Apple II Microcomputer
Richards, Mark. "Apple II computer." 1977, Computer History Museum.
The Macintosh
"There are occasionally short windows in time when incredibly important things get invented that shape the lives of humans for hundreds of years. These events are impossible to anticipate, and the inventors, the participants, are often working not for reasons of money, but for the personal satisfaction of making something great. The development of the Macintosh computer was one of these events, and it has changed our lives forever."
- Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Inc.
Hertzfeld, Andy. Revolution in The Valley: The Insanely Great Story of How the Mac Was Made. Edited by Steve Wozniak, Kindle ed., O'Reilly Media, Inc., 2005.
Predecessors to the Mac
Apple II Advertisement
"Introducing Apple II ad." 1977, Apple Computer Inc. Computer History Museum.
Apple II
After meager sales of their first computer, Jobs and Wozniak created the Apple II microcomputer. For $1,298, the computer came with a self-contained unit, a keyboard, power supply, and high-resolution color graphics. The user-friendly design and graphical display appealed to consumers, and sales soared.
The Apple Lisa
Hertzfeld, Andy. Revolution in The Valley: The Insanely Great Story of How the Mac Was Made. Edited by Steve Wozniak, Kindle ed., O'Reilly Media, Inc., 2005.
Wozniak's design notes for Lisa computer
Hertzfeld, Andy. Revolution in The Valley: The Insanely Great Story of How the Mac Was Made. Edited by Steve Wozniak, Kindle ed., O'Reilly Media, Inc., 2005.
Lisa and Sara
After the success of Apple II, the Apple team launched two projects called "Lisa" and "Sara" in 1978, further transitioning the company towards a more general market in the PC industry. Sara was designed for small business, while Lisa was an "easy-to-use, next generation office computer" with a new graphical user-interface.
“No, you’re just wasting your time with that! Who cares about the Apple II? The Apple II will be dead in a few years. Your OS will be obsolete before it’s finished. The Macintosh is the future of Apple, and you’re going to start on it now!”
- Steve Jobs said this to an employee after firing about 30 people from the Apple II team to focus the company on the Macintosh Project.
Hertzfeld, Andy. Revolution in The Valley: The Insanely Great Story of How the Mac Was Made. Edited by Steve Wozniak, Kindle ed., O'Reilly Media, Inc., 2005.
The Macintosh
"For the first time in recorded computer history, hardware engineers actually talked to software engineers in a moderate tone of voice. And both became united by a common goal: to build the most powerful, most transportable, most flexible, most versatile computer not-very-much-money could buy."
"Apple Macintosh advertisement." 1984, Apple Computer, Inc.
Early third-party developers: Bill Gates, Mitch Kapor, and Fred Gibbons
Hertzfeld, Andy. Revolution in The Valley: The Insanely Great Story of How the Mac Was Made. Edited by Steve Wozniak, Kindle ed., O'Reilly Media, Inc., 2005.
In September of 1979, Jef Raskin started a team to pursue plans for the Macintosh computer. The vision for Macintosh was to utilize the potential of Motorola's 68000 microprocessor to create a revolutionary graphical user-interface (GUI) that was user-friendly and cost efficient. The computer was released in January 1984 for $2,495, combining the current technology and futuristic creativity to create a new kind of PC that appealed to masses.
"Jef was very playful and always encouraged his team to express themselves creatively, so the office quickly began to look more like a day care center than an engineering lab."
- Andy Hertzfeld, early Apple employee and Macintosh team member
Hertzfeld, Andy. Revolution in The Valley: The Insanely Great Story of How the Mac Was Made. Edited by Steve Wozniak, Kindle ed., O'Reilly Media, Inc., 2005.
Original Macintosh Digital Board
Mousepaint, example of Mac's graphical user-interface
Macintosh control panel
Hertzfeld, Andy. Revolution in The Valley: The Insanely Great Story of How the Mac Was Made. Edited by Steve Wozniak, Kindle ed., O'Reilly Media, Inc., 2005.