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Macintosh Turns 35
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As the old saying goes mileages vary. Personally, I was absolutely amazed at what we were able to do with them and how fast they changed things at the publishing companies I worked at from the very late eighties through the nineties. It was spectacular really. We all went from drawing boards to a digital work flow in a few years with very little consultancy help, while the departments around us were still using DOS. Every day seemed to bring something new and exciting. It was a really interesting time.
Except they're all 16x9 screens. That's fine for watching movies but crap for working on a laptop.I just watched the lesser-known movie where Steve Jobs introduced the Macintosh. He told more than 70% used Apple II in education. Compare that with today’s numbers and ad the creative industry with that and its obvious in what a miserable state it is in today.
Some are using the excuse that all efforts has been brought to the iPhone because that’s 70% of Apple’s income today. But seeing the slow advancements there I really wonder what’s going on there.
With the billions of profits each quarter they and 100 times the size it was 35 years ago it should be able to be at the top in each category they’re in. It’s not that they have an huge arsenal of products. So they should be able to focus and bring the best to the consumer again to justify the “Apple tax”.
2019 will be a turning point... but to be honest, I’ve little confidence they’ll succeed in turning to a positive again. I think they will go slowly downhill at first, and accelerate that trend in the not so distant future.
Happy funeral Mac
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They all came out with MacBook Pro looking laptops with better processors, graphics, screens, storage at a fraction of the cost.
I heard long ago that the real reason the Mac was switched from the Motorola 6809 (a fantastic 8-bit CPU!) to the 68000 (which was what the Lisa already used) was that no one (including Hertzfeld) wanted to try and port QuickDraw from 68000 assembler to the 6809.
No hard drive? Way back in the early 90s I had a lovely 40meg HD on my first Mac. I think the old macs were amazing. In 1992 I had my web site sitting on my Mac Classic II. By 1995 I was earning money developing web based simulations. And I'm still doing the same thing, and still on a Mac (several in home/office/road).
But as I type here on my MacBook Pro with the miserable keyboard and pointless Touch Bar, I don't think they've been doing very well lately. Luckily I'm in the latter part of my career so don't need to worry about it much longer...other than my stock.
I've dreamed of a Mac Micro in an Apple TV housing...
Wouldn't reach RPi pricing, though...
Apple bring out new Amiga ? No point in putting all your eggs in one basket... Leave some for the rest.
Apple may have been the first with speech, but they all caught on, even Apple 500 did several years later, in Workbench...
And the same"cheers" type moment at THAT event as well.. I guess no one saw an Apple..
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My spouse is still happily using the iPad 3 and six year-old MacBook. Great products don't need to be replaced.
We need to go back to an era when consumers kept all their purchases for longer periods of time rather than toss perfectly usable products. There would be a lot less trash in the oceans and landfills.
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My Mac Classic purchased in 1991 had a hard drive along with floppy drive and was very good and usable by myself. My grandmother (not a tech person) used one as well. I upgraded to a Motorola StarMax (I lived down the street from the factory) and while it was cheaper than an Apple branded mac it was no better.
It's fun reading the reminiscences from the fellow old-timers here. Between 1983 and 1991, I worked on CP/M and MS-DOS computers. (Anyone remember the KayPro II, which was the first computer I owned?) In 1991, I got a technical writing job at Hayes, the modem company. My department used Macs (which the engineers didn't consider "real computers"), and I was blown away by the WYSIWYG interface. I wanted one so badly for home use, but they were out of my price range -- until a coworker sold me her used Mac II Cx with Apple RGB monitor for $1,100.
It was great, but in 1995, I was working as a tech writer at a different company that used PCs running Windows 95. We were told we could work from home two days a week if we had an appropriate setup. I spent $4,500 on a custom-built Pentium IV system, $1,400 of which was a then-huge 21" Viewsonic monitor.
Then, in 2000, Apple introduced the PowerMac G4 "Sawtooth," which started at $1,599. I was interested in video and music production, and I had to have one. That may well be the favorite computer I've ever owned. I kept it for eight years, upgrading the CPU, GPU, RAM, and hard drives, and adding a MIDI adapter, USB card, and SuperDrive. When it became too slow for my needs, I passed it to my dad, who got two more years out of it before the GPU died. That was followed by a 2008 15" MacBook Pro, a 2012 Mac mini, and a 2015 13" MacBook Pro -- the latter two of which I'm still using.
I'm among those who think that Apple's prices have gotten too high. However, I was stunned to learn that my 1995 Windows rig would be $6,900 in today's dollars. I was young and single at the time, I was making decent money, and I "had to have the best." I couldn't imagine spending that kind of money on a computer now.
The 2000 PowerMac G4 would be $2,170 in today's dollars. I'm curious as to whether people on this forum would find that reasonable for a hypothetical base-model, fully upgradeable, comparably specced for 2019 Mac Pro tower. Part of the problem is that we consumers are used to tech products getting better and coming down in price (look at big flat-screen TVs, which have become almost an impulse purchase at the checkout aisle), or at least getting better but costing the same in absolute dollars (which of course means getting cheaper when adjusted for inflation over time). Over the past couple years, Apple products have been going up in price while getting marginally better in some respects but worse in others. Compared to my 2000 G4, I think the 2018 Mac mini would be considered fairly priced -- if the components were easily user-upgradeable, and there were a few more options. I'd be fine with "thicker" if it allowed space for more cooling and thus an optional dGPU that cost more than the integrated GPU but less than an eGPU. I'd like the option of a "regular" 1 TB SSD that might not be as fast as the SSDs that Apple uses, but that are a lot cheaper.
I'm hanging on to my 2015 MBP and 2012 mini for as long as I can. I don't know what I'll replace them with when they become unusably slow. I work on a Windows 10 PC in my day job, and I have no complaints about it. Once I'm in a Microsoft Office 365 or Adobe CC program, I can't tell the difference. But I'm heavily invested in the Apple ecosystem, and I'd rather stay.
Okay, I've digressed. Happy 35th anniversary, Macintosh!
It was great, but in 1995, I was working as a tech writer at a different company that used PCs running Windows 95. We were told we could work from home two days a week if we had an appropriate setup. I spent $4,500 on a custom-built Pentium IV system, $1,400 of which was a then-huge 21" Viewsonic monitor.
Then, in 2000, Apple introduced the PowerMac G4 "Sawtooth," which started at $1,599. I was interested in video and music production, and I had to have one. That may well be the favorite computer I've ever owned. I kept it for eight years, upgrading the CPU, GPU, RAM, and hard drives, and adding a MIDI adapter, USB card, and SuperDrive. When it became too slow for my needs, I passed it to my dad, who got two more years out of it before the GPU died. That was followed by a 2008 15" MacBook Pro, a 2012 Mac mini, and a 2015 13" MacBook Pro -- the latter two of which I'm still using.
I'm among those who think that Apple's prices have gotten too high. However, I was stunned to learn that my 1995 Windows rig would be $6,900 in today's dollars. I was young and single at the time, I was making decent money, and I "had to have the best." I couldn't imagine spending that kind of money on a computer now.
The 2000 PowerMac G4 would be $2,170 in today's dollars. I'm curious as to whether people on this forum would find that reasonable for a hypothetical base-model, fully upgradeable, comparably specced for 2019 Mac Pro tower. Part of the problem is that we consumers are used to tech products getting better and coming down in price (look at big flat-screen TVs, which have become almost an impulse purchase at the checkout aisle), or at least getting better but costing the same in absolute dollars (which of course means getting cheaper when adjusted for inflation over time). Over the past couple years, Apple products have been going up in price while getting marginally better in some respects but worse in others. Compared to my 2000 G4, I think the 2018 Mac mini would be considered fairly priced -- if the components were easily user-upgradeable, and there were a few more options. I'd be fine with "thicker" if it allowed space for more cooling and thus an optional dGPU that cost more than the integrated GPU but less than an eGPU. I'd like the option of a "regular" 1 TB SSD that might not be as fast as the SSDs that Apple uses, but that are a lot cheaper.
I'm hanging on to my 2015 MBP and 2012 mini for as long as I can. I don't know what I'll replace them with when they become unusably slow. I work on a Windows 10 PC in my day job, and I have no complaints about it. Once I'm in a Microsoft Office 365 or Adobe CC program, I can't tell the difference. But I'm heavily invested in the Apple ecosystem, and I'd rather stay.
Okay, I've digressed. Happy 35th anniversary, Macintosh!
No hard drive? Way back in the early 90s I had a lovely 40meg HD on my first Mac. I think the old macs were amazing. In 1992 I had my web site sitting on my Mac Classic II. By 1995 I was earning money developing web based simulations. And I'm still doing the same thing, and still on a Mac (several in home/office/road).
But as I type here on my MacBook Pro with the miserable keyboard and pointless Touch Bar, I don't think they've been doing very well lately. Luckily I'm in the latter part of my career so don't need to worry about it much longer...other than my stock.
Yeah, the 128K Mac had no hard drive, and they didn't introduce the HD-20 floppy-based hard drive until September '85. There was a thriving third party hard disk market to fill that need as well. The Mac Plus introduced the SCSI drive in 1986, with many companies offering external drives, including Apple, and some aftermarket companies offering internal drive modifications. The Mac II and SE were the first with an internal drive in 1987. And you're correct, the introduction of the LaserWriter in January 1985 made the Mac a must have for anybody in the desktop publishing business. By the introduction of the SE, the Mac was a highly desirable computer, driving huge profits for Apple. And Apple's education initiatives made huge inroads into the education markets. It wasn't until the mid-1990s when Apple lost its luster, and almost went bankrupt, unable to keep up with the PC industry. The iMac saved Apple. But prior to that downturn, Macs were a thriving market to which not only schools were using, but both parents and children were using very reliably. Macs were recommended especially over PCs to friends and family, but the sides were being drawn up even then and depending on someone's awareness and needs, were either embraced or derided.
Happy Birthday Mac! Let's hope this is an exciting year for the Macintosh.
I launched a 30 year vfx career from the Amiga, and ended up skipping over the mac entirely. I worked with a few graphic designers who had one and I was always jealous of their enormous 21" monitors-- but not their one-button mice.
Eventually, I ended up on PC out of necessity but mac was never in the cards for me until recently, for app dev.
Windows 95 condemned Apple to oblivion as it proved that you could have a posh WIMP interface on top of MS-DOG. The Mac was suddenly an overpriced relic from the 80s at that point. The color Macs of the late 80s into the 90s were woeful when it came to moving windows on screen. In fact, most people switched to B&W so the Mac would actually perform better and not see windows redrawing when being dragged. The clones were a constant grind down. Pre-Steve 2, Apple had a purple patch in the early 90s but it was doomed to fail as Scully let the B-Z players launch crazy Macs that nobody wanted and Quadras were too expensive for mortal man. As I say, Apple pre-1998 was a total mess which is why Steve 2 killed all the crud festering in Cupertino. Thank God.
I’ve seen the opposite. I, and the folks around me, have been using the same machines for more than 5 years.
My last home machine was 9 years old, when I gave it up. I replaced it 2 years ago with a machine that's now almost 6 years old.
My work machine is almost 6 years old even though I'm budgeted for replacements every 3 years.
In the past I used to keep my home and work machines much more current. It's more to do with Intel than Apple, I suspect, but my workflows just don't benefit from new hardware as much anymore and the hardware I have has been rock solid. It's not worth the effort and cost to replace them.
I see the same among coworkers and friends.
Sorry but honestly I believe that the fact your family's Macbooks have no issues means nothing. My new macbooks too are OK and I love them but that means nothing as well. The issues and the class actions are a fact. The stunning Apple stuff price risings are facts too, yes, more expensive stuff from Apple in exchange of more issues. Sincerely I cannot understand guys like you and others always ready to defend a big rich company. I love my Apple devices, I really love them, but in the end I believe that my interests conflicts with Apple ones and I find stupid to defend the money of a 1 trillion company against my single hard worked salary. You know what I think? In the end guys like me are the real incentive to push Apple to do better. I critic Apple because I love his products and I want Apple keep doing "wow" stuff. I don't mind that much about price tags as long as Apple products are like they were few years ago that is a really long time investment with no issues at all.
In one of my Macbook Apple care has expired. Now I live every day with the nightmare that one key of the keyboard fails and there is nothing I can do about it but throwing everything in the trash can. That's just ridicolous for a product concived for professionals!
My Dad's still works like a charm! It actually boots up more quickly than many newer computers. No Windows bloatware on this baby. And completely immune to viruses and trojans without any way to connect to the new-fangled Interweb. There's nothing like a good startup chime in the morning!
Here's me being VERY productive at work today with my family's original 128k Mac.
Anyone know how to get an ImageWriter on the company network to print to?
Here's me being VERY productive at work today with my family's original 128k Mac.
Anyone know how to get an ImageWriter on the company network to print to?
If I were to summarize your argument here, it comes down to this: Everything you've bought from Apple works great, and everything the person you're responding to has bought from Apple works great, but you think you're helping Apple by criticizing them for things you haven't experienced.
That's a bandwagon mentality. And it's that kind of bandwagon thinking that has you living in fear of a problem you've never encountered, and has exaggerated it in your mind to the point that you're one fragile key away from the trash can.
You're probably still covered under this:
https://www.apple.com/jp/support/keyboard-service-program-for-macbook-and-macbook-pro/
But even if you aren't, you can still get your hardware repaired without Apple Care, you just have to pay the cost of the repair. I've never bought Apple Care for a single product. I lose no sleep and have paid far less in repairs than I would have paid in Apple Care costs.
You aren't in conflict with a company when they've made a lot of money building products you want to buy and are happy with. That's how capitalism works.
Being profitable doesn't make them the enemy and has nothing to do with whether they should be defended against misguided criticism or not.
Hmmm, the list of joys I've had with my 2017 MBP (ntb).
1. Display dead one week after purchase.
2. Key caps started to fall off after about 1 year.
3. dust bunnies preventing the keys from working correctly (though it could be due to stray carbon atoms getting in the way)
4. Complete motherboard and display self destruction.
Through dealing with the above, the only original parts to my laptop are the speakers and the bottom plate.
Now I read that the cable connecting the screen to the motherboard has a tendency to fail.
Finally I've found that the USB-C ports are so fragile that just a slight bump against the cable will result in the device being disconnected. This is primarily an issue because I have to dual boot from an external drive.
I hear you. My original Pro tower still runs to this day. No issues. The trashcan has had everything replaced. Two glitches today alone. First time I bought Apple Care.
My Dad's still works like a charm! It actually boots up more quickly than many newer computers. No Windows bloatware on this baby. And completely immune to viruses and trojans without any way to connect to the new-fangled Interweb. There's nothing like a good startup chime in the morning!
Here's me being VERY productive at work today with my family's original 128k Mac.
Anyone know how to get an ImageWriter on the company network to print to?
No, but you might find some useful ideas here:
http://mac128.com/
It’s possible to print to a postscript file you can transfer to your modern Mac and print on your networked printer.
That 128k appears to have a SCSI drive attached? Has it been upgraded to a 512ke or Plus with a SCSI port?
$2495- in 1984
It's good to be reminded how much these things used to cost when we baulk at prices today.
It's good to be reminded how much these things used to cost when we baulk at prices today.