I was recently digging about the storage shelves, looking for an old box of floppies when I came across a large box full of photos that I hadn’t opened since moving into this house ten years ago. I spent an enjoyable hour looking through this trove of photos that spanned a good five years, all at least ten years back down memory lane. One of the earliest photos I found in the mix is of myself standing on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, holding my first digital camera, the Apple QuickTake 200. This photo was taken in early 1998 — fifteen years ago, at the time of this post.
I used the QuickTake heavily on this first, real trip my wife and I took together, about a year after we met. She brought her film camera along, hence this photo.
The gallery of photos I took on that San Francisco trip with that QuickTake 200 can be seen here.
Much more recently, I used the QuickTake to create the first photo panoramas of my computer room (“the Byte Cellar”). It, along with Apple QuickTime VR Studio 1.0, did a particularly good job with the panoramas, I thought.
Another piece of now-vintage hardware I had with me on that trip was my new Newton MessagePad 2000. I did lots of dialing onto the Internet with it from the hotel room, I recall. Good times.
Cool pics! Seems like San Francisco does not change much over time… always has a run down, just rained 15 minutes ago, vibe to it… My first digital camera was a Sony Mavica MVC-FD73 that saved pictures onto 3.5″ disks.
Derek
Oh wow, the QuickTake 200! That camera was like the OG of digital photography—before we all got spoiled by smartphones. I love how you captured those early digital moments on the Golden Gate Bridge; it’s like a time capsule of tech and memories. And the Newton MessagePad dialing into the internet from a hotel room? That’s the kind of nostalgia that makes me grin. Makes me want to dig out my own retro gadgets and go on a tech time-travel spree!
Ah, the QuickTake 200 — the original digital sidekick before smartphones turned us all into instant paparazzi! I love how it captures not just images but the sheer excitement of a tech newbie discovering the digital world. And the Newton MessagePad dialing up from the hotel? Pure retro gold. Makes me want to dust off my own vintage gadgets and relive that dial-up symphony. Thanks for the nostalgic trip down memory lane!