As a contributing editor for San Diego's largest computer interest group, the San Diego Macintosh User Group, I sometimes publish my columns here as my monthly Hugh's Views. The November issue's theme was "doing neat things with the Mac."

Here are my thoughts:

The Mission

"How I do something neat with my Mac?" Hmmmmmmm. That's the theme of this month's Macintouch.

I use my Mac in so many ways; at work, at home, and even on the road, it seems that everything I do has some degree of "neatness" to it.

The Birdwalk

Be forewarned: this View's will have a tendency to wander. While I fully intend to focus on the "neat" aspects of my personal Mac experience, I also am purposely letting my mind and column wander into other areas of interest. Think of this as akin to what happens so often when we use the Internet. We start looking for some information and end up at a totally different, and frequently enjoyable, destination. The same concept has been turned into a profitable science by supermarkets and department stores. Just try to buy one item at any of these facilities.

Easy Toggle

Something I've been doing since System 8 is going quickly from one open application to another. Simply hold down the Apple key and press the tab key.

Digression

I call the command key the Apple key. In the past we often used the key with the apple on it in executing functions. Being an early adapter to Apple's fine products, I still have my old Apple II+ in the garage. I have no doubt that it will work perfectly if I fire it up again. They made these machines with no thought of planned obsolescence. They may have been made too well. Many schools with Apple IIs are still using these twenty-something machines.

A Gift

Apple had a wonderful idea in the early successful days of the company. With all the money they were making, they decided to donate computers to schools. I don't know the exact amount of machines that were given away, but it must have been in the tens of thousands. The thought that a company would philanthropically make major donations to public schools shows where its heart was. I know firsthand that the company still supports education with special breaks given to both districts and individual educators. Perhaps that's why so many of us in the field still embrace the quality products that come out of Cupertino.

Back on Track

While writing is column, I decided I needed more facts about Apple Inc. To find the needed info, I turned once again to Sherlock.

I wrote my query and followed the lead.

I typed in the question "When was the first Apple Computer built?"

I got 126 specific site links.

Apple History Dot Com

One of the first was a terrific site detailing the colorful history of the company, including specific pages detailing each the various computers produced since the first 1976 model. http://www.apple-history.com/

More Apple History

I found one page that links several excellent resources on the history of Apple. It also refers to books that cover the colorful history of Apple. http://web.syr.edu/~awmolloy/applebks/links.htm

American History and Apple

This March I traveled to Washington D.C. for an assignment. While in the nation's capital I paid homage to that first personal computer, the original Apple. On the mall between the Washington Monument and the Capital Building is a group of marvelous museums that make up the Smithsonian Institution. One of my favorites is the National Museum of American History. It is here that the wooden enclosed machine first produced by Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs is on display.

For this article I wanted to have a link to the Smithsonian, but didn't know the URL. Lately I've been about sixty percent accurate in guessing address on the net, but this time my first guess, www.smithsonian.gov was wrong. My second guess, www.smithsonian.edu was equally bogus. The actual site is www.si.edu. The S and I stand for Smithsonian Institution. Duh!

A Trick

I've discovered many tricks and shortcuts for navigating the web using my preferred browser, Netscape. One of my favorites is to type Apple "l" to bring up the Open Location window and to put a "?" in front of what I'm looking for. Keying in "?smithsonian" and hitting return gave me the address I wanted. Unfortunately this feature doesn't work in Explorer. By the time you read this it may; Microsoft isn't too proud to copy good ideas, are they?

History Online

From the Smithsonian site (http://www.si.edu) I quickly found the National Museum of American History (http://www.si.edu/nmah/). There is a timeline featured here that covers our nation's history from 1500 to the present day. To my delight, of the nine images focusing on different eras, the original Apple is featured. (http://www.si.edu/nmah/timeline/index.htm)

Washington Remembered

Earlier this year I stood at the Apple I exhibit, looking reverently. A couple of students passed by without even realizing the social impact of this small wooden box.

"Do you see that?" I asked the young scholars. "This is the very first personal computer." The two boys stopped and looked at the display for a few seconds. "Cool," one boy replied as the two walked away. Cool, indeed. Perhaps I'm too easily moved, but seeing that artifact just wowed me. It was one of the major highlights of my trip.

Do I do neat things on my Mac? Yeah! I don't know anyone who uses a Mac that doesn't have his/her share of cool tricks. Sharing them can also be rewarding. It can be catching.