. | Mac Shopping at CompUSA- 18 Jan. 2000
Eric "Zoltan"
DeStefano
My week started out with me deciding to upgrade to Mac OS 8.5. I
hadn't heard of too many problems with 8.5 running on a S900.
The only question that remained was where to find it, because it is
out of print. I searched high and low. Before I knew it, Thursday had rolled
around, and I still didn't have my Mac OS 8.5. Most of the places
that claimed to have it were out of stock, and the ones that did have
it wanted too much money for an out of print operating system. So I said to myself, "Why don't I just get Mac OS 9?"  That
line of thought led me down a long winding road through the hell we
call search engines, trying to find if anyone had successfully
installed OS 9 on a SuperMac S900. After four long hours I turned up
nothing, and just when I was about to give up, I found one of those
anonymous message boards containing a message saying that someone had
installed OS 9 on a SuperMac C500 with success.
Even though these were two completely different model clones, I
figured I had a shot and that was enough to enable me to purchase OS
9. I immediately browsed over to compusa.com,
and they had it in stock at my local CompUSA store. Shopping at CompUSA for Macintosh software was quite troubling at
first. I walked around for 20 minutes screaming, "Where the hell is
the Mac software!?" Then I realized something. I was a Macintosh
consumer. All the shoppers were looking at me funny, and I know they
were saying in their minds, "Damn Mac users, always have to announce
that they don't use PC's". I finally found the Macintosh area of CompUSA, a small closet
sized area all the way in back of the store. When I entered the
closet (a.k.a. the Apple section), I knew I felt something strange,
like I had crossed over some invisible border. It felt like I was
speeding on the highway with a cop behind me and I had just crossed
over the state line and the cop had no choice but to back off. All of
a sudden all the computer "professionals" who looked like they wanted
to sucker me into buying the latest piece of garbage Compaq computer
scattered in every which direction. In a way, it's kind of cool. All I have to do is go into the
Macintosh section of a CompUSA and all the loser salesmen will leave
me alone. I wish I had known this a few years ago; I could have saved
myself many anxiety attacks. Locating Mac OS 9 on one of the shelves, I quickly grabbed it and
was about to make my way out when I spotted a modem cable I needed.
"Wow, they got Macintosh cables too!" I said to myself. (Remember
this is my first time as an Apple consumer) After getting over my initial shock, I proceeded to leave the
Macintosh section (a.k.a. my new sanctuary), and all the salesmen
began to shift their bloodthirsty eyes at me. Then they looked down,
and once they saw Mac OS 9 in my hands they ran like vampires that
had just seen a crucifix. A short time later I got home installed my modem cable and began
to back up my hard drive. Once that was done, I put the OS 9 CD in my
CD-ROM drive, started the installer, and 20 minutes later I was
done. But that's a story for another time, besides I have to get back to
CompUSA with my soapbox to start my "Get A Mac!" rally. 
- <this article available in a printer-friendly
version>
Mac Metamorphosis Index- AppleShare IP woes, 4/5/2000. "...in
the last few weeks I have had many problems with just getting
AppleShare IP (ASIP) running."
- DSL lines and Cupertino Apples,
3/9/2000. Eric gets DSL, networks his computers, and makes a
pilgrimage to Apple HQ -- I'm jealous!
- Praises, complaints, news, and more,
2/23/2000
- Mac shopping at CompUSA,
1/18/2000
- The S900 Chronicles, 1/7/2000
- New Years Rant, 12/29/1999
- more on the Mac Metamorphosis
index
Recent Editorials at Low End Mac- Low End Mac at three, Dan
Knight, Mac Musings, 4/10. A look back at Low End Mac's first
three years.
- Apple Tech Support or pop
psychology?, David Schultz, Virtuality, 4/7.
- Team Mac Observer
expands, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 4/6. No sign of ET yet, but
new members have closed the gap between Team Mac Observer and Team
Lockergnome.
- Bulldozing for a faster drive,
Paulo Rodrigues, Tangerine Fusion, 4/5. It takes some time, but
here's on inexpensive way to speed up your old hard drive.
- How can I burn a CD?,
Chris Lawson, Mac Daniel, 4/4. Explanation of CD, CD-R, CD-RW,
plus advice on choosing a drive.
- New @ Low End Mac:
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