Apple's Macintosh Turns 41 Today

[MacRumors]

Apple announced the Macintosh 41 years ago today, introducing the first widely successful personal computer with a graphical user interface.

The Macintosh revolutionized personal computing by popularizing the use of a mouse to control an on-screen pointer. At the time, this point-and-click navigation method was unfamiliar to most, as personal computers primarily relied on text-based command-line interfaces operated with a keyboard. An excerpt from Apple's press release in 1984:

Users tell Macintosh what to do simply by moving a "mouse" — a small pointing device — to select among functions listed in menus and represented by pictorial symbols on the screen. Users are no longer forced to memorize the numerous and confusing keyboard commands of conventional computers. The result is radical ease of use and a significant reduction in learning time. In effect, the Macintosh is a desk-top appliance offering users increased utility and creativity with simplicity.

Apple claimed the Macintosh required "only a few hours to learn" and introduced features that are now fundamental, such as a desktop with icons, multitasking in windows, drop-down menus, and copy-and-paste functionality.

Macintosh easily fits on a desk, both in terms of its style of operation and its physical design. It takes up about the same amount of desk space as a piece of paper. With Macintosh, the computer is an aid to spontaneity and originality, not an obstacle. It allows ideas and relationships to be viewed in new ways. Macintosh enhances not just productivity, but also creativity.

The Macintosh was priced starting at $2,495, equivalent to over $7,000 today. It featured an 8 MHz Motorola 68000 processor paired with 128 KB of RAM (upgradeable to 512 KB), a 400 KB 3.5-inch floppy disk drive, a 9-inch black-and-white CRT display with a resolution of 512x342 pixels, and two serial ports to attach peripherals like the Apple ImageWriter printer or external modems.

It included software such as MacPaint, which allowed users to draw detailed black-and-white graphics with features like pattern fills and brushes that were revolutionary for the time, and MacWrite, a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) word processing application with real-time editing, proportional fonts, and drag-and-drop functionality.

The Macintosh launch was accompanied by one of the most iconic marketing campaigns in history, including the legendary "1984" Super Bowl commercial directed by Ridley Scott. The ad positioned the Macintosh as a revolutionary product that would challenge the conformity of the computing industry, dominated by IBM at the time.

Over 40 years later, the Mac continues to be an essential product for Apple and retains many of the same software features as the original model. Apple's full press release for the original Macintosh is available on Stanford University's website.

Article Link: Apple's Macintosh Turns 41 Today

 

[mcilwraith]

happy birthday Mac! we love you!

 

[tomtad]

Any significance to 41?

 

[tubular]

Mac user since 1986, maybe 1987. It's been a gem (barring a few patches where they let it stagnate) and has literally never been better.

 

[tubular]

Any significance to 41?

It's a prime number, meaning that the Mac is still in its prime.

 

[TechRunner]

I remember going to a local computer store to see one, and even though I was awed by it, I was stunned by the price. The car I drove there cost me $800USD. I couldn't imagine spending $2495USD for a computer.

 

[Mega ST]

Back then the Classic was tiny compared to everyone else. Mine even came with a shoulder bag as it was considered portable.
Apple should go this miniaturisation route again. Make some truly small pocket laptops with apple silicon, integrated keyboard and full MacOS please. I would get one.

 

[davegoody]

Nice montage image, though that's NOT the first Macintosh., that's the Macintosh Classic which was released around 6 years later......

 

[attila]

My father was looking for a desktop publishing computer at the time. He went to Hewlett Packard, as he had trust in that brand for various reasons. The salesperson recommended a Macintosh. My dad went and purchased the Macintosh 128K.

We've had Macs in the family ever since

 

[gpat]

Quite a number of inconsistencies in the article.
The 128K RAM was NOT upgradeable to 512K without a complete motherboard swap, and features did NOT include multitasking, at least not at launch time.
Also the machine in the picture is from 1990.

 

[DrJR]

I remember going to a local computer store to see one, and even though I was awed by it, I was stunned by the price. The car I drove there cost me $800USD. I couldn't imagine spending $2495USD for a computer.

Yes, I remember when the Mac dropped and I remember a few years later dad shelling out $3000 for his first computer for the business, and it became my first computer: 8088 16mhz processor. I put a modem in it and dialed into BBS's back when the internet was more like HAM radio...... I miss those days. People were polite!

 

[Will Co]

My best mate at University got a Macintosh back in '86. I have fond memories of playing around with it. I was using an Atari ST at the time which used the GEM windowing system and it looked remarkably similar to the Mac, so it was an easy transition. Couldn't afford a Mac myself. I remember it being incredibly powerful, for the time, especially for DTP work and writing scientific papers which is what my friend mostly used it for.

 

[iBookmaster]

It would be a sad world if our only main choice was Windows computers.

 

[jdclifford]

I still have my original Mac, I/W Printer, external HDD and all the other original goodies (and software) stored in the original Mac bag sitting in a closet. Of course, back then, upgrading the RAM involved swapping out the motherboard with I did twice to go from 128k to 512k then from 512k to 1MB (it was called a “Fat Mac”). Now my M4 iMac (and all the other Macs) come with minimum 16GB.

Everyone seems to always complain about Apple charging an add’l $200 to upgrade RAM when buying a Mac. Back in 1984 when those first upgrades were available, I remember it costing me about $1,000 for the 1M motherboard upgrade. That’s over $3,000 in today’s $.

That was a quick 41 years.

 

[VulchR]

The article misses out the most important advantage the Mac had: QuickDraw in ROM. The made programming it relatively easy - no loading libraries from disk that took ages like on a PC back then.

I remember going to a local computer store to see one, and even though I was awed by it, I was stunned by the price. The car I drove there cost me $800USD. I couldn't imagine spending $2495USD for a computer.

I was lucky to get a university discount (on a Mac+). Best investment I ever made. Did my PhD data analysis on it.

 

[Ad47uk]

It would be a sad world if our only main choice was Windows computers.

It was a sad world when CBM went belly up and that was the end of the Amiga, I would love to know what the Amiga would be like now if CBM had kept going. That was when I had to change to Windows, Macs were out of my price range. Then i just got stuck in a rut and carried on with Windows until last year. I only changed to Mac because of the place Windows were going, also wanted a machine that was smaller and use less energy.
My one regret is that I should have gone to Mac before, but they used intel chips and I hate Intel.


Macs always had this thing that it was mainly for Desktop publishing and design, which is strange because a Windows machine can do it just as well, but I suppose Windows 98/98 was pretty unreliable, Macs had this it just worked thing, even then.


I said above, my regret is not going to Macs earlier, but the way Apple is starting to push stuff like AI, I am wondering if I should have stayed with Windows, or gone for Linux.

 

[StrollerEd]

My best mate at University got a Macintosh back in '86. I have fond memories of playing around with it. I was using an Atari ST at the time which used the GEM windowing system and it looked remarkably similar to the Mac, so it was an easy transition. Couldn't afford a Mac myself. I remember it being incredibly powerful, for the time, especially for DTP work and writing scientific papers which is what my friend mostly used it for.

I had moved to a group within a UK university which had 'application software & technology' in its title and we invested in one of these.

As you imply, the Macintosh revolutionised DTP work but the much cheaper Atari ST with GEM had the biggest impact on researchers and students doing scientific graphics and/or GIS. I bought one myself, experimenting with the Aladdin Mac emulator, before later opting for the se/30 Mac which could handle more demanding statistical work. Datadesk, software on the Mac then showcased Tukey's EDA.

 

[webkit]

I remember going to a local computer store to see one, and even though I was awed by it, I was stunned by the price. The car I drove there cost me $800USD. I couldn't imagine spending $2495USD for a computer.

It was pricey but people with university connections (students, faculty, staff) could get generous education discounts (40% or more) on Macintosh computers back in 1980s and 1990s.

 

[webkit]

Apple should go this miniaturisation route again. Make some truly small pocket laptops with apple silicon, integrated keyboard and full MacOS please. I would get one.

I think MacBooks and iPads are Apple's answer to "miniaturized" computing. Might as well throw in the iPhone too.

 

[TechRunner]

It was pricey but people with university connections (students, faculty, staff) could get generous education discounts (40% or more) on Macintosh computers back in 1980s and 1990s.

True. My mother worked at the university I attended during that time, and even with her employee discount it was still too much for a broke college student/dreamer to afford. Good memories...

 

[Digital Dude]

Seems like it was only yesterday. Purchased my first Apple Computer in 1983 ☮️

 

[Crowbot]

I went into the computer store for my first computer and the choice was between the shiny new Mac and the Apple //e. The Mac had almost no software (and no games) so I went with the //e, which had an established software base. I stayed with it until Apple dropped support. Then I went to the new Mac Mini. I kind of wish I had gone with the Mac at first.

 

[StrollerEd]

It was pricey but people with university connections (students, faculty, staff) could get generous education discounts (40% or more) on Macintosh computers back in 1980s and 1990s.

and thus was made a cadre of lifelong supporters

 

[blaureiter]

And the Lisa Computer is 42 years old. For those who thought $2,495 for a Macintosh was a lot, the Lisa was $9,995 (about $31,000 today). Curiously, the NeXT computer was also $10,000 but did appear in many university UNIX labs. As we know, the web was invented on a NeXT. So happy birthday GUI!

 

[StrollerEd]

And the Lisa Computer is 42 years old. For those who thought $2,495 for a Macintosh was a lot, the Lisa was $9,995 (about $31,000 today). Curiously, the NeXT computer was also $10,000 but did appear in many university UNIX labs. As we know, the web was invented on a NeXT. So happy birthday GUI!

So, the answer really is 42