I finally read Stephen Hackett’s article over at iMore about using “SE” in Apple product names. He lists the Macintosh SE, iMac DV SE, iBook SE, and others. Most are forgettable, but the SE/30 feels the most like today’s iPhone SE: better internals in an old package.
Stephen also pointed to a Macworld article with quotes about the SE/30 and other Macs. John Siracusa had this to say:
Though future models with the original upright shape were released, they were all tagged with the derisive moniker Classic. The SE/30 bore no such shame. It was and is the undisputed king of the original, iconic Macs and, therefore, of all Macs for all time.
The very first computer I ever owned was the Mac Classic. It was the cheapest Mac at the time, but still very expensive for us. I insisted that we get it despite the cheaper PCs that were more powerful and in color.
What struck me when I later saw my friend’s SE/30 was that the Classic was actually slower and worse in a couple of ways than the SE/30, even though the Classic came out almost two years later. Still, I loved that little machine. Everything good that has happened in my life since can be traced back 25 years ago to when I brought it home.
There’s a lot of hyperbole in the tech industry about creating products that make the world a better place. But most products just don’t have that big of an impact. To me, the Macintosh was an incredible, wildly divergent fork in the road — a choice leading to new friends and a new career, meeting my wife and starting a family. It’s hard to even imagine where the original path was leading.
