Predictably though, as my computing requirements grew and the Mac got older, it started to get noticeably slower, and I was aware that even simple tasks-such as asking it to run a web browser and display an HTTPS page-were causing it problems.
I spent many happy hours tinkering with it and trying to find software that was supported on a device that old. It didn't take a lot of power either some 60 watts at full load, so that was a bonus. It was sedate but reliable, and I was happy. The OS X version was 10.4.7 Tiger, and the architecture was Power PC. Nobody answered, so I placed a last-minute bid, won it, and invested about the same sum of money again in bumping the memory up to 1GB and buying the OS on DVD. 'What have I got to lose, especially at that price?' I asked myself. It was new back in 2005 but had apparently been refurbished. I swore never to 'invest' in an Apple machine again-until I discovered a used Mac Mini PowerPC on eBay that could be had for around $100 in 2012.
