My Computers

Looking back, I see I have been programming computers for 54 years. I have owned many different computer models, and I describe them here in eye-glazing detail.

I began programming computers in high school summer classes where we learned Fortran. We used an acoustic coupler to connect to a time-share computer at Oregon State University.

In college, I purchased a magnetic card-programmable HP-67 calculator for $495 and used it in my physics, chemistry, and statistics courses, writing and saving small programs on the magnetic cards.

From 1978-1983, I worked at U.S. Bank in Portland Oregon in the department that processed checks. In 1982-1983, I learned how to program the IBM 3890 reader/sorters. If I hadn’t left that job to start grad school in 1983, I would have taken up the bank on its offer to teach me computer programming.

In 1982, I bought a KayPro II computer and a dot matrix printer for a total cost of $1,800. The Kaypro II ran CP/M on its 8-bit Z80 processor, had 64 kB of memory, and used 5 1/4 inch floppy disks. I taught myself S-BASIC and manually entered and adapted source code from computer magazines. I also taught myself Z80 assembly language programming. I wrote a word processor and a printer driver when I needed to print Greek letters using my dot-matrix printer. I used this computer for my Ph.D. qualifying exams and to write some simple bioinformatics software.

In 1986, our lab bought a Macintosh SE and a LaserWriter. I have been a Macintosh user ever since. I used the Mac SE to write papers and my Ph.D. dissertation. (I no longer have a digital copy of my dissertation because the software and hardware are long obsolete.)

I wanted to learn to program the Mac, but that waited until my post-doc, when I spent more time than I should have programming in C instead of doing lab work.

All of this computer experience and my self-taught skills paid off in a way I didn’t anticipate when I was hired in industry because of my computer skills in combination with my experience in molecular biology.

I used a great variety of operating systems during my career, including VMS; many versions of Unix and Linux; Mac OS 7, 8, 9, and X; macOS 11 and 12; and Windows 95, NT, 7, 8, 10, and 11. I once had a tower computer built on which I installed OS/2, Windows NT, Windows 95, and Linux so I could learn how to configure, administer, and use each of those operating systems.

Since 1982, I have always owned at least one computer (sometimes several), running through a long series of Macs including the PowerBook 140 and several models of the MacBook Pro. I owned a 15-inch 2015 Retina MacBook Pro for five years to avoid the later models with the problematic butterfly keyboard. In 2020 I bought a 13-inch M1 MacBook Air, a marvelous little laptop that my wife now uses, replacing it in 2022 with a 16-inch M1 Pro MacBook Pro.

I currently own three computers. Two months ago I traded in my 16-inch M1 Pro MacBook Pro for a 16-inch M4 Pro MacBook Pro with 48 GB of RAM, 1 TB of storage, and a nanotexture screen. I use this excellent laptop for writing posts for my two blogs, programming, finances, Zoom meetings, etc. I expect this laptop to last me many years.

Three months ago I traded in my 13-inch Surface Laptop 5 for a 15-inch Surface Laptop, 7th Edition, Copilot+ PC with a Snapdragon X Elite processor, 64 GB RAM, and 1 TB of storage. This is also an excellent laptop, equal in quality to my MacBook Pro but less expensive. This computer runs Windows 11 24H2, and I use it for Windows-related programming and Linux programming using Windows Subsystem for Linux.

My third computer is a 16-inch Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 GU604VI gaming laptop with an Intel i9 processor, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU, 32 GB of RAM, and 1 TB of storage. This computer also runs Windows 11 24H2. I bought this computer in the summer of 2023. I use this laptop to run the OpenSpace astronomy visualization program, and I plan to use it for gaming when I find some free time. ASUS called this a laptop computer, but in gaming mode it is too hot to place on my lap.

I also own a 13-inch M3 iPad Air. I have owned many of the iPad models going back to the very first model, and I have passed them on to relatives rather than trade them in. Until 2024 I always bought the 11-inch models, but I was influenced by my brother, who has a 13-inch iPad Air because its larger size makes it easier to read music.

I once owned Google’s Nexus 7 tablet. I thought it was a nicer tablet than the iPad, but Google abandoned support before I had owned it for three years. Consequently, I will never buy a Google product again.

I started buying iPhones with the iPhone 4S; before that, I had a flip phone and the iPod touch. For several years I owned an iPhone SE because I loved its small size. But eventually I was lured into buying the iPhone 14 Pro because I wanted a better camera and longer battery life. I recently upgraded my phone to the iPhone 16 Pro, primarily because I wanted the 5x telephoto. I have the base model because 128 GB of storage works well for my needs.

I have owned the Apple Watch 4, 6, 7, and now 10. These are good watches that I use for the fitness features, but for a smart watch they aren’t very smart, and some of the fitness features don’t always work well. I own the LTE model because I don’t have to carry a phone when I go for a run; my wife can track my position and call me on my watch if she needs to reach me.

Finally, in the Apple ecosystem, three years ago I bought the Apple TV digital media player. We have a very basic, nonsmart “HD ready” flat panel TV (1360 x 768 resolution) connected to it. I usually watch movies and TV shows on my laptop, iPad, or iPhone rather than on the TV.

Finally, a year ago I bought the OLED Nintendo Switch so I could play The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.