To be fair to my DOS friends, many of them went on to earn millions of dollars at Microsoft at the time. (I grew up right next to Microsoft).
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
The Mac Turns 40: Read Apple's Announcement From 1984
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I remember Linotype machines (my wife was a real graphic designer). Back then there were companies that would take digital files and produce Lino "prints" for a fee.
If we're talking about the AVP...I do think it's good to show what paradigm-changing hardware and software can do, and how "expense" and "value" are different things.
"A cynic is a man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing." — Oscar Wilde
I managed a whole department at a graphic design company that developed and sold those prints
Yeah, we Apple enthusiasts have had to endure that kind of derisive and derogatory nonsense since day one. Right, REAL work only gets done on a Windows PC. When my kid s goes to school I want then to learn on a REAL computer, not a toy. Sheesh, is that attitude still around? I guess so.
Couldn't stop laughing when I saw this thing 40 years ago, I was a designer and worked with paper and squeaker pens on an AO drafting board (33.1 x 46.8 inches), man this thing was tiny, gold fish live in a bigger bowl than that.
Macintosh 128K = $2,495 or around $7,510 in today's dollars
ImageWriter printer = $495 (with Macintosh purchase) or around $1,490 in today's dollars
External drive = $495 or around $1,490 in today's dollars
Box of ten 3.5" disks = $49 or around $150 in today's dollars
Numeric keypad = $129 or around $390 in today's dollars
300 baud modem = $225 or around $680 in today's dollars
1200 baud modem = $495 or around $1,490 in today's dollars
So, a Macintosh 128K computer with ImageWriter printer, external drive, box of ten disks, numeric keypad, and 1200 baud modem would've retailed for around $12,520 in today's dollars. Discounts, however, were available especially in the education (teachers, students, parents of students) market.
Of course, lots of other "electronics" were pricier (adjusting for inflation) on average back then including televisions, video players (VCRs), camcorders, etc.
ImageWriter printer = $495 (with Macintosh purchase) or around $1,490 in today's dollars
External drive = $495 or around $1,490 in today's dollars
Box of ten 3.5" disks = $49 or around $150 in today's dollars
Numeric keypad = $129 or around $390 in today's dollars
300 baud modem = $225 or around $680 in today's dollars
1200 baud modem = $495 or around $1,490 in today's dollars
So, a Macintosh 128K computer with ImageWriter printer, external drive, box of ten disks, numeric keypad, and 1200 baud modem would've retailed for around $12,520 in today's dollars. Discounts, however, were available especially in the education (teachers, students, parents of students) market.
Of course, lots of other "electronics" were pricier (adjusting for inflation) on average back then including televisions, video players (VCRs), camcorders, etc.
Wait a minute. The Apple II existed before the Mac. I used that one in school all the way up to High School. The Mac was in High School ( LC 3) but so were the Apple 2’s.
January 24 marks the 40th anniversary of Steve Jobs unveiling the Macintosh, the first successful mass-marketed computer with a graphical user interface.
The original Macintosh popularized the computer mouse, allowing users to control an on-screen pointer. This point-and-click method of computer navigation was still a novel concept to most people at the time, as personal computers in this era typically had text-based command-line interfaces controlled with a keyboard.
An excerpt from Apple's press release in 1984:Apple said the Macintosh typically took "only a few hours to learn," and it touted what are now basic computer features, such as a desktop with icons, the ability to use multiple programs in windows, drop-down menus, and copy and paste.
A quote from Jobs in Apple's press release
Apple's full press release for the Macintosh can be found on Stanford University's website.
Article Link: The Mac Turns 40: Read Apple's Announcement From 1984
Yep. I had to write why we use Macs for our Advertising-Marketing and Sales People back in 1980's to our Windows CTO. Every year he kept trying to get rid of it. Every year he failed. LOL
I managed a whole department at a graphic design company that developed and sold those prints
Curious... roughly how much did a Linotype machine cost back then?
Somewhere I still have the Lino output for the jewell case design and floppy label. The floppy and small manual fit inside a double wide CD jewell case - the CD holder was replaced with a floppy holder insert.
And now that I think about it... I did that work on a Mac IIci, my first Mac upgrade.
I'm trying to remember what I used to print the manuals. I think it was a Xerox DocuTech.
And now, the derisiveness is coming from Apple users: "Real work only gets done on a Mac!" (not an iPad or an AVP).
Not really. Windows is the most common computer OS with a GUI, but most computers are headless and running Linux, and most devices aren’t running a computer OS.
Most business software is presented as websites so totally OS (and device) agnostic. If anything, I’d guess business software is more commonly exclusive to Mac than to Windows, but most isn’t exclusive at all.
Windows does dominate for computer games. I’m not sure why. The engines can all target Mac just as easily as Windows, and the stores all run on Mac, too. Just developers don’t seem interested in releasing for the Mac - maybe because they want to actually test if for the platforms they release on, and they don’t want to bother buying a Mac just to test with when they don’t expect much for sales.
Still have working models. 128 & 512 & Plus models and carry bags and one original box & keyboards & mice.
They still network using Farallon PhoneNet connectors.
FYI there are signatures inside the boxes and one of my models has a white 68000 CPU.
They still network using Farallon PhoneNet connectors.
FYI there are signatures inside the boxes and one of my models has a white 68000 CPU.
Last edited:
I'm sure it was a lot but I never had to buy the equipment.
The IIci was a workhorse. Really probably THE mac that revolutionized all of publishing.
When my oldest son went to U of I (Champaign/Urbana) College of Engineering (home of first web browser Mosaic, developed by Marc Andreesssen ) in the late 90s he told me the first engineering computer lab he had a class in was 100% Macintosh. They all ran Wolfram Mathematica and some of his classmates were dumbfounded by the presence of Macs. My son also got to meet and talk with Steve Wozniak while Wozniak was visiting and my son was working in Granger Engineering Library at the time. That son is now a structural engineer working in the power industry designing and building HRSGs
Last edited:
I think we need and deserve a 32" iMac for the 40th anniversary!!! 😁
Is it a computer?
That question keeps popping up, generations later.
The DOS guys didn't consider the Mac a real computer.
And now the Mac guys don't consider the iPad or the AVP to be computers.
But can you imagine showing an Apple Vision Pro to a person in 1984, who was using the first Mac, and asking them if they think the AVP is a computer? There'd be no question the answer would be yes.
That question keeps popping up, generations later.
The DOS guys didn't consider the Mac a real computer.
And now the Mac guys don't consider the iPad or the AVP to be computers.
But can you imagine showing an Apple Vision Pro to a person in 1984, who was using the first Mac, and asking them if they think the AVP is a computer? There'd be no question the answer would be yes.
Nice! I made a Macquarium out of a Power Mac G4 Cube. That's Mr. Jobs swimming around.
Yes the IIci was a workhorse, We launched a color newspaper using Quark Xpress and a film printer and SyQuest removable drives and had Gannett publishing print it down in Atlanta.
Having a color display, even though it was a little small, was huge. A friend of mine got a large Sony Trinotron color display. That was impressive.
Those syquest drives were a game changer.Yes the IIci was a workhorse, We launched a color newspaper using Quark Xpress and a film printer and SyQuest removable drives and had Gannett publishing print it down in Atlanta.
Ah,brings back memories. Purchased my first Apple computer in 1983 and of course I was an early adopter of the first run of the Mac. That’s back when Apple customers were treated like royalty. By comparison, today I’m treated like a Best Buy customer. 🤷♂️
Last edited: