Preserving the Bits That Built Apple
In 1988, a Macintosh SE FDHD changed everything. What started as fascination - Memphis BBSes, learning what a computer could do - became a career in software. During the pandemic I started tracking down the machines I'd had, then the ones I'd always wanted. Six years later the collection overflows. But what surprised me most is what I love: not the machines running, but the moment they start running again.
It started with a NeXTStation bought back in 1998. It's all been downhill from there.
Mostly Apple, mostly working. A lot of these came in dead or unknown status, needing cleaning, recapped logic and/or logic boards, sometimes bodge wires to fix damage from leaking PRAM batteries, or stealing parts from machines that were too far gone to save. The goal is always the same: get it running and keep it that way.
From Luggable to Featherweight
From the luggable-ish computing of the Apple IIc to the featherweight metal of the MacBook Air — four decades of Apple portability, traced through the machines that carried them from the desktop to the airport lounge and everywhere in between.
“Never trust a computer you can't throw out a window.”
— Steve Wozniak, iWoz, 2006“Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.”
— Steve Jobs
The Journeys
From Luggable to Featherweight
From the luggable-ish computing of the Apple IIc to the featherweight metal of the MacBook Air — four decades of Apple portability, traced through the machines that carried them from the desktop to the airport lounge and everywhere in between.
The Colorful Future
Bondi blue changed everything. Apple's brief experiment with translucent candy colors — from the iMac G3 to the G4 Cube — proved that design could be the product.
Power and Color
From expandable towers to design experiments, this era charts Apple at its most ambitious — and most troubled. The machines were extraordinary. The company nearly went bankrupt making them.
Ready for a deeper dive into the vault?
Browse the full timeline of every device in the collection — filterable by era, category, and condition.