The First Day of 2006 is a Little Like Boxing Day:

It's out with the old, and in with the new.

In other ways it's a bit of a dark day, as I have this issue with throwing old things out, especially those items that have some sentimental value to me -- including old computers.

I have been a Mac fanatic since the release of the original Macintosh in 1984. I remember visiting my aunt and uncle in Edmonton that summer, and he brought home from work the original Macintosh. When I first saw the new user-interface -- the GUI -- the UI we are so familiar with now, it blew my mind. This was truly a computer that was ahead of its' time. Within a few years, my uncle purchased a Mac Plus, the very computer that he and an associate of his wrote their book, entitled Statics and Strengths of Materials for Technology -- which was first published in 1992.

It wasn't until 1991 that my family purchased a Mac, a brand new Mac Classic. I spent countless hours on that machine, and learned everything I could about it. I learned to program in Hypercard, which is often regarded as the predecessor to the web browsers of today.

By 1995, my parents upgraded to a Macintosh LC. By then, it was five years old, but to them it was a bargain, and was considerably more powerful than the Classic. I took the Classic to University with me, and used it as a word processor for all my papers.

By 1998, the internet revolution was in full swing, and I had already been online for a few years. I had an email account with the University, and I was familiar with the multimedia technologies that were revolutionizing the way we managed information. My parents were still in the dark ages, but they had the itch to jump on the bandwagon. In 1998, they took the plunge and purchased a brand new strawberry 266MHz iMac -- the computer they use this very day (albeit it has been upgraded numerous times).

I soon commandeered the Mac LC for my perusal at school, and the Mac Classic was retired.

Once I graduated from University in 2001, the Mac LC was then retired.

My next computer was the 500 MHz iBook, which I used for six months, before it died. After months of saving, I bought the computer that I currently use -- my 1.8 GHz iMac G5.

Life is cyclical, and my parents have been complaining that their strawberry iMac is getting on in years. Personally, I'm amazed that the machine has managed to be a productive one, even after 8 years. 8 years is an eternity for a computer. My parents are thinking that this might be the time to upgrade, and they have their eyes on my machine. In fact, tonight they made me an offer.

So within 2 weeks, I might find myself with a brand-new machine. I may as well, since I've been in the habit of spending far too much money this past month.

The thought of buying a new computer is not bothering me. What is bothering me, are the two derelict computers sitting on the floor of my parents' office, which appear to have an appointment with the landfill. A part of me doesn't want to see them disappear -- just because I have some attachment to them. The truth be known, is that if either of those machines were spared, I would never have any inkling to ever turn them on. They are little more than antiques; and useless by today's standards.

Nonetheless, I spent the better part of tonight (and a few days in last few years) copying data from the old computers and archiving them on my computer. I doubt I will ever have any use for the information, but I don't like the idea of abandoning old data. My family suffered "The Crash of '99", where we lost a great deal of information on the strawberry iMac -- and it was a painful learning experience.

I guess I feel that I believe in backwards-compatibility; there are utilities out there that will allow you to convert old files into a more modern (hence usable) form.

The bottom line is that I have to admit I am a packrat. Not only do I keep everything (within reason) that exists in a physical form, I also keep nearly everything (within reason) that resides in the digital realm.

I will let you know within 2 weeks, if I am the owner of a brand-new computer. I, being the informed Mac nut that I am, will be waiting for the hardware releases that are expected at Macworld expo; Apple's keynote address is to be held January 10th. By then, I should have a better idea what my current computer is worth, and what I can expect to be spending on a new machine.