I'd gotten my MC6809 system running in late 1983, running the Flex09 operating system on 8" floppy disks. I had a full set of documentation for several pieces of hardware and software. My new job kept me busy, so I didn't have much time to work with my system at home.
August of 1984, I began programming the Macintosh at work. We published our first product in March of 1985. The Macintosh was a revelation -- it completely changed the metaphor for computing. I saw early on that it was the future. But, I couldn't afford one right away. I wouldn't buy my first Mac until the summer of 1987 -- a Macintosh SE. I've only purchased Macintosh computers since that time.
In the late spring of 1985, I prepared to move to a new apartment. I had bulky boxes of documentation in my closet. I figured that I'd never do anything more with that MC6809 system -- the Macintosh was the future.
I threw nearly all of the documentation away.
Two months later, in the new apartment, I regretted my decision. There were things I could do with my MC6809 computer. I had to replace the missing documentation.
To this day, I'm not sure I found replacements for everything I had.
