2014-01-24_mac at 30_ how apple revolutionized cool computing - interactive - cbc.ca

Mac at 30: How Apple revolutionized cool computing - Interactive - CBC.ca

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Mac at 30: How Apple revolutionized cool computing'Insanely great' computer changed how we workCBC News Last Updated: January 24, 2014

Thirty years ago, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs pulled a 16-pound, 32-bit machinefrom a duffel bag to a round of applause from a rapt audience. The Macintosh - whichboasted a 9-inch black-and-white screen and a novel pointing device called a"mouse" - pushed the computer from the realm of futuristic, nerd appliance toubiquitous necessity.

With the early '80s anthem Chariots of Fire humming in the background, Jobsdemonstrated the new MacWrite and MacPaint software, as well as a calculator andchess game. The showstopper? The cube-shaped, portable computer made its ownsaucy introduction: "Unaccustomed as I am to public speaking, I'd like to share withyou a maxim I thought of the first time I met an IBM mainframe: NEVER TRUST ACOMPUTER YOU CAN'T LIFT."

Apple's skillful hype machine drew new consumers - though some would later remarkthat the Mac wasn't quite what was promised. Disappointed observers dubbed thecomputer the "beige toaster," criticizing the machine for its speed issues and workflowquirks. In its first three months, sales of the Macintosh totalled 50,000 - not a failure,but not a wild success either.

But in the long view, Macintosh was hugely influential. It was among the firstaffordable computers for consumers. And more importantly, it uniquely offered a userinterface that general consumers could control easily with a mouse. Apple co-founderSteve Wozniak in later years compared the Macintosh, for all of its faults, to theModel T Ford - the blueprint for all future models. Three decades after its debut, weconsider seven ways the Macintosh forged a bold, new path.

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In the '70s and early '80s, competition in the personal computingmarket sputtered to life. Apple's success with its Apple II wastempered by its dismal results with its Lisa computer. The Lisa,which had a graphical command line interface, had a hefty price tagof $9,995 (which would amount to nearly $21,000 today). IBMmeanwhile introduced its popular 16-bit Personal Computer with amassive advertising campaign. The computer boasted a reasonableselling price of $1,565. Apple responded to IBM's success in 1981with a full-page ad in The Wall Street Journal that opened with,"Welcome, IBM. Seriously." The ad commented on the computerrevolution underway but Apple also laid claim to having invented thefirst personal computer system.

By 1984, Apple set its sights on cracking open the market with itsMacintosh. Apple figured ease of use would help sell the machine tonew users, noting in its advertising campaign that only a fraction ofthe 235 million people in the U.S. could use a computer. Thiscomputer they promised was "insanely great." They also boastedthat "soon there'll be just two kinds of people. Those who usecomputers. And those who use Apples" - a concept the companycontinues to tout to this day.

(Photo below: Apple employees (L to R) Andy Hertzfeld, ChrisEspinosa, Joanna Hoffman, George Crow, Bill Atkinson, BurrellSmith, Jerry Manock)

Introducing the Mac

Price: $2,495 in the U.S., $3,595 in Canada(Current equivalent $5,000/$7,200)

Processor: CPU Motorola MC68000CPU Speed: 8 MHzMemory: 128K RAM

Monitor: 9-inch black-and-white3.5" Floppy DriveDetachable keyboard, MouseWeight: Less than 16.5 lbs

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"Why 1984 won't be like '1984' " - The Ridley Scott commercial "I want to stop the world in its tracks" -so said the memo from Steve Jobs to theadvertising agency tasked with creating aMacintosh ad slated to run during the SuperBowl.

The commercial, directed by Blade Runnerdirector Ridley Scott, immediately becamelegend in advertising circles and cementeditself in the cultural zeitgeist.

The 60-second spot harkened back toGeorge Orwell's dystopian novel NineteenEight-Four. The concept: Expressionlessmen cast under a grey-blue light marchdown a long corridor into a room with a giantscreen featuring the image of Big Brother.Meanwhile, security guards pursue a youngwoman, but she outruns them. Sheapproaches Big Brother and throws asledgehammer, shattering the screen aswhite light floods the room. The ad closeswith, "On January 24th, Apple Computer willintroduce Macintosh. And you'll see why1984 won't be like '1984'."

Members of the Apple board didn't like thead - so much so that the chairmanimmediately called for a motion to fire the adagency, recalled copywriter Steve Hayden inAdweek. But co-founders Steve Jobs andSteve Wozniak persisted and the 60-secondad aired during the third quarter of theSuper Bowl. Hayden also noted that a 30-second version also aired in the top 10 U.S.markets - and Boca Raton, Fla.,headquarters for IBM's PC division.

More than 90 million people watched the ad,later deemed among the greatest televisioncommercials ever.

Two days after the Super Bowl, a 28-year-old Jobsdonned a bowtie and demonstrated the Macintosh before acrowd of Apple employees, shareholders and journalists.The theatrical reveal was a hint of things to come fromApple, a company that has thrived on event marketing andhyping new products with a slow - if not always fulfilling -tease.

Some trickery was deployed before the big event. Thedemonstration computer was outfitted with extra memory soit could perform more feats than a typical 128K - including aspeech in which the Macintosh introduced itself. The crowd

The rise of the Apple hype machine



went wild for the talking computer, according to biographerWalter Isaacson, author of Steve Jobs. Audience membersjumped from their seats and pumped their fists in an effusivefive-minute standing ovation. Jobs - known for his steelyand at times cutthroat style - smiled and nodded beforechoking up, according to Isaacson.

In later years, Jobs swapped the bowtie for a blackturtleneck and jeans at events that came to be called"Stevenotes." He also coined the catchphrase "one morething" - a remark delivered with a knowing grin before theunveiling of new products including the iPod Mini, the iPodShuffle and the MacBook Pro.

Buying up Newsweek - The advertising blitz In an unprecedented move, Applepurchased all of the advertising space in aspecial edition of Newsweekcommemorating the win of U.S. PresidentRonald Reagan.

Jobs and Apple CEO John Sculley, who hadbeen recruited from PepsiCo, conceived ofthe massive spread after viewing thecuriously cryptic 1984 ad, recalled admanSteve Hayden in Adweek. Jobs and Sculleyfelt there would be an "information vacuum"and ordered up the $2.5-million adcampaign, laying out the case to consumersas to why they should buy the computer.

The ad was lighthearted and crisp: "For thefirst time in recorded computer history,hardware engineers actually talked tosoftware engineers in moderate tones ofvoice, and both were united by a commongoal: to build the most powerful, mostportable, most flexible, most versatilecomputer not-very-much-money could buy."

In the pages that followed, Apple laid out itsnew features (including the mouse, fonts,the ability to cut and paste, its drawingprogram) and also compared how the Machandled word processing and numbercrunching as compared with the IBM PC.

It also featured testimonials, including onefrom a young Bill Gates. Gates, who wouldlater spar with Jobs over the Windows



operating system, is shown in theadvertisement alongside the presidents ofLotus and Software Publishing Corporation."To create a new standard takes somethingthat's not just a little bit different," Gates isquoted as saying. "It takes something that'sreally new and captures people'simaginations. Macintosh meets thatstandard."

In 1979, Apple and Xerox struck a deal.Xerox agreed to show its technology underdevelopment in exchange for 100,000 shares inthe company. After much negotiation, Xeroxprogrammers showed Jobs and the Apple teamits programming language Smalltalk.

"It was like a veil being lifted from my eyes,"Jobs said, according to the Isaacson biographySteve Jobs. "I could see what the future ofcomputing was destined to be."

What Jobs observed was a departure from thetraditional command lines and DOS prompts.The new system used a graphical userinterface - with windows, icons and menus - ona bitmapped screen. Xerox was also using amouse, which was invented in 1963, with itscomputers. Apple mimicked this new operatingsystem with their 1983 Lisa, though thismachine failed to catch on with the public owingin part to its high price.

In a bid to force consumers to embrace themouse, Apple left the arrow keys of the Mackeyboard. Computer shops touted theinnovation and offered workshops to thecurious.

Fred Lebolt writing in Toronto's Sunday Starremarked on how easy the new machine was touse. "By rolling the mouse on the desk, youmove the cursor anywhere on the screen. Thecursor points to various commands -represented by pictures or words on the screen- and then you push a button on the mouse,"he wrote. "That's it. No memorizing complicatedcommand symbols, no special-function keys,no necessity to hit three keys at once to getsomething done."

Behold a new pointing device called "The Mouse"

'The Miracle of miniaturization': Computers now portable In the modern age of skinnysmartphones, the notion of a "portable"device weighing 16 pounds (7.3 kg) seemslaughable. But in 1984, the Macintoshseemed a waif of a machine and Appletouted its size calling it a "miracle ofminiaturization" in its ads. By comparison,IBM's Portable PC, released in 1975,weighed 55 pounds (25 kg) and theCompaq Portable, released in 1986, wasstill a hefty 26 pounds (11.8 kg).



Observers were impressed with the sleekMacintosh, emphasizing the importance ofbeing able to take what you want, whereyou want.

Writer Larry Magid in a review in the LosAngeles Times observed, "The entiresystem can be slipped into an optional ($99)padded carrying case to be hoisted overyour shoulder or placed under an airlineseat. The case and computer togetherweigh 22 pounds."

Apple would continue to focus on portableproducts with its game-changing iPods,svelte MacBook airs, and slim iPads.

"Who out there in the general marketplace even knows whata 'font' is?" asked John C. Dvorak in a Macintosh reviewpublished in the San Francisco Examiner. The question was fairenough. After all, before the MacWrite word processor, fontswere the business of professional typesetters.

A review in the New York Times remarked on thegroundbreaking novelty.

"MacWrite is a word-processing package the likes of which youhave never seen on a personal computer," wrote ErikSandberg-Diment. "Being graphics oriented, it gives you achoice of numerous type faces, similar to Helvetica, Bodoni,Times Roman, etc. You can use all these fonts in plain text,bold, italic, outline or shadow."

But MacWrite was not without its quirks. Sandberg-Dimentnoted that MacWrite had distinct workflow problems - notablythat it had a limited file length of up to 10 pages. "It is likehaving a filing cabinet that will hold only folders of the samecapacity," said the review. "If you need to prepare a 20-pagereport, you will have to separate it into two sections. That is nottoo convenient." The review also remarked that printing wasunusually slow.

The addition of the mouse to the computer also allowed forinnovation in design programs. With MacPaint, users couldpaint and doodle as they would using a canvas or sketchpad -an innovation marveled at by iconic pop artist Andy Warhol,who encountered the machine at a 9th birthday party for SeanLennon. Jobs had brought a Mac as a present to the party.Warhol was at first confused by the mouse, said journalistDavid Sheff in PBS's Steve Jobs: One Last Thing.

"Andy sort of fooled around with it and he was completelymesmerized," Sheff said in the documentary. "I mean when hezoned in on something the rest of the world disappeared andthat is what it was like watching Warhol in front of a Macintoshfor the first time. And then you know he got this big smile on hisface and he said, 'I drew a circle.'"

A new set of tools: Fonts, bold, italics and paint



Producers: Tara Kimura | Robert Vajda

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