The first time I used a Mac was…

The first time I touched a mac, I remember as clear as yesterday. It was 1984, I was 12, I walked into Cambridge Computer Store on Emmanuel Street in Cambridge, UK. I was hacking assembler on my ZX Spectrum and playing with the BBC Micro at school, so I knew what computers were and were capable of.

There, at the front, was a Mac, with MacPaint, a keyboard, and this funny little box. I’d never seen anything like it. I moved the box, and the arrow moved on the screen. If I pushed the button on the top of the funny little box and moved it, a corresponding squiggle appeared. I clicked the virtual ‘buttons’ down the right, and the ‘brush’ changed. It was a revelatory moment. This was completely intuitive, and changed everything.

I think I drew a willy and walked out of the shop.