The U.S. Navy gave me my first taste of electronics right out of high school. Couple that fact with a very basic tenet of my personality - when something breaks, I love to take it apart and find out how it works. By 1956 this combination of curiosity and skill led me to work for Atlantic Refining Research & Development branch. This eventually became ARCO. Grant it, I started out in the proverbial Mail Room while at night I was a student at Drexel University studying Physics. Eventually, I wound up working in Arco's analytical instrumentation area ranging from chromatography to spectroscopy. After ten years at ARCO, I migrated to Sun Oil Co. and worked in various disciplines from basic research, process control to catalysis. Catalysis was about as close as I could get to surrounding myself with platinum and silver.

The first computer I came in contact was a huge IBM 1800 process control computer that took up two rooms. It had an enormous 128K (yes K) hard drive and was fed data with punch cards. I think my PDA has more computing power than the 1800. Next was an IBM mainframe which lived in Sun's Dallas facility. We talked to that computer through phone lines using TSO over a 'blazing' 300 baud modem and we thought it was a miracle thanks to Fortran and SAS applications.

In the beginning, the chemical engineers in the oil industry were the experts in computer science. In 1984 Sunoco acquired Digital VAX equipment and I asked one of the engineers what kind of PC I should buy for my home. He said that if I wanted to be in the forefront of computing, I should buy a Macintosh. "They do things differently, using software rather than hardware to make computing easy." So with $4000 I bought a Mac Plus with one Meg of RAM, an external floppy drive and an ImageWriter printer. I still have the Plus and it still works. Whenever I get overly envious of someone who has the latest and greatest Mac, I fire up the Mac Plus.

Currently, one of my greatest joys involving computers is teaching adults Mac fundamentals at Main Line School Night. Most of the adults I get don't realize that their grandchildren were born with a mouse in their hands. Their thinking goes like this: "If a six year old can do it, why can't I?" Which, of course, is true. So, it's very rewarding to witness their joy and satisfaction when they discover how to make a letterhead or how to send e-mail to their children anywhere in the world. Another accomplishment is seeing some of my "graduates" become MLMUG members.

In my classes I emphasize that Mac is a tool that can make our everyday lives easier and a lot of fun. They discover that not only does the Mac create documents and files, it can even entertain us. You should see the expressions of awe on their faces when they view a DVD on my laptop, hear a CD or find out about iTunes.

I also let them know that the stated purpose of our User Group is to provide a place where fellow Mac users can come and receive help with their computing problems as well as discover new tools to make computing fun.

For me, personally, being an active member and officer in the Main Line Users Group has been an important aspect of my life for a long time. And, since my very recent retirement, Macintosh computers have become a primary focus.

— Gene Coggins

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