40th Anniversary of Apple Macintosh

On January 24, The Computer Museum PEEK&POKE will celebrate 40 years of the legendary Apple Macintosh computer. The thematic evening includes a lecture and subsequent discussion and conversation. In addition to the first, original Mac model from 1984, many other Macs created over the years will be highlighted, and for this occasion, the museum will also display several models from the archive that are not on permanent display. Museum curator Davor Pasarić will present and review 40 years of Macintosh technology. A day later, on Thursday January 25, at the same time, Kristian Benić from the Rijeka City Library will hold a lecture on Orwell’s famous novel 1984, which was the inspiration for Ridley Scott’s legendary advertisement for the first Macintosh. On Friday, January 26, the PEEK&POKE opens its doors at 6 p.m. for Museum Night. Entrance is free, and visitors will get a Fuji apple as a gift. Why Fuji and not McIntosh, find out from the museum staff!

Today we know that in 1984 with the Macintosh computer, Apple changed personal computers so profoundly that even now, after 40 years, none of the standards set at that time have changed significantly. The Apple Macintosh was the first commercial computer to use a mouse, GUI (graphical user interface) and WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) concept, which can be translated as “as on screen so on paper”. It was precisely this that represented a turning point for publishing and computer graphics. The idea was that the document we prepare on the computer screen looks identical to the final form that will appear on paper. Today it seems so normal to us that we wonder how it could be otherwise, but the path to this was neither short nor easy.

The Mac shipped with two “killer” applications: MacWrite and MacPaint. A word processing program MacWrite was special because it was the first to use the aforementioned WYSIWYG concept and thus permanently raised the bar of expectations for users of such programs. The established paradigm has since been followed by all similar programs, as well as serious professional softwares for books and publications that created a new DTP (desktop publishing) niche that redefined publishing.

Today, the most famous representative of the word processor is the globally popular Microsoft Word. An interesting fact is that the first Microsoft Office was released for Apple Macintosh, and only later for PC and Windows. Although the evolution of these applications is obvious, everything that is really important has remained the same as in that crucial year of 1984. We can say that MacWrite opened the door to modern computer publishing.

Another “killer” application was MacPaint. To younger generations, it can be presented as a forerunner of Photoshop. Today, it seems completely normal to manipulate images in millions of colors using a mouse or a tablet. But in 1984, drawing something on the screen by moving the mouse across the table was pure magic! An anecdote says that the legendary Andy Warhol first saw a Macintosh at a dinner with Jobs. He was so delighted that it was impossible to separate him from this wonderful device for the whole evening. MacPaint seems trivial to us today, but when it first appeared it was like science fiction.

Everyone has their own story of how the Macintosh changed their life. There are even more who have never had the opportunity to use a Mac, but today they would not be doing their work the way they are if it weren’t for this machine. The Mac set new, high standards and thus brought computers closer to ordinary people like no other computer in history.

Today, we celebrate the first glorious anniversary of the Information Purification Directives. We have created, for the first time in all history, a garden of pure ideology, where each worker may bloom secure from the pests of contradictory and confusing truths. Our Unification of Thoughts is more powerful a weapon than any fleet or army on earth. We are one people, with one will, one resolve, one cause. Our enemies shall talk themselves to death, and we will bury them with their own confusion. We shall prevail!

On January 24th, Apple Computer will introduce Macintosh. And you’ll see why 1984 won’t be like “1984”.