February 13, 1984: The first Mac’s launch generates enormous excitement from the tech press, as epitomized by an InfoWorld cover story about the Macintosh 128K.
The wave of coverage comes a few weeks after the January 24 release of the Macintosh. But when the press blitz finally arrives, it becomes clear the Mac is a hit.
First Mac mania: Looking back on the Macintosh 128K launch
It proves weirdly fascinating to look back at Apple product launches to see how the world perceived the devices at the time. InfoWorld — one of the top sources of tech news in the 1980s and 1990s — pointed out the challenges Apple faced in its cover story, entitled “Apple Bets on the Macintosh.”
The story outlined the troubles looming over Cupertino at the time. “Apple Computer, humbled by two unspectacular computer introductions in three years, is betting it has a winner in the $2,495 Macintosh, a 20-pound, 32-bit computer,” the magazine said.
First Mac earns high praise from InfoWorld
InfoWorld then went on to give the Mac a massive stamp of approval.
“We all believe it’s a fantastic machine,” Ken Lim, a Dataquest analyst, told InfoWorld as he testified about the Mac. “It’s certainly the best price/performance ratio of anything that’s on the marketplace. It’s an excellent value for the consumer.”
Lim went on to suggest that the Mac would sell in quantities similar to those achieved by the Apple II, which had by then sold 1.5 million units.
Plenty of interesting (and today amusing) tidbits surface in InfoWorld’s other articles about the Mac. One writer tackles the question, “Is 128K enough RAM?” That must seem virtually impossible to anyone who doesn’t remember anything older than the iPhone.
Pricey software from fewer than 100 developers
InfoWorld also noted that “nearly 100 software companies have been working on software for the Macintosh.” (That number seems tiny today, when you can 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. This kept Microsoft software on Macs. However, it pretty much gave Microsoft carte blanche to create its Mac-styled Windows operating system.
The one other thing likely to come as a shock to modern Apple fans is just how expensive everything was. The Mac cost $2,495, which is equivalent to more than $7,578 in today’s money. That’s not so bad, actually. But the price of Mac software — which now ships free from Apple, and tends to be reasonably priced from third-party devs — was also high.
MacPaint and MacWrite, two of the best-known pieces of Mac software, did not come bundled with the machine. They cost $195 as a package (the equivalent of more than $590 today). MacTerminal cost another $99 (more than $300 today). Everything else came in somewhere between $99 and $125.
Check out the full InfoWorld magazine article about the original Macintosh for a closer look at the computer’s arrival.
