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Macintosh's 1984 Debut
Stephen E. Jobs writes "SiliconValley.com is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Mac by republishing some of its coverage of the machine's 1984 launch. 'After two years of secrecy, brainstorming and sometimes zany company maneuvering, Apple Computer Inc. will unveil a new personal computer Jan. 24 that is the size of a stack of paper and, for about the same price, contains more power than the basic IBM PC.' That's how one writer described the Apple Macintosh in 1984. There's more at SiliconValley.com."
This is just my opinion, but I think that Mac has always been geared towards the artist, while IBM has always been aimed at engineers. Using either of these machines one could see the begining of this trend, and now in the year 2004 it is still true. I do not believe that either machine is better than the other, and they never were. The difference between the two is more right-brain left brain.
3 degrees of separation from Vladimir Putin
I remember being completely skeptical of that new "point and click with a mouse" thing, in the macintosh. It looked like a cool idea, but in my keyboard-oriented mind, I just couldn't imagine how, lord, HOW you could tell the computer what to do by entirely relying on clicks on graphics. Steve Jobs was a great envisioner (or xerox copycat, depending of your point of view).
This statement really tells a lot about the problems that Apple had throughout the mid 80's to late 90's. They were so innovative, that they often fell "off of the curve". In 1984, Joe Consumer wasn't about to spend $2500 on a computer; an appliance that was, at the time, a luxery, and not a necessity. And certainly, it had no where near the ubiquitiy that it enjoys today. Microsoft knew that the timing for a "computer for the masses" was around the mid 90's, ten years after the Mac debuted. So they *ahem* borrow the Mac's look and feel, and release Win 95. IIRC, '95 was around the time that Apple decided that the next revolution in computing was in handhelds and palmtops that could respond to a user "writing" rather than keying in data. The Newton exploded onto the market, and promptly gathered dust on the shelves as users passed it by. A scant four years later, 3Com capitalizes on Apple's brilliant but horribly timed innovation with the Palm series.
It looks like after 20 years, Apple is finally getting it right. The IMac was the first "sexy" computer. Only a year later, I see that I can buy neon ground effects for my transparent PC. ITunes was released at exactly the perfect time. And should be, and rightly so, a cornerstone of Apple's brand identity for the first decade of the 21'st century. So, Happy Birthday to the Mac, and congrats to the great engineers at Apple that have finally learned that innovation and market timing are inseperable.
Xenon, where's my money? -Borno
can you really claim Media Center PCs, Tablet PCs, Pocket PCs, the XBox, Media Player 9 (player and codecs), etc... stagnation?
Let's see...
Media Center PC -- What's that? I've yet to see anyone who has one.
Tablet PC -- A fantastic step backwards in design. If you're already lugging two pounds and something the size of a notebook around, why not just use a notebook PC? It does everything a tablet PC does and more, and has a much easier input interface.
Pocket PC -- Oh, huge innovation there. Apple beat them. Palm beat them. Handspring beat them. That's just another ripoff.
XBox -- Everyone's got a PS2. Sorry. Putting a P3-700 in a box with a harddrive and a TV-out running a stripped down windows kernel and DirectX doesn't count as "innovation". That's called "building a computer that plugs into the TV". And Sony's done it better.
Media Player 9 -- The player sucks. Sure, there are some good new codecs, but the best interface they ever had was in 6.4. Ever since spacebar-to-pause-and-play was removed, they've gone downhill. Whoever thought that was a good idea seriously needs a smack with the cluestick.
I personally consider the Macintosh to be the "official platform" of zealotry. Mac zealots are a unique bunch and I think are the most obnoxious of zealots. Plus they have the original "figurehead" in Steve Jobs. Sure Linux has "The Linus" and Windows (can you be a Windows zealot?) has "Gates of Borg" but Jobs came before them and his reality distortion field is IMO stronger.
What I found really strange was that I didn't expect it to happen to me. All of the Mac nuts I know (with a small handfull of exceptions) all just got a wild hair up their ass and oneday just went and bought a Mac. That's the first step and it seems like all of them suddenly began to hold all other platforms in deep contempt.
Then comes the inevitable collecting of old Apples, Macs, and Next computers. Before you know it you have a room in your house dedicated to a bunch of old computers you didn't even care about 6 months before. You're watching keynote speeches you didn't care about 6 months before.
BSD and Linux would be I think more relevant so maybe you want to be one of those guys. With those you've got cool operating systems and there's nothing wrong with that. With Macs though you've got old hardware AND old software that's unique to your new hobby. You've also got all kinds of collectible junk to spend cash on.
I'd go Mac but then I'm biased
Appended to the end of comments you post. 120 chars.
We're fanatical because we care.
I'm willing to concede that Apple and Steve have plenty of faults. Unfortunately, the alternatives have far worse ones.
I'd rather be around a bunch of fanatics than The Resigned.
D