After the miserable performance of the Apple III, Steve Jobs launched the Macintosh computer 30 years ago today, transforming the company into the behemoth it is today.
The launch was preceded by a commercial that boldly proclaimed that "1984 won't be like 1984." The spot, widely considered iconic, was a dig at IBM and instantly caught the attention of consumers and investors alike.
With the Mac, Apple was selling a "personal computer" that was probably affordable by a middle class family, when earlier models like Lisa cost around $10,000, equivalent to about $25,000 today. The computer came with a new and unrivaled graphical user interface, which seems to have set the path for future Apple products -- the iPod, iPhone and iPad.
While Apple's mobile devices seem to garner all the hype, the company receives positive reviews for the MacBook Pro, MacBook Air and iMac, which have created their own niche and have chipped away at the PC marketshare.
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"Happy Birthday Mac! My life is infinitely better because we met. Today we salute everything you stand for," tweeted Apple CEO Tim Cook.
Apple has created a visual timeline highlighting the the achievement of the Mac and its later models.
“Every company that made computers when we started the Mac, they’re all gone,” Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing Philip Schiller told Macworld. “We’re the only one left. We’re still doing it, and growing faster than the rest of the PC industry because of that willingness to reinvent ourselves over and over.”
[Macworld] [NPR] [The Atlantic] [Apple]
