... and speaking of not-so-modern technology...
I was out-and-about Saturday afternoon, with my Powerbook 1400 (aka Amelie) alongside.
Deciding I needed a caffeine fix (c'mon man, it had been a whole hour since my last cup!), I popped in to Pastry Castle for a cappuccino.
I grabbed a seat near the window, powered Amelie on, and went to place my order. Shortly after the owner brought me my frothy fix, I felt a presence next to me.
"What are you using for a battery?", asked the voice.
I turned to the left and, lo and behold, there was a gentleman, say late thirties/very early forties, standing next to me.
"Uh..." came my witty reply, "the one it came with..."
"Wow," he said," and it still holds a charge?"
"Yup," I said, "although I suspect it was a replacement somewhere along the line..."
We got to talking. Rick, a university prof and writer, has had a Powerbook 1400 for ages and loves the thing. I let him know that new batteries are still available from places like Wegener Media and Powerbook Guy, and that there's still a sizeable community of people using older hardware in this day and age.
Shortly thereafter, he realized he should probably get back to his female companion and promptly excused himself.
After he left, I chuckled quietly to myself. Rick was the third person that day to strike up a conversation with me after seeing my old Powerbook.
All three people were familiar with the older Powerbooks (and other computers in general) and weren't surprised to find that they are still capable machines in this day and age. I think they were more surprised that someone (me) was actually making the effort to use one...
It's like the old adage, "It ain't what you got but how you use it..."
Deciding I needed a caffeine fix (c'mon man, it had been a whole hour since my last cup!), I popped in to Pastry Castle for a cappuccino.
I grabbed a seat near the window, powered Amelie on, and went to place my order. Shortly after the owner brought me my frothy fix, I felt a presence next to me.
"What are you using for a battery?", asked the voice.
I turned to the left and, lo and behold, there was a gentleman, say late thirties/very early forties, standing next to me.
"Uh..." came my witty reply, "the one it came with..."
"Wow," he said," and it still holds a charge?"
"Yup," I said, "although I suspect it was a replacement somewhere along the line..."
We got to talking. Rick, a university prof and writer, has had a Powerbook 1400 for ages and loves the thing. I let him know that new batteries are still available from places like Wegener Media and Powerbook Guy, and that there's still a sizeable community of people using older hardware in this day and age.
Shortly thereafter, he realized he should probably get back to his female companion and promptly excused himself.
After he left, I chuckled quietly to myself. Rick was the third person that day to strike up a conversation with me after seeing my old Powerbook.
All three people were familiar with the older Powerbooks (and other computers in general) and weren't surprised to find that they are still capable machines in this day and age. I think they were more surprised that someone (me) was actually making the effort to use one...
It's like the old adage, "It ain't what you got but how you use it..."
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