Apple At 30
Tomorrow is a big deal for a lot of people. Okay, perhaps not that many, really. Tomorrow, though, the 1st of April, will mark thirty years of Apple Computers. Those of you who know me are aware of my fondness for Apple. My near constant companion is an Apple eMate, a hopped-up PDA/laptop hybrid that runs the Newton OS. At home, most of my editing is done on a PowerMac 5260/100, an all-in-one Macintosh that is also my office's multimedia center. I also have two PowerBooks (a 540c and a 5300cs), an iBook (an original Clamshell, tangerine in color), a Macintosh Portable (Apple's first attempt at a portable computer... it weighs 15 pounds), two compact Macs, the form that introduced the computer series back in 1984 (a Plus and an SE FD/HD), a Centris 650AV (the AV? Audio/Video), an indentical PowerMac 6100/66AV and a currently dead PowerMac 8600. Oh, plus another eMate, plus two non-working units. And my oldest Apple, a //c.
That's a lot of computers. And I love them.
But they're just computers! There's nothing else to them accept PCB boards, intergrated circuits, glass, plastic, epoxy, gold traces, wires and silicon. They are as alive as the desk on which they reside!
There is something that is inherently attractive about Apple's products, though. Good design comes to mind. Sturdiness is another. Well made. Think Rolls Royce, or maybe Mercedes (pre Chrysler). But the design... these aren't just computers.
Way back in 1977, when Apple released the first Apple ]['s (yes, that's one of the ways we Apple enthusiast write "II", for the older units), they didn't look like computers. Well, yes and no. Most computers of that time period were hobbyist machines. They were metal cabinets with switches a'plenty up front, many had LED's flashing in sequence that seemed to indicate activity. They were decidedly unattractive. Apple changed that. Their first Apple ]['s were housed in attractive beige/tan housings whose only light was a power indicator. The keyboard was built in, and video was acheived through a plug on the back. Another thing that these machines had was expansion capabilities; in other words, slots. In fact, pretty much everything that we take for granted in modern machines could be found in these computers. And they weren't ugly. They were actually pleasant looking, and could be at home in your home. Seven years later, the first Macintoshes were even more pleasant looking.
Thirty years later, home computers are ubiquitous. We can't imagine life without them, it seems. One of the reasons for this had to do with two college dropouts who decided to tilt against windmills and share their vision of a computer for the masses.
So, to Steve Jobs and Steve "the Woz" Wozniak... many thanks!
That's a lot of computers. And I love them.
But they're just computers! There's nothing else to them accept PCB boards, intergrated circuits, glass, plastic, epoxy, gold traces, wires and silicon. They are as alive as the desk on which they reside!
There is something that is inherently attractive about Apple's products, though. Good design comes to mind. Sturdiness is another. Well made. Think Rolls Royce, or maybe Mercedes (pre Chrysler). But the design... these aren't just computers.
Way back in 1977, when Apple released the first Apple ]['s (yes, that's one of the ways we Apple enthusiast write "II", for the older units), they didn't look like computers. Well, yes and no. Most computers of that time period were hobbyist machines. They were metal cabinets with switches a'plenty up front, many had LED's flashing in sequence that seemed to indicate activity. They were decidedly unattractive. Apple changed that. Their first Apple ]['s were housed in attractive beige/tan housings whose only light was a power indicator. The keyboard was built in, and video was acheived through a plug on the back. Another thing that these machines had was expansion capabilities; in other words, slots. In fact, pretty much everything that we take for granted in modern machines could be found in these computers. And they weren't ugly. They were actually pleasant looking, and could be at home in your home. Seven years later, the first Macintoshes were even more pleasant looking.
Thirty years later, home computers are ubiquitous. We can't imagine life without them, it seems. One of the reasons for this had to do with two college dropouts who decided to tilt against windmills and share their vision of a computer for the masses.
So, to Steve Jobs and Steve "the Woz" Wozniak... many thanks!