In one of those sad series of coincidences my NeXTstation this morning decided to kick the bit bucket. The good folks over at MacSlash have found a link to a demonstration video — by Steve Jobs — of the NeXTSTEP 3.0 operating system.

Needless to say the similarities between NeXTSTEP and Mac OS X are remarkable. Of course, we all should know where OS X came from. The real amazement is that NeXTSTEP came into being a decade or so before OS X. It was so far ahead of its time and still is today.

After watching the video I decided to boot the NeXT to play around for a bit. By today’s standards the machine is significantly antiquated (she is over 10 years old). She started up and proceeded to die, immediately followed by that lovely smell of burnt electronics emanating from the power supply. I suppose it finally gave up. I’ve checked eBay and a handful of other sites, but I cannot (and probably will never be able to) locate any spare or replacement parts.

I do not want to let go of this machine. Alongside my Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh and a handful of others, it is one of my most prized possessions. If you can help in any way please let me know.