4 ms·

I think you missed the point. 30 years from today (January 24th, 1984) is celebrating the release of the original Macintosh, which was the first modern personal

by aroman 13y ago

I think you missed the point. 30 years from today (January 24th, 1984) is celebrating the release of the original Macintosh, which was the first modern personal computer. Of course there have been "bad Apples" along the way — the Apple computer line sucked during much of the 90's, as you pointed out. But the simple fact is that Apple's original Macintosh was the definitive introduction of modern personal computing to the general public. It's not an arbitrary "30 years of personal computing"... it's commemorating a watershed moment.

josefresco 13y ago
It certainly comes off better if you frame it in that way. It's probably my bias which lead me to read too far into some of the quotes used about the Mac bringing new capabilities that didn't exist for the consumer previously. The 1984 machine is/was an amazing thing, but the 90's and even the early 00's Macs were anything but.
- usingpond 13y ago
  You really don't think that the iMac was a crazy influential product? Even by computer nerd standards that we have, a 1024x768 display and USB-only ports were a very bold move that changed a lot. Not to mention the design of the damned thing and it's focus as a PC dedicated to the Internet in terms of a consumer product.
  - sbuk 13y ago
    Let's not forget the moral outrage at the perceived omission of a floppy drive.
rapind 13y ago
It is most certainly not a fact that the "Macintosh was the definitive introduction of modern personal computing to the general public." The Apple ][ was more popular by far than the original Mac, and even so it wasn't the first definitive PC. I remember seeing a lot of Commodore PETs around when I was young... way more than Macintosh.
- aroman 13y ago
  I was using the term "modern personal computing" to refer to a computer using what would become the standard cross-platform interface for computers: the desktop metaphor[1]. While the Apple II and the Commodore PET were undoubtedly very popular and did put computers into the hands of home users, they really were not "modern" computers. To quote the Wikipedia article I referenced above: "The first computer to popularise the desktop metaphor, using it as a standard feature over the earlier command line interface was the Apple Macintosh in 1984. The desktop metaphor is ubiquitous in modern-day personal computing; it is found in most desktop environments of modern operating systems: Windows as well as Mac OS X, Linux, and other Unix-like systems." [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desktop_metaphor http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desktop_metaphor
FireBeyond 13y ago
The Amiga might have something to say to you about modern personal computing. Well, I should clarify. The Amiga was -demo'ed- in 1983 but not released until 1985.
- sbuk 13y ago
  And that was after the Apple Lisa, which was released in early January of 1983.

by aroman 13y ago

josefresco 13y ago

It certainly comes off better if you frame it in that way. It's probably my bias which lead me to read too far into some of the quotes used about the Mac bringing new capabilities that didn't exist for the consumer previously. The 1984 machine is/was an amazing thing, but the 90's and even the early 00's Macs were anything but.

usingpond 13y ago
You really don't think that the iMac was a crazy influential product? Even by computer nerd standards that we have, a 1024x768 display and USB-only ports were a very bold move that changed a lot. Not to mention the design of the damned thing and it's focus as a PC dedicated to the Internet in terms of a consumer product.
- sbuk 13y ago
  Let's not forget the moral outrage at the perceived omission of a floppy drive.

rapind 13y ago

It is most certainly not a fact that the "Macintosh was the definitive introduction of modern personal computing to the general public." The Apple ][ was more popular by far than the original Mac, and even so it wasn't the first definitive PC. I remember seeing a lot of Commodore PETs around when I was young... way more than Macintosh.

aroman 13y ago
I was using the term "modern personal computing" to refer to a computer using what would become the standard cross-platform interface for computers: the desktop metaphor[1]. While the Apple II and the Commodore PET were undoubtedly very popular and did put computers into the hands of home users, they really were not "modern" computers. To quote the Wikipedia article I referenced above: "The first computer to popularise the desktop metaphor, using it as a standard feature over the earlier command line interface was the Apple Macintosh in 1984. The desktop metaphor is ubiquitous in modern-day personal computing; it is found in most desktop environments of modern operating systems: Windows as well as Mac OS X, Linux, and other Unix-like systems." [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desktop_metaphor http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desktop_metaphor

FireBeyond 13y ago

The Amiga might have something to say to you about modern personal computing. Well, I should clarify. The Amiga was -demo'ed- in 1983 but not released until 1985.

sbuk 13y ago
And that was after the Apple Lisa, which was released in early January of 1983.