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This brings me back to when I was shopping for my college computer. I used to pour through Computer Shopper magazine, totally captivated by the ads from (Midwe

This brings me back to when I was shopping for my college computer. I used to pour through Computer Shopper magazine, totally captivated by the ads from (Midwest?) Micron, Gateway 2000, etc. I ended up with a Gateway 2000 486-25 DX, 4 MB of RAM, 83 MB HDD, 14" SVGA monitor, and Windows 3.1(?), an AnyKey keyboard, and mouse for (IIRC) $3100. And the salesman was named Tom Reibur (I may be misspelling his last name). It was delivered in several large cow-themed boxes by a FedEx delivery van with a woman driver. Guess my first serious computer left an impression :)

samstave 4y ago
My first serious purchases: (prior to these, my parent foot the bill for my first 286, 386 486 ((Because I convince my dad he needs a computer for his business. Oh and you also need to buy these modems. And these games.)) I bought a machine in Seattle it was $1,600 for a machine - I think it was a 266 mhz PII 1995 --- BUT I spent $1,700 on an Evans and Sutherland 3d graphics card with 32 megabytes of vram - it was collasal, full length AT card. 32MB -- but it could run Softimage on NT4 like nobody... My current laptop is an HP Oman flagship with GTX 3070ti and I have blender and so much power I dont know what to do with. and I have two of them...
q7xvh97o2pDhNrh 4y ago
Oh, that brings me back! I remember seeing those cow-themed boxes everywhere back in the day. I was so disappointed to see the cow theming disappear when the company folded. (Or, you might say... when the company moo-ved on.) OT: Anecdotally, it seems like there was just a bit more whimsy and playfulness around the design back in those days. The iPods that came out a few years later -- with all their delightful neon and pastel shades -- were another lovely echo of that same theme. Nowadays, it seems like technology is all polished metal and rounded corners -- Airspace [1] and Alegria [2] everywhere you look. I'd love to see a return to some of the more playful designs of yesteryear. [1]: https://www.theverge.com/2016/8/3/12325104/airbnb-aesthetic-global-minimalism-startup-gentrification https://www.theverge.com/2016/8/3/12325104/airbnb-aesthetic-... [2]: https://eyeondesign.aiga.org/dont-worry-these-gangley-armed-cartoons-are-here-to-protect-you-from-big-tech/ https://eyeondesign.aiga.org/dont-worry-these-gangley-armed-...
- robertlagrant 4y ago
  Two fascinating links. Thank you!
incanus77 4y ago
Gateway was involved in my first college computer, too, but not in the standard way. In 1998 I worked at a mall RadioShack, and there was also a Gateway store at the other end. I was able to get one of their credit cards, then went home and used it (upon recommendation from a coworker) to buy a custom-built PC from a company called Midwest Micro. 266 P2, 64MB of RAM, 6GB Seagate drive, SoundBlaster AWE64, and a CD-ROM. Came with Windows 98, soon replaced by Red Hat 5.2, my first foray into Linux. Served me well, upgraded it along the way, and I still have the case next to me today, with a P3, 1GB of RAM, 20GB of disk, DVD burner, 3.5 and 5.25" floppies, and running the latest FreeBSD. Great bridge machine for retrocomputing work.
EvanAnderson 4y ago
You’re thinking of “Midwest Micro” from Fletcher, OH. It was a pretty big white box PC reseller located, literally, in the middle of farm fields in rural Ohio. (Have a lot of friends who “did their time” starting out in IT work there— in support, production, or admin roles.) The founder sold out and eventually the business was owned by the same company who owned Tiger Direct.

samstave 4y ago

My first serious purchases: (prior to these, my parent foot the bill for my first 286, 386 486 ((Because I convince my dad he needs a computer for his business. Oh and you also need to buy these modems. And these games.)) I bought a machine in Seattle it was $1,600 for a machine - I think it was a 266 mhz PII 1995 --- BUT I spent $1,700 on an Evans and Sutherland 3d graphics card with 32 megabytes of vram - it was collasal, full length AT card. 32MB -- but it could run Softimage on NT4 like nobody... My current laptop is an HP Oman flagship with GTX 3070ti and I have blender and so much power I dont know what to do with. and I have two of them...

q7xvh97o2pDhNrh 4y ago

Oh, that brings me back! I remember seeing those cow-themed boxes everywhere back in the day. I was so disappointed to see the cow theming disappear when the company folded. (Or, you might say... when the company moo-ved on.) OT: Anecdotally, it seems like there was just a bit more whimsy and playfulness around the design back in those days. The iPods that came out a few years later -- with all their delightful neon and pastel shades -- were another lovely echo of that same theme. Nowadays, it seems like technology is all polished metal and rounded corners -- Airspace [1] and Alegria [2] everywhere you look. I'd love to see a return to some of the more playful designs of yesteryear. [1]: https://www.theverge.com/2016/8/3/12325104/airbnb-aesthetic-global-minimalism-startup-gentrification https://www.theverge.com/2016/8/3/12325104/airbnb-aesthetic-... [2]: https://eyeondesign.aiga.org/dont-worry-these-gangley-armed-cartoons-are-here-to-protect-you-from-big-tech/ https://eyeondesign.aiga.org/dont-worry-these-gangley-armed-...

robertlagrant 4y ago
Two fascinating links. Thank you!

incanus77 4y ago

Gateway was involved in my first college computer, too, but not in the standard way. In 1998 I worked at a mall RadioShack, and there was also a Gateway store at the other end. I was able to get one of their credit cards, then went home and used it (upon recommendation from a coworker) to buy a custom-built PC from a company called Midwest Micro. 266 P2, 64MB of RAM, 6GB Seagate drive, SoundBlaster AWE64, and a CD-ROM. Came with Windows 98, soon replaced by Red Hat 5.2, my first foray into Linux. Served me well, upgraded it along the way, and I still have the case next to me today, with a P3, 1GB of RAM, 20GB of disk, DVD burner, 3.5 and 5.25" floppies, and running the latest FreeBSD. Great bridge machine for retrocomputing work.

EvanAnderson 4y ago

You’re thinking of “Midwest Micro” from Fletcher, OH. It was a pretty big white box PC reseller located, literally, in the middle of farm fields in rural Ohio. (Have a lot of friends who “did their time” starting out in IT work there— in support, production, or admin roles.) The founder sold out and eventually the business was owned by the same company who owned Tiger Direct.