Interview: A Family Of Macs Get The Love They Deserve
5:56 am, November 11th, 2009, Giles Turnbull
When I saw this snap in the Cult of Mac Flickr pool, I wanted to find out more. Who is the owner of the little family of Macs old and new, and how did they end up on this desk?
Their owner is Aleksandr Kaidanovskij, a resident of Verona in Italy. (Verona is a lovely city, incidentally. If you ever get a chance, go there.)
I asked him: what’s going on? Why all these Macs, and how did you get them?
Aleksandr is a relatively new Mac user, and relatively new collector of Macs. “I just love these machines and the design behind them,” he says. “The collection is just a way to regain the time I have lost, but too many machines are yet missing.”
The machines are:
- Mac Plus manufactured in 1986
- iMac G3 from 1999
- iMac 20″ from 2007
- and a bang-up-to-date MacBook Pro bought this year
All the machines are working except Macintosh Plus that is now suffering a hardware problem (although he hopes to fix it).
Aleksandr says: “The Mac Plus has been used to try out and explore System 7. I use the G3 to keep records of some of my archives.” The newer machines are in daily use.
The iMac G3 was found in a second-hand market, sitting unloved between a pile of 70s clothes and some dead television sets. In Aleksandr’s words: “It had to be saved.” I have a feeling quite a few Cult readers will know exactly what he means by that.
The Mac Plus was found in a Rome garage, where it had been snoozing undisturbed for about 15 years. No wonder it needs a little maintenance.
(Thanks to Aleksandr for answering the Cult’s nosy questions and allowing us to use his photo. He has plenty more pics in this Flickr set.)
Posted by Giles Turnbull in Interviews, MacBook Pro, Vintage Tech | Comment on this article
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That’s a man worth shaking hands with..
After anti-bacterial gel and all..
Anony, on November 11th, 2009 at 7:33 am
Im currently looking to purchase some old Mac’s to turn my office into a truly ‘Apple Zone’. Defo looking for the G3 and a Mac Plus like you have in this picture.
Nice little setup you got there. Hope i can have similar machines in the not-to-distant future.
Andrew Macdonald, on November 11th, 2009 at 10:48 am
you should see my collection.
G4 Sawtooth
iBook G3
iBook G4
iMac G4
iMac Core2Duo
Mac Plus
Mac Classic
iMac G3
Macbook Pro Unibody
Macbook Unibody
Performa 6200CD
&
Apple IIc
txpunk, on November 11th, 2009 at 10:56 am
My collection, from old to new – all in working order:
Mac Classic (1990)
Powerbook 140 (1991)
Powerbook 150 (1994)
Powerbook 3400c (1997)
Note: a dozen or so Centris/Quadras/LC/6100s from this time period went to recycling last year – they were taking up too much space.
iMac 233 rev/a (1998)
Tangerine iBook (1999)
PowerMac G4 (AGP) (1999)*
iMac 450DV+ (2000)*
PowerMac G4 Cube (2000)
PowerMac G4 (Digital Audio) (2000)
PowerMac G4 (Quicksilver) (2001)*
iBook G3 (2003)
eMac (2003)*
MacBook Pro 15″ (Mid 2009)*
* in daily use by me or family members
Ckilner, on November 11th, 2009 at 7:18 pm
I know EXACTLY what he means.
Mac SE/30
100 mhz PowerBook 5300 (1995)
400 mhz iMac G3 DVSE (1999)
500 mhz iMac G3 FP (2001)
400 mhz PowerMac G4 (Sawtooth, 1999)
733 mhz PowerMac G4 (Quicksilver, 2001)
1.67 Ghz, 15″ PowerBook G4 (2005)
2.2 Ghz, 15″ MacBook Pro (2007)
All of them work – except for the SE. I just rescued that one, but without a keyboard or system floppies. It’ll boot up, but merely shows the missing system icon when it starts. So, gotta find an old keyboard and system disk. (I hope the HDD still works!)
weatherguy, on November 11th, 2009 at 7:42 pm
My Collection Is
G3 Original Bondi Blue iMac
2008 20″ Aluminum iMac
PowerMac G4
LC 550
PowerBook 520
PowerBook 120
Soon To Be Apple IIe
Maybe A 128k Soon
email me at msintosh@gmail.com and ill send a pic sometime
I Might Send A Pic To COM also.
Mike Steebes, on November 11th, 2009 at 9:35 pm