Beginnings Of The Apple Mac
It’s been nearly 40 years since the first ever Apple Mac was released, titled simply the Macintosh. In that timeline, the Mac has evolved significantly, with most of its advancements happening over the last decade. But where did it all begin and where did all the inspiration come from? Well, lets fire up the Tardis and go back to where it all started and why the Mac changed computing forever.
What Inspired The Mac?
Credit: Computer History Museum
In 1977, Apple took to the world stage with the Apple II, one of the world’s first personal computers and was on the back of the success of the Apple I. In the time between Apple II’s release and IBM’s (International Business Machines) introduction of the first IBM PC in 1981, Apple had taken the crown of kings of the personal computer industry. However, almost as soon as the Apple II was launched, the company began planning future flagship products, with worries that the shelf life of the Apple II would expire rather quickly. It turned out that these fears were not needed at all, as the Apple II remained a big seller for 15 years. But, had Apple not worried about this issue, would we have had the Mac at all?
The course of events that led to the Mac as we know it could be down to blind luck as much as real finesse. But those events began with the desire of Apple executives to develop a next-generation computer following the success of the Apple II. Even though the Mac has gone on to be a product that has revolutionised computing, considering its success, it began with very humble beginnings.
First commissioned and put into work in 1979. Despite the price tag it had upon release, the Mac was originally planned as a low-cost personal computer intended for the average consumer, with a price tag of around $500. The Mac project was initially considered only for research, which didn’t have the high profile of other releases from Apple. While many things changed during its development, no one would’ve anticipated what was unveiled.
The Mac’s Release
Credit: YouTube
On January 24, 1984, former Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced the first Macintosh at Apple’s annual shareholder’s meeting in Cupertino, California, debuting the new computer equipped with a 9-inch black and white display, an 8MHz Motorola 68000 processor, 128KB of RAM, a 3.5-inch floppy drive, and a hefty price tag of $2,495 which equivalates to about $7,000 dollars in the present day. At launch, the Macintosh was far from a hit, far from being affordable and even far from being completely workable. Yet, that original model did succeed in forever changing computing not just for its fans, but for the entire world.
The machine weighed in at just over a hefty 7.5kg and was advertised as offering a word processing program, a graphics package, and a mouse. At the time it was introduced, the Macintosh was seen as Apple’s last chance to overcome IBM’s domination of the personal computer market and remain a major player in the personal computer industry whilst attracting the average user. Despite the high price at the time, which was equivalent to around £5,000 today, the Macintosh sold really well, with Apple hitting 70,000 units sold by May 1984. Most people believe this was due to a 1984 Super Bowl ad that Apple invested in and debuted days before the Macintosh was unveiled.
Today, Apple is one of the leading PC vendors in the world, shipping an estimated 18 million units in 2019. The then-Apple competitor IBM is no longer in the personal computer business, having sold its technology to Lenovo in the early 2000s.
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