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My mate's family had one, and I thought it was really cool as a kid. Then I started using it and wondered what people actually used it for, it seemed to do not

My mate's family had one, and I thought it was really cool as a kid. Then I started using it and wondered what people actually used it for, it seemed to do nothing I was used to doing on other computers. And even though now it's obvious why you'd buy a Mac, that's been my relationship with them ever since! Hardware envy, but I like Linux too much to leave it behind.

Cthulhu_ 3y ago
At the time they were marketed (if I recall correctly?) mainly for browsing the internet; my first experience with a Mac was an iMac at the local library, getting 20 or 30 minutes of internet, and sitting there with my dad thinking "...now what?". I think we went to the Lego website and things like that.
- ChrisMarshallNY 3y ago
  > mainly for browsing the internet That was what the “i” in “iMac” was for. It had a built-in 56K modem, with an RJ-11 jack.
oneeyedpigeon 3y ago
I came from the other direction - used windows, admired Linux but neither was the sweet spot. OSX's brilliant UI combined with the power of a Unix-like system underneath was a perfect combo.
- rimliu 3y ago
  It is not UNIX-like, OS X was Unix (excepct for Lion), and macOS is Unix.
mkurz 3y ago
Then I recommend Asahi Linux, using it on a MacBook Pro since 12 month now exclusively and it's awesome.
hoherd 3y ago
I have a similar beginning story, especially with the wondering what people actually used it for. "Where's the terminal?" My story diverged from yours when one of my Mac using friends said "Apple is releasing a Unix based OS." I thought "oh please make it Unix with an awesome GUI." I was so tired of working on my GUI in linux instead of working with it. I just wanted Wi-Fi to work, I wanted wake from sleep to work consistently, I didn't want my graphics drivers to break or be so much different to configure on a different device. I wanted a consistent trackpad experience. And Apple delivered. Some of my happiest feelings of my first Mac, the 12" mbp, were about how little I used it because I was able to open it, quickly do what I wanted, and then close it. I had been using Linux as my daily driver, but switched to OS X 10.2.6, and have been there ever since. Between then and now I've used a fair variety of unixes for work, like aix, hpux, solaris, FreeBSD, and linux, and I've never been without at least a few Linux boxes at my house, but I find that the macOS GUI does the best job of getting out of the way so I can get to work. Every once in a while I try out a Linux GUI, hoping that I'll be compelled to give it a shot as my primary work environment. I have an old Thinkpad that I keep loaded with some desktop flavor, but I always run into things that steer me back to macOS.
- steve1977 3y ago
  Similar to my story. I’ve switched to Mac OS X with the first public beta. I was exposed to NeXTSTEP on my job then and loved it. And I was using FreeBSD at home. Then Mac OS X came, basically NeXTSTEP with some FreeBSD and a gorgeous GUI. Shut up and take my money…
- hospitalJail 3y ago
  Is it really fair to compare a macbook without a GPU and a Linux with a GPU? (EDIT: This is HN, we all know that integrated CPUs/GPUs are not what is referred to as GPU. Please don't be pedantic. )
  - pjmlp 3y ago
    What powers the display on any modern computer?
- 3y ago

Cthulhu_ 3y ago

At the time they were marketed (if I recall correctly?) mainly for browsing the internet; my first experience with a Mac was an iMac at the local library, getting 20 or 30 minutes of internet, and sitting there with my dad thinking "...now what?". I think we went to the Lego website and things like that.

ChrisMarshallNY 3y ago
> mainly for browsing the internet That was what the “i” in “iMac” was for. It had a built-in 56K modem, with an RJ-11 jack.

oneeyedpigeon 3y ago

I came from the other direction - used windows, admired Linux but neither was the sweet spot. OSX's brilliant UI combined with the power of a Unix-like system underneath was a perfect combo.

rimliu 3y ago
It is not UNIX-like, OS X was Unix (excepct for Lion), and macOS is Unix.

mkurz 3y ago

Then I recommend Asahi Linux, using it on a MacBook Pro since 12 month now exclusively and it's awesome.

hoherd 3y ago

I have a similar beginning story, especially with the wondering what people actually used it for. "Where's the terminal?" My story diverged from yours when one of my Mac using friends said "Apple is releasing a Unix based OS." I thought "oh please make it Unix with an awesome GUI." I was so tired of working on my GUI in linux instead of working with it. I just wanted Wi-Fi to work, I wanted wake from sleep to work consistently, I didn't want my graphics drivers to break or be so much different to configure on a different device. I wanted a consistent trackpad experience. And Apple delivered. Some of my happiest feelings of my first Mac, the 12" mbp, were about how little I used it because I was able to open it, quickly do what I wanted, and then close it. I had been using Linux as my daily driver, but switched to OS X 10.2.6, and have been there ever since. Between then and now I've used a fair variety of unixes for work, like aix, hpux, solaris, FreeBSD, and linux, and I've never been without at least a few Linux boxes at my house, but I find that the macOS GUI does the best job of getting out of the way so I can get to work. Every once in a while I try out a Linux GUI, hoping that I'll be compelled to give it a shot as my primary work environment. I have an old Thinkpad that I keep loaded with some desktop flavor, but I always run into things that steer me back to macOS.

steve1977 3y ago
Similar to my story. I’ve switched to Mac OS X with the first public beta. I was exposed to NeXTSTEP on my job then and loved it. And I was using FreeBSD at home. Then Mac OS X came, basically NeXTSTEP with some FreeBSD and a gorgeous GUI. Shut up and take my money…
hospitalJail 3y ago
Is it really fair to compare a macbook without a GPU and a Linux with a GPU? (EDIT: This is HN, we all know that integrated CPUs/GPUs are not what is referred to as GPU. Please don't be pedantic. )
- pjmlp 3y ago
  What powers the display on any modern computer?
3y ago