As the computer turns 30, it’s tempting to celebrate simply by remembering how profoundly its debut changed personal computing.
Here’s a video of the entire event, complete with an introduction by then-CEO John Sculley apologizing to the shareholders who were stuck outside:ĭrawing heavily on inspiration from Xerox’s PARC lab and other research that came before it, as well as Apple’s own Lisa - but adding plenty of its own innovations - the Mac was the first successful computer with a graphical user interface, a mouse and the ability to show you what a printed document would look like before you printed it.
On January 24, 1984, at the Flint Center on De Anza College’s campus in Cupertino, California, Apple formally announced the Macintosh at its shareholder meeting, in front an audience so packed that large numbers of people who owned Apple stock couldn’t get in at all. A natty Steve Jobs poses with a room full of Macs in 1984.
