The impact of the Mac on the PC industry continues into its fourth decade.
Steve Jobs, dressed in a black double-breasted blazer and grey bow tie, stepped onto the auditorium stage at De Anza College in Cupertino on January 24, 1984 to introduce the Macintosh.
I was sitting in the third row center and had a firsthand view of history in the making. When Jobs pulled the Mac out of a gray bag, the auditorium gasped and applauded, astonished at its small size and revolutionary design.
Then the Mac spoke and introduced “a man who has been like a father to me, Steve Jobs.”
Jobs then proceeded to show off some of its original programs, such as MacPaint, MacWrite and others that demonstrated the Mac’s capabilities.
Attending the event with Jobs were Bill Gates, Lotus founder Mitch Kapor and Fred Gibbons, founder of Software Publishing, who supported the Mac and pledged to write software for Jobs’ new baby.
At that time, the only personal computer we knew was the large, bulky IBM PC and its clones along with sewing machine-sized portables like the original Compaq, Kaypro and others.
But that day, Apple Computer opened the world to the fact that a personal computer could have an utterly radical design. In this case, it put a graphical user interface, a mouse and graphically based software on the personal computing map.
When looking at the Mac’s historical impact, the GUI and mouse have to be at the top of the list. They birthed graphical computing. By late 1985, Microsoft released the first version of Windows as a graphical operating system shell for MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in GUIs.
Here are five other ways the Mac has transformed personal computing:
1. Birthed Desktop Publishing
For its first year on the market, the Mac proved more of a curiosity and was only marginally successful. People liked the GUI and mouse, but little software besides Apple’s bundled MacPaint and MacWrite were available.
However, by 1985, the interest in the Mac changed dramatically, thanks to a software developer named Paul Brainerd.
While most software companies were still pondering what to create for the Mac, Brainerd saw the Mac differently. So in 1984, he co-founded Aldus and, in 1985, introduced a product called Pagemaker.
When one looks back at how the Mac has influenced the history of computing, the introduction of Pagemaker on a Mac launched the desktop publishing revolution.
Two other pieces of timely technology should also be recognized.
Steve Jobs introduced the Apple Laser Writer, one of the first desktop laser printers in the market. And, thanks to a very persuasive John Warnock—the founder of Adobe Systems whose innovations in computer graphics including the ubiquitous PDF made today’s visually rich digital experiences possible—it was integrated into the Laser Writer.
By 1986, Macs, the Apple Laser Writer and Pagemaker shook up the publishing industry and eventually changed personal computing forever. This tech trio elevated desktop publishing and delivered the Mac’s second most significant impact on the computer market.
2. Optical Drives
In the late 1980s Apple introduced a Mac that included a CD-ROM. By then, John Sculley was the CEO, and he had a real vision of what multimedia computing could look like and was at the forefront of Mac’s subsequent transformation on the world of computing.
In 1987, Sculley introduced the Knowledge Navigator, a futuristic look at what multimedia computing might look like in the near future. I remember Scully inviting me to see this video, and I was stunned by his forward thinking. This future outlook led him to integrate CD-ROMs, one crucial technology needed to make his vision a reality. By 1990, he added a CD read/write disk and gave creators another technology to help make multimedia computing a reality.
3. Colorful, All-In-One Computers
After Steve Jobs returned in 1997, he introduced another radical design for the Mac. In 1998, Jobs surprised us with new all-in-one candy-colored iMacs. These Macs were a big hit and helped revive Apple’s fortunes.
4. Thin And Light Laptops
In 2008, Apple stunned the market with the introduction of the MacBook Air. This introduction was notable since Jobs pulled the MacBook Air out of an interoffice envelope and showed off the world’s lightest, thinnest laptop on the market. Here again, Apple showed its prowess in industrial design, and the MacBook Air forced Apple competitors to join the thin-and-light laptop club.
5. Apple’s Custom Processors
More recently, with Apple’s introduction of its M-class processors, it has created even more powerful desktops, laptops and thin and lighter models with excellent battery life, forcing its competitors to work overtime to compete with Apple.
As an analyst who has tracked Apple since 1981 and knows the company well, I have witnessed firsthand how the Mac has impacted the technology market. Steve Jobs, John Scully and now Tim Cook keep the innovation drumbeat going, and I look forward to how the Mac will impact the tech market even as it ages.
