In recent months, I’ve been looking for something affordable — or reasonably affordable — to replace my aging and obsolete Late 2014 27-inch iMac with 5K Retina display. Let me tell you the process isn’t easy, especially if dollar signs are on your mind.

So if you are seeking an all-in-one computer, your options are limited when it comes to Macs. Apple used to have two iMac lines. The basic model featured a 21.5-inch Retina display; the higher-end product had a 27-inch Retina display. While the original iMac was largely basedon portable computer parts, the newest models have come close to professional grade in terms of performance. Indeed, the short-lived iMac Pro featured an Intel Xeon CPU, same as older Mac Pros and high-end PC boxes.

In switching to Apple Silicon, Apple has placed the iMac back at the low-end of the heap, the same position it occupied during its early years. You get a 24-inch display; actually it’s 23-inches, but Apple simply rounds it off. Also CPU horsepower is limited to the entry-level M-series chips. They are surely capable of performance levels that rise above their low grade, but for content creators, and those who crave big displays, they come up short.

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Most of you are aware that I have been around the Apple universe since the 1980s, so maybe I know one or two things. I know, for example, that despite its claims or illusions to the contrary, Apple is not your friend. It is a multinational profit-making corporation that pays a little more than lip service to the environment, recycling and products that are more user friendly.

Now when the first Macintosh personal computer was released in 1984, the critics pounced on it. Not just because a graphical user interface must be a toy, nothing to take seriously (they said), but it was offered as an appliance. You could use it, have it repaired, but upgrades just weren’t possible, unlike the do-it-yourself atmosphere in PC-land. Keep that in mind.

Over the years, more and more Macs could be upgraded, until they couldn’t. One of the simplest was the Macintosh II series, where it was simple to lift the cover and replace RAM, hard drives and graphic cards. The floppy drive was dust prone because of its faulty layout on the chassis, so it often had to be removed for cleaning. So what could be better?

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When I first started to use Macs in the late 1980s, I was the oddball. Most users of personal computers worked on traditional, text-based PCs, such as the ones from IBM. When I visited a computer store — yes there were many of those — to buy apps for my Mac, the clerks often gave me a sideways glance that smacked of derision. Sometimes they actually had a few titles stuck on a rear shelf catching dust.

I actually reveled in the fact that computer viruses had mostly ignored Macs to my detriment. Weeks after my new Mac iicx was set up at my home, way back in 1989, it caught a virus. Worse, it was from an infected software floppy containing a screen saver utility from a firm known as Fifth Generation Systems. I ended up reformatting the Mac and reinstalling everything, except for that one. An online search introduced me to a solution to future problems of that sort, something known as VirusDetective (discontinued many moons ago). I wasn’t certain if it was best, but I liked the title and, besides, it was something you don’t find often these days — shareware. I didn’t have to pay if I didn’t like it, but nobody would disable it if I decided to just continue to use it. Yes I paid.

As you might imagine, there was no online checking of serial numbers; access was just too slow in those days. Remember this was before broadband Internet was actually available in many parts of the country. That occurred beginning in 1996.

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All right, I couldn’t resist the pun. But let me put my cards on the table. You see, I have owned a number of Apple gadgets over the years, beginning with a Mac and a LaserWriter. As things go, printers are commodities, so it didn’t make sense for Apple to make them without adding something special to the mix. My printers today are built by Brother and HP, and they are both way less expensive than Apple’s former entries,, and the output quality is way better.

That said, I did not engage with the Newton MessagePad either. It’s main stock-in-trade was handwriting perception, and nothing is powerful enough to parse my efforts. I suppose the iPad is in essence a linear if a lot more powerful and flexible successor.

Computer gamers have often been depicted on TV and in the movies as wearing some sort of goggles that presents virtual reality images of some sort of game. They appear to work well enough, but they are otherwise grotesque appliances externally, even though owners may be perfectly content use one, quite willing to experience the immersive existence they provide.

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