Barkings! | The Small Dog Apple Blog

The Macintosh Turns 27 Today

Posted 2011-01-24 11:47 in Apple-News by

Today marks the 27th Birthday of the iconic beige box which ultimately gave way to the iMac I’m typing this post on. On January 24th, 1984, Steve Jobs introduced the Macintosh to the world. The first machine to run Mac OS (then System 1.0), the Macintosh revolutionized the personal computer industry, and changed the face of industrial design in the computing market. Prior to the machine’s release, the concept of an all-in-one computer was largely unheard of. In the days leading up the the machine’s official unveiling, Apple aired its famous Orwellian inspired–Ridley Scott directed– advert during Super Bowl XVIII.

Though its specs may seem paltry by today’s standards, for its time, the Macintosh yielded the complete package for many users. Here’s a quick history lesson:

The Macintosh (later rebranded Macintosh 128k) debuted in January 1984 for the initial price of $2,495. Carrying the model number: M0001, it boasted the following specifications:

Macintosh

  • Built-in Display: 9-inch
  • Processor: 8 MHz Motorola 68000
  • System Bus: 8 MHz
  • Internal Storage: None
  • Media: 400 KB 3.5” Floppy
  • Onboard RAM: 128 KB (Expandable to 4 MB)
  • Graphics: None
  • Peripherals: Apple Mouse and Keyboard

Today, accounting for inflation, $2,495 in 1984 dollars would buy you the following:

iMac 27-inch

  • Processor: 2.93GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7
  • Cache: 8 MB L3
  • Internal Storage: 2TB Serial ATA Drive + 256GB Solid State Drive
  • Media: 8x double-layer SuperDrive
  • RAM: 16GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM
  • Graphics: ATI Radeon HD 5750 1GB GDDR5 SDRAM
  • Peripherals: Magic Mouse + Magic Trackpad

and you’d still have a little under $1,000 left over!

We’ve certainly come a long way in just 27 years. I raise a toast to the “Insanely Great” little machine which arguably started it all. Cheers, and Happy Birthday!

What are your memories of the Macintosh? Feel free to share below!

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  1. my first mac was the macintosh performa i still have it in a box somware it crashed alot and ran os 9.2 but i had a lot of fun with it


    — Daniel    2011-01-24 13:49    #

  2. I purchased a business in 1978, and at that time almost no small business operated with a computer – and those that did used the old IBM based DOS system (remember the keyboard overlays with the line commands on them?)
    Then Apple came out with the LISA and I went to a demo and was blown away with the possibilities. But at 10K my accountant said -no way.
    Then my twin brother walked into my office several years later with the cute little Mac PLUS and both of us were hooked!
    Later we bought a hard drive that was the same footprint as the base of the Mac – and with (believe it!) 40MB – we wondered if we could ever fill it up!
    That little machine lasted for years in the office, and printed out on a noisy dot-matrix printer. But to us it was the most wonderful machine we had ever seen or worked with…the equivalent to moving from a snow shovel to a two-stage powerful snow blower and getting the job done in a fraction of the time.
    Today – looking back to that machine from the perspective of the current machines (iMAC G4 and iMAC G5 – MacBook Pro – MacBook AIR), it seems like traveling America in a Conestoga wagon rather than a 737. But…
    We LOVED the Mac PLUS and that first love has never faded. My brother still has it and some one gave me another just like it (which was going to the dump..and which I had to rescue!). I keep it in my basement in storage.
    SO…thank you APPLE for the start of a love affair.
    I am afraid I will be hooked forever!


    — Frank J Jordan    2011-01-25 17:03    #

  3. My first Mac – and first home computer – was an LC II. I remember that we did not make the extra investment to upgrade the hard drive to 20 MB. I took home the Mac, set it up and stumbled through getting it running. Then I installed KidPix and handed the mouse to my 5 year-old son, who immediately grasped the relationship between the mouse and the cursor and began having fun making art. After that, I set my 2 year-old daughter in front of the beautiful 12 inch color monitor and she started creating art. It just worked! Eventually, I learned how to do actual work with Claris Works and gained dial-up internet service.


    — Dave Kinnear    2011-01-28 16:39    #

  4. I was cleaning up the attic one day and decided to get rid of the old Apple II e, made of cast iron!!!!!! I did recycle it properly but got heck from my son who said not to get rid of anything else. oops!


    — Joan Weed    2011-01-28 16:57    #

  5. I was beginning a new position as principal of Trinity Lutheran School, Wahiawa, Hawaii when the Mac was introduced. The school had purchased IIe machines for the computer lab but we had nothing in the office. I convinced the Board that the Mac would be worth the expense and they agreed to risk the $2500.

    So I was excited to go to Honolulu and buy one of the first Macs on the island. I used Macwrite to do newsletters and correspondence and then eventually more software came along which was useful in a school setting.

    I remember buying a carrying case for the Mac so I could take it with me to conferences. It was a hit there also and other principals jumped onboard.

    It's been a great ride from 1984 to now. I'm writing this on my MacBook Pro. My first Mac laptop sits in a case next to my desk.


    — Dan Seim    2011-01-28 17:21    #

  6. We purchased the first Mac in April, 1984 and also got the Imagewriter I for an additional $600. for a total of $3000. plus tax, the best computer purchase we ever made! My wife who is a writer had always used an IBM Selectric typewriter and wanted no part of a computer. But after just one day of working on the Mac, the IBM was used only for addressing envelopes. She is still getting royalties from books written on it and we still have that original Mac and it still works. We are now on our tenth Macintosh, a 27 inch iMac, one great machine.


    — Michael    2011-01-28 17:36    #

  7. My first Mac was an SE-30; I recall I felt like a BMOC because the memory was maxed and it had DUAL DRIVES! Woo-HOO, no disk swapping ;^)\ I still have that old beastie, although it quit functioning waaaay back; but I just do not have the heart to trash it (much to my wifes chagrin). I also still have my original Powerbook 100, which for lack of a live battery surely still works…


    — Darren / Los Angeles    2011-01-28 19:29    #

  8. The University of Kansas Comp Sci Department got a couple of these first Macs. I was one of the first users, and it was love at first sight. What a different experience it was from timesharing on the university's Honeywell mainframe. I wrote my masters thesis on this little Mac using, if I'm not mistaken, WordPerfect and still remember how impressed I was that it could handle all the math symbols and equations in WYSIWYG format.


    — John Snyder    2011-01-28 22:22    #

  9. Have been a Apple user since the 2+ then the 2e … until now- MacBook Pro. Apple is and has been very reliable virtually maintenance free with years of quality service. Wonderful innovative products.


    — Richard Thornhill    2011-01-28 22:29    #

  10. I used my first MAC in 1988 at a printing company I worked for in MI creating resumes for their customers, etc. In those days a lot of files fit on the disks. And program upgrades came on many disks. What memories. When I went to work a few years later, in Tennessee I was lucky enough to work on a Scitex graphic system that used MACs as their foundation (also growing up with Adobe and their graphic applications). I kept up with MACs while I worked in Graphics. I still believe they are the best machines for graphics and photos for printing processes. I no longer work in graphics (my personal computers are PCs) but I am a MAC person from the old days. Was it really that long ago?


    — Pam Stein    2011-01-28 22:32    #

  11. Back in 1982 a trainer at my workplace sat me down in front of a new Mac 128K. His first words were, 'Sit down. Play with it. Do what ever you want with it. There's nothing you can do to hurt anything.' I took to it like a fish to water! This led to future Macs in the laboratory I work in. Later he gave me a Powerbook 140 that was deader than a door nail. I took it as a challenge. It was the infant days of the internet and I researched all I could about the PB 140. Determined it to be a bad daughter card, purchased one, installed and it powered right up! I learned quickly that I could repair Macs.

    As time in the lab went by I developed a Hypercard database of all our procedures and SOPs. Eventually I ended up maintaining a network of 30 Macs running LIMS (Laboratory Information Management System). If any of the out of warranty Macs went down I did all repairs. The last Mac purchased was a PowerMac 8100. In 1997 the corporate heads signed a contract with a large PC maker to provide all personal computers. Corporate decided that no other brands would be allowed. By the end of 1997 the Macs were completely phased out. And I was heartbroken!

    I still have that first Mac I put my hands on. I need to replace a burned out rheostat and if/when I do I'm sure it will fire right up.

    That little Mac 128K made me a believer in Apple and I'm still an Apple user to this day!


    — Steve S    2011-01-28 22:50    #

  12. My first Mac was an SE. I used to run warehouse parties and events in night clubs. The bromide proofs for poster artwork and flyers were expensive. I heard that I could proof the work on screen with this Mac computer.

    I bought the computer and the software and it paid for itself in 5 months.

    When I went back to college in the mid-1990s I bought a PowerBook 165 which had 16 shades of greyscale and powered a Stylewriter II printer. The computer was a big and the battery lasted under two hours. But I was able to connect it to the college internet network and browse the web with Mosiac. I completed all my college assignments in ClarisWorks and still miss the Oscar the Grouch trashcan application that all Mac users used to have on their machine back then.

    One thing the PowerBook did have which my current MacBook Pro doesnt was little legs that tipped the keyboard up at an ergonomic 11 degrees. Apple still could learn from its past on that one as my aching wrists will testify to.


    — Ged Carroll    2011-01-29 05:56    #

  13. You might be interested to know that the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts has a display section of beautifully designed 20th Century inventions: telephones, toasters, typewriters, and one computer, the Mac SE. My first computer was just like it. Who knew it would eventually become museum worthy? Four Macs later, I am still a huge fan.


    — Bob Rondeau    2011-01-29 06:01    #

  14. I was a teacher when it first came out. Apple offered teachers a deal.
    I bought one with an additional program for teachers. Many exams were created at home which saved me staying late at school.It was used for personal correspondence,posters ,banners, puzzles, etc,. I even added more memory.Great machine just too slow.


    — Faye    2011-01-29 08:13    #

  15. I remember moving up to the Northeast Kingdom,of Vermont, in Aug. 2000, with my first Blueberry Mac, still in the box, not having a clue what to do with it. After setting it up, I listened to Boston radio on it for a month, until I got my first phone bill & almost fainted! I was under the impression that it was all FREE, but found out that only in Vermont did it cost 2.5 cents per minute for dial-up. Luckily, Verizon took pity on me, as long as i never did it again! My husband had boasted that he would read the manual & figure out how it worked & then teach me, but to this day he has only learned, with my help, how to find something he needs online. I even have to print his emails & hand them to him!


    — Lynette    2011-01-30 11:59    #

  16. My (now) wife and I bought a Mac+ in 1987 to start a publishing business. The business survived only 2 years and went through all our savings, but the Mac+ was great the whole time. By the way, did you know that SeaFirst Bank in Seattle still had all their branches hooked up with Mac+'s as late as the late 90s? It was so strange to go into a branch and see all these little Macs on the desks.


    — Pete    2011-01-30 20:52    #
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