iStat menus hit a lot harder when 8GB of RAM was a $2000 upgrade.

ChrisMarshallNY · 2025-01-31T10:14:05 1738318445

I remember when 4MB of RAM was several hundred dollars.

My first computer (a VIC-20) had 3KB of RAM. There was so little memory, that I had to write most of my software in 6502 Machine Language.

jkestner · 2025-01-31T14:42:35 1738334555

That’s great. You could map 3KB on, like, a sheet of paper.

I learned Photoshop 2.5 on a 5MB RAM/40MB HDD Mac IIvx (512KB video RAM, hell yeah). Seems incredible now, but that capability after upgrading from a pre-Windows 286 felt incredible then.

Now my Apple Silicon machine bogs down when everything’s trying to use the same core for UI I guess, and each browser tab consumes more resources than Mac OS 7.

ChrisMarshallNY · 2025-02-01T03:06:38 1738379198

> 5MB RAM/40MB HDD Mac IIvx

That was a top-of-the-line Mac, back then. On a par with a maxed-out Studio.

jkestner · 2025-02-01T04:39:24 1738384764

Not sure the IIvx was ever the top of the line, more like the butt of jokes. The 68040s were out in Quadras already, and this was a hobbled IIci. I remember we got it when they were slashing prices near the EOL, which is what made it a decent buy.

ChrisMarshallNY · 2025-02-01T10:36:30 1738406190

You’re right. I got it mixed up with the original Mac IIx (the gray box).

efitz · 2025-01-31T18:05:56 1738346756

The first computer I programmed on was a Data General mainframe with 8k of RAM. But shortly before my first class they got CRT terminals so I didn't have to use punch cards, and it did support BASIC.