Today is the 25th birthday of the computer that showed the world what a computer could do.
A young Steve Jobs introduced the Macintosh on January 24, 1984 and nothing like it had ever been seen before. It was approachable. It didn't look like a computer. And there was that funny device on the end of a cord called a mouse. You could use that mouse to interact with the computer directly instead of having to type everything out. There was a cute trash can to throw away unneeded documents. There was a menu bar at the top with various options dropping down when clicked on. Everything was graphical. These interface elements are all completely common in computers today.
But in 1984 they were radical.
Apple used a great TV commercial to introduce the world to Macintosh. Based on the George Orwell book and played at the 1984 Super Bowl, it's still considered one of the greatest commercials of all time, even for the Super Bowl.
The first Mac was a design revelation, for sure. But as good as it was, today's Macs are light years ahead of them in just about every area.
The reason for that is that Apple, unlike me, is not sentimental. They never, ever look back.
1 comment:
I enjoyed your post, then I followed the link to the old TV ad which was also entertaining. Then I got stuck on YouTube watching old commercials...so it's your fault I haven't gotten anything done yet today!
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