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.

The last item in the Apple ecosystem is an Apple TV digital media player that I bought three years ago. 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.