AppleInsider Staff
Apple changed the computing world forever 30 years ago today when it launched the first Macintosh. To commemorate the anniversary, the company posted to its website a video and interactive timeline chronicling not only the machine's history, but its effect on the world.
As of Friday, visitors to Apple's official website are met with a new splash page wishing Mac a happy birthday. After a short intro, users are directed to the "Mac 30" mini site, essentially an interactive animated timeline crafted to tell the Mac story from its beginning in 1984.
From the first pane of Apple's Mac 30 timeline:
The one that started it all — the original Macintosh — wasn't just a computer. It was a declaration that the power of the computer now belonged to everyone. At the time, most people didn't even know how to use one. But thanks to the simple graphical interface of the Macintosh, they didn't have to. It was approachable and friendly, starting with the smiley face that greeted you. There were folders that looked like file folders and a trash can for throwing things away. And with the click of a mouse, you could suddenly do the unimaginable. You could move things around on the screen, change the way they looked, combine words with images and sounds, and create like never before. A new era had begun.
The timeline includes high-resolution photos of legacy Mac hardware, accomplished in the company's current "hero" advertising style. Each page of the timeline marks a year in the life of Mac, with famous users expounding on how the computer enabled them to create great things or break new ground.
Along with milestones marking every year, the pages have a "What people did with it" graphic that shows the spread of Mac users in a variety of fields. In 1984, for example, most Macs were being used by in music creation and photography, while 2013 shows a significant move into the consumer realm with Internet and email taking over professional-minded tasks.
Apple also offers a page where visitors can tell their own Mac story. Users select which machine they started on, where they lived and how they used it. Results are shown in an interactive graph. Currently, the most-selected "first Mac" is the Macintosh 512Ke from 1986. That year also saw the highest use in education and teaching, according to the poll results.
A video was also made especially for the Mac 30 site:
With numerous interviews, beautiful photos and rich data presentation, the level of work Apple put into the mini site is obvious and goes well beyond any promotional effort in recent memory. And rightfully so.
The Macintosh is one of the most important products Apple has created thus far. It brought computing to the masses; empowering both professionals and everyday users to accomplish feats never imaginable before its debut.
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Charles Martin
Malcolm Owen
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
Wesley Hilliard
78 Comments
Did everyone fill out which was their first Mac? http://www.apple.com/30-years/your-first-mac/ My was the iMac G4 "lamp"
Very cool site. Love the attention Apple is giving the Mac. :)
That was an awesome Mac.
My first experience of Mac, which my parents bought as the family computer, was the Performa LC 630.
The first Mac I bought for myself was a 12" Powerbook G4.
Since then I've bought an iMac G5, two 17" MacBook Pros (the second being the unibody model), a Mac Pro and the latest (and currently only Mac in my possession) a 15" retina MacBook Pro. Somewhere in there I also took ownership of a 15" iMac G4, which was one of my favourites.
Least favourite would have to be the iMac G5, and while the PowerBook G4 was great, its screen was way too dim and poor by today's standards. If I'd seen the rMBP's screen back then I wouldn't have believed it!
My first Mac was a Powerbook Pismo G3 w/dvd. I had the dual batteries for it, which lasted for ages (compared to other laptops at the time), and I loved that machine and thought that it looked great, the keyboard was great and I just liked it in general even though it's probably incredibly weak by today's standards of course. Hell, my iPad beats the hell out of it, in terms of raw power and especially in graphics power. I forget what the max RAM for that machine was, but whatever it was, I had it installed to the max.
In 2001 though, the Pismo suited me well, and I used it on many projects.
[quote name="ascii" url="/t/161737/apple-celebrates-30-years-of-mac-with-special-webpage-video#post_2462195"]Did everyone fill out which was their first Mac? http://www.apple.com/30-years/your-first-mac/ My was the iMac G4 "lamp"[/quote] I did, and found it confusing to use radio buttons for multi-selection. They should've used check boxes. Still, some will say it is a cool way for data mining ¡