Macintosh
More info
- Owner
- Apple
- Released
- 1984
- Type
- Personal computer
- Launch price
- $2,495
- CPU
- Motorola 68000, 7.8 MHz
The computer that made the graphical interface something ordinary people could buy — introduced with a commercial directed by Ridley Scott.
The Macintosh 128K was unveiled on 24 January 1984, two days after the "1984" commercial aired during the Super Bowl. The machine was compromised in every dimension: 128 kilobytes of memory, a nine-inch black and white screen, no hard disk and no arrow keys, because the team wanted to force people to use the mouse. The price was $2,495, a quarter of the Lisa's.
The first year sold well and the second badly. Rescue came in 1985 with the LaserWriter printer and the PageMaker program: the combination made the Macintosh the standard tool for print production and gave Apple a market to survive on into the 1990s. The name lives on in the Mac, and the interface ideas in practically everything.