Apple Celebrates the 30th Macintosh Anniversary

macintosh anniversary

It was only 30 years ago when a young Steve Jobs took the stage at the Flint Center in Cupertino, California with a bag that contained a piece of technology that would change the world. When Jobs pulled out that computer that resembled a brown box, no one knew it would later be the platform for the massive computer desktops we use today.

Macintosh Anniversary

Over the years, Apple’s Mac line of products has never failed to reinvent itself. What people may have forgotten about the first Macintosh computer, but it was so unique because upon turning it on, users pretty much knew how to use it. It was the first computer to give us “Folders,” instead of “Directories,” and the “Folders” tab came with an actual folder icon – it was all so simple face on, but so complex behind the scenes.

Apple’s Mac line took drastic design changes from the first 1984 model, to the 2002 model where they incorporated the flat screen that we often see today.

The Macintosh timeline is actually incredible in terms of the innovation that took place between that near 20 year span; here are a few of their major releases:

  • 1984 – The First Macintosh 128K, priced at: $2,495
  • 1993 – The Macintosh Color Classic, priced at: $1,390
  • 1998 – The iMac (the beginning of the iLife i.e. iTunes, iPhoto etc), priced at: $1,299
  • 2002 – The iMac G4 (introduction of the flat monitor), priced at: $1,299

The latest models of iMac have left us with the same general design since 2004, with Apple constantly improving screen resolution and system updates. Jobs built a technology driven empire a mere 30 years ago on January 23, 1984 when he pulled that computer out of a bag and it said the magic words in its standard robotic voice, “Hello, I am Macintosh. It sure is great to get out of that bag.”

Ever since then, our ideas for what technology could become have diminished because with the development that Apple has taken over the past three decades, no one knows what could be next.

Happy Birthday, Macintosh!

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