Friday, October 07, 2011

Hit the Road, Mac Classic

Sweeney talking to a salesman at the Honda dealership.
Cleaning out a storage facility last week, I found a box containing my old Mac Classic, just in time for the passing of Steve Jobs. Back in 1991, M.D. Sweeney accompanied me to the Westwood Mac store and negotiated on my behalf for the computer and a printer. Sweeney is a phenomenal dealer with a deadpan expression like an Olmec mask. Sales reps flash their easy smiles, grow uncomfortable and sometimes offer things at a lower price. (They didn't this time, but even A-Rod strikes out occasionally.) On that computer I wrote many Acme Comedy Theatre sketches as well as my first Animaniacs script, "Dracu-lee, Dracu-la." But it's doing no one any good anymore and is destined for the green waste facility. Farewell, Mac Classic and rest in piece, Mr. Jobs. And if you're ever in Los Angeles, stop by Amalfi Restaurant and see if you can talk the owner (Sweeney) into a free dessert. Let me know how it goes.
Image: antique trader

6 comments:

Tom Ruegger said...

Thanks to you and the Mac for "Draculee Dracula: and all the rest of the funny scripts.

JP Mac said...

Thank you for the opportunity.

Twas indeed a game-changer.

Luke said...

Did lots of people type on computers at that point? Or were you the hipster writer? I mean that with the up most respect

JP Mac said...

Hardly among the first.

The true hipsters typed back in the '80s on a computer called a Kaypro.

The thing about IBM versions was that you had to know DOS commands to get the process going.

Macs were a smile by comparison.

Rafa Rivas said...

Hahaha, it just reminded me of the ending of every Doogie Howser episode. I've always wondered how common were personal computers before the 90s. TV shows often portrayed them as something that only the techno geek kid of the show would have.

JP Mac said...

When I was in college in the late 80s, we had a computer lab where you could type up your papers and print them out on a Dot Matrix printer.

I figured computers were all a fad and typed everything.

I'm surprised I don't ride a horse everywhere.

Featured Post

John P. McCann Sizzle Page

'Twas suggested I post a few episodes of my work in a pleasant spot. I've chosen here. Sadly, not everything I've written has y...