My MacPlus was acquired soon after its release as part of a computerisation plan at the small law firm where I worked at the time.  It was brave to choose Apple when the DOS world had a firm hold on the legal market with WordStar, WordPerfect and Wang, none of which really survived the eventual universal transition to the graphical user interface.

The Macintosh, together with a LaserWriter, gave our documents the look of a much bigger, more expensive law firm.   Sadly this did not stop us being taken over by said bigger more expensive law firm, with its PCs and WordStar, who sold off the Apple equipment.  So I acquired the MacPlus and used it as my main computer until greyscale became available at reasonable cost with the Macintosh LC and then colour with a secondhand Macintosh IIsi.

The MacPlus was a significant advance on the original Mac, with 1Mb RAM (expandable to 4Mb), double density 800k floppy disk drive and, most importantly, SCSI (small computer systems interface) connector, which enabled easy high speed connection to a hard disk and other similar data intensive devices.

My MacPlus was acquired from the law firm where I worked, which had been an early adopter of the Mac, partly on my suggestion that Apple equipment was so easy to use that a hardware support person would not be required.  So everybody seemed to make me the support person, which gave me the opportunity to learn that ninety nine percent of problems are caused by somebody knocking out a cable somewhere.

It amazed me that the IBM PC, with its DOS operating system, made any sales at all.  It seemed to me that DOS was actually a step backwards from the PRO DOS system of the Apple II, in that it demanded detailed technical knowledge of a difficult command language.

After looking at both platforms, the boss agreed to go with the Mac, in retrospect a courageous decision perhaps due to the impressive quality of laser printing.  Suddenly our output took on a very professional look and we were able to print in-house a range of documents which were previously impossible.  Clients were impressed and the staff were happy, especially the solicitors who had been given Macs as well, almost turning work into fun.

However the large law firm which took us over had invested even more money in a kludgy system which required an IT Manager, who was not about to have his position undermined by users not needing support.  The IT manager would not even look at the Macs.

As for my own Mac, it was my main workhorse for many years and was used to write my book about yacht handicapping A Guide to Measurers.  Once again the output impressed everyone with its professional appearance and style.

 


 

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