February 13, 1984: The launch of the first Mac created a huge excitement in the tech press that epitomized the year InfoWorld cover story on Macintosh 128K.
The wave of coverage comes weeks after the January 24 release of the Macintosh. But when the press blitz finally arrives, it’s clear that the Mac is a hit.
The First Mac Mania: Looking Back at the Launch of the Macintosh 128K
It’s strangely fascinating to look back at Apple’s product launches to see how the world perceived the device at the time. InfoWorld — one of the main sources of tech news in the 1980s and 1990s — highlighted the challenges Apple faced in its lead story, titled “Apple Bets on Macintosh.”
The story outlined the troubles looming over Cupertino at the time. “Apple Computer, humbled by two lackluster computer introductions in three years, is betting that the $2,495 Macintosh, a 20-pound, 32-bit computer, is winning,” the magazine said.
The first Mac earned a lot of praise InfoWorld
InfoWorld then gave Mac a massive stamp of approval.
“We all believe it’s a fantastic machine,” said Dataquest analyst Ken Lim InfoWorld as he said about Mac. “It’s certainly the best value for money of anything on the market. It’s excellent value for consumers.”
Lim further suggested that the Mac would sell in numbers similar to those achieved by the Apple II, which had sold 1.5 million units to that point.
There are a lot of interesting (and nowadays funny) reports InfoWorld’with more Mac articles. One author addresses the question, “Is 128K RAM enough?” This must seem virtually impossible to anyone who doesn’t remember anything older than the iPhone.
Expensive software from less than 100 developers
InfoWorld he also noted that “nearly 100 software companies are working on software for the Macintosh”. (That number seems minuscule today when you find millions of apps in the App Store.) “One of those companies, Microsoft, has been working closely with Apple for more than a year,” the magazine added.
Just a year later, Apple CEO John Sculley signed a disastrous deal with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. That left Microsoft software on Macs. However, it largely gave Microsoft freedom to create a Mac-style Windows operating system.
Another thing that will probably shock modern Apple fans is how expensive everything was. The Mac costs $2,495, which is more than $7,780 in today’s money. It’s actually not that bad. But the cost of Mac software—which now comes free from Apple and tends to be reasonably priced from third-party developers—was also high.
MacPaint and MacWrite, two of the most famous pieces of Mac software, did not come with the machine. It costs $195 as a bundle (which is more than $600 today). MacTerminal costs an additional $99 (more than $300 today). Everything else came in somewhere between $99 and $125.
Watch the whole thing InfoWorld magazine article about the original Macintosh for a closer look at the arrival of the computer.
