The Computers in My Life

1987 – 1994

Commodore Amiga 500
Loved this machine growing up. Still can’t believe I gave it away on Freecycle in 2007/8. I think I threw out all of the disks we had for it in ~2000 though. Much regret but good memories.

1994 – 1998

Gateway 2000 4DX2-66
Ran Windows 3.11. I don’t remember too much about this machine except for Microsoft Office. I do remember connecting to the Internet via Compuserve on it in around 1996 to print off some stats about various countries as part of my Geography homework though.

1998 – 1999

First self-built tower PC
Ran, I think, Windows 95, then Windows 98, and later 98 SE for the ‘Internet Connection Sharing’ feature. I built it from parts, back when it was cheaper to do that than to buy a pre-built machine, in an after school-club with my DT/IT teacher. First computer with a CD-ROM drive, which we payed extra for one with a *slightly* faster read speed. Had my first taste of Microsoft FrontPage 98 on this.

1991 – 1995

BBC Micro
Situated in the musty smelling attic of my primary school. Only remember edutainment being used on it (including Podd, and various spelling and maths games). One-to-one lessons given by husband of the Headmistress.

1996 – 1999

Acorn Archimedes A3000 & Acorn Archimedes A3010
Remember playing Sim City Education Edition and Mavis Beacon on one of the above (although not sure which one). The machines were networked together and all had access to a single dot matrix printer.

1999 – 2000

RM Nimbus Accelerator
Ran Windows 95 or Windows NT 4 (can’t remember which). Used Microsoft Office for school work, and played Zombinis and Encarta 95 on rainy days during lunch breaks. Chatted to friends in the same room using Winpopup. Good times.

1999 – 2003

Second self-built tower PC
My own this time. Ran Windows 98 and then updated to SE. Also built in the same after-school club as the first. Shared a 64K NTL “always-on” internet connection with the family tower PC downstairs, which we achieved using a ‘network starter kit’ bought from a CompUSA on a family holiday to Virginia. I built my first proper websites on this machine.

2003 – 2004

Atari ST
Not exactly sure when I got this but think it was £5 at a car boot sale. Tried to buy a mouse for it on Ebay in 2004 when I wasn’t old enough and couldn’t work out how to send money via PayPal. Hardly used it and eventually gave it away on Freecycle in 2007/8.

2003 – 2006

Desktop (horizontal pizza box) PC from Novatech
Could also be vertically mounted. First black and silver computer – no more beige boxes/monitors from here.
Was a present from my Dad for passing my GCSEs. Bought my first LCD for this machine, along with a cheap Matrox AGP graphics card so I could play Dungeon Keeper II a little better.

2004 – 2006

IBM Thinkpad T30
Bought from CashConverters. Screen died after only a couple of months of use and they wouldn’t accept a return. Think I bought it for some mobile computing but wasn’t enamoured with it.

2006

Apple iMac G3 DV Blueberry (slot loading)
An experiment to see if I got on with Mac OS X. I did.
I later added an AirMac (Japanese version of an AirPort PCMCIA card) to it.

Whilst on the subject of iMacs, I also owned a G3 in Strawberry (tray loading) in ~2010 and was gifted another in Grape (tray loading) in 2021 for Christmas by my wife with the intention of restoring it but I never got around to it.

2006 – 2009

Apple iMac (White), MA590LL
Absolutely loved this machine – first machine I bought myself from new. Learned a lot about music production and video editing.

2009 – 2013

Apple iMac (Aluminium), MB950B/A
An upgrade from my previous iMac. Base model.

2013 – 2017

Apple MacBook Air 13″, MQD32LL/A
One of the best machines I’ve ever owned. Bought for portability as I was cycling to and from a coworking space at the time. Fully specced out.

2017 – Present

Apple MacBook Pro 15″ (Touch Bar)
Bought a refurbished model from Apple directly to replace my MacBook Air, mainly for video editing and more RAM for larger scale web development. I still have it and use it when away from home. I’ve never gotten used to the touch bar though.

2022 – Present

Apple Mac Studio M1 Max
Absolutely love this machine. Built-to-order. It’s a powerhouse and works well with everything, from web development, to video editing and conversion, to running Elden Ring on the highest settings in Whisky (not that I really game on it).
I won’t replace this until a MacBook Air/Pro catches up in terms of speed and RAM.