolve the Mac OS operating system into something more advanced than the platform that was based on the original from 1984. When he once again became CEO, Jobs simplfied the range of Mac models, then later launched the Mac that started off a whole new revolution in design, the iMac, in 1998. My current Mac was based on the successor to the PowerBook series that revolutionised laptop computers forever, but my current Mac is one of the last to be seen under his power before he left for good in August 2011, and his subsequent death later. 

Had it not been for the Mac, where would my career choice be? How would I have continued under the same platform I lived under since 1994? And how simple would my life be? Thanks to the Mac, I am now where I am, and my dreams shall forever be pursued after falsely believing that I'll never have a Mac, but it's all down to personal preference. No matter if you're a Mac or a PC, both has had their finest hours, and still will do, but most of all, it was Apple that perfected the idea of the GUI from Xerox, and then later provided inspiration, despite the many legal battles that were fought against them. All I can say to you is thank you Apple, for getting me to where I am now, and thank you to Steve Jobs, who started it all. Rest in peace, the dear leader of a technological revolution that perfected many technologies, started off new competition and most of, inspired me greatly, with ideology and motivation.

General: end of year 1

Well, it has been a long time that I've been posting stuff in this blog, but rest assured that everything in year one has now been done and dusted with! It has been a very good first year, and there had been very interesting assignments and lectures over the past 8 months. I will be in the process of improving my website (www.elnormo91.co.uk) and I'll possibly be migrating my blog to there in a dedicated section so then everything will be on my website, which saves having to find everything all over the place. I am now relaxing since the hardest part, the exam of SOFT131, has now been done-and-dusted with and I think I did pretty well with that one. Only the results can tell if I lived up to the expectations.

Also, I'll soon be home as I've nearly managed to get next year's accommodation sorted out (it is just around the corner from where I am now, which is very convenient as I then won't have to make 15 minute round trips all the time!). As I re-iterate, it has been a very good 8 months, and hopefully I'll have the same for the next 8 months in September, or even better than that. We'll see when the next chapter opens up...

General IDAT: Reboot, launch of the IBM Smarter Planet Lab in the Babbage building, stuff to do, and field trip

Yesterday was a historical event for everyone in IDAT as the old Macromedia lab (BGB213) is transformed into the IBM Smarter Planet Lab. The partnership has been so long in the making since the rebrand of the Digital Art & Technology (or as in their words, a 'reboot') course programme, which will become effective in the 2011-2012 academic year. The changes will make Digital Art & Technology future-proof so then fears of stuff becoming obsolete after 4 years can now be put to bed, finally (literally, finally!).

As for other stuff, I've been very busy, which mentions why I haven't done a blog update in weeks. I've been working on a 3D object, a manifesto, and also, I'm now currently working on projects that will last well into March, which includes a large-scale Monopoly game, a bumper video and an amateur movie.

The field trip has been announced to be taking place in the wonderful city of Bristol, to some applause and lament, although it has been a better compromise considering the times of austerity, which kind of narrowed our horizons, although maybe next year would be better in terms of scope. Still, Bristol is set to be a very good small pre-Easter trip whilst Easter will see the Yacht Club do their own Easter trip, mostly to make up for the loss of the Mediterranean trip, which was cancelled due to lack of numbers.

If nothing else, things are going very well, and hopefully, my 1st year would finish with something good to look forward to for next year...

IDAT 106: Large-scale Monopoly-style interactive game and initial ideas

As part of a joint project with the year 2s, we have to produce a large scale interactive version of a popular board game, which incorporates many features whilst at the same time addresses a current situation, where we have an opportunity to change it, be it worldwide or local. For my group, we decided to do a Monopoly-based game where we will set it in our city of Plymouth and use it to brainstorm solutions to the economical problem that the city suffers from, particularly due to the loss of air links owing to a drop in passengers (which later lead to a call to have the runway extended at our local airport), and also because of business going bust with (although in places it's getting better) many places becoming vacant.

This gives us the perfect opportunity to attempt to draw in more commerce to help transform our city through the wonderful medium of IDAT. We are planning to base our game on web technologies and Flash, an interactive platform that is popular for dynamic information and animations, with a view to complete it within 8 weeks before the deadline, which will be due round the spring/summer time.