Happy Birthday Macintosh - 27th Anniversary

The computer that allowed the user to concentrate on working, rather than struggling to get the computer to work, is 27 years old today.

Released on January 24th, 1984, the Macintosh (128k) was the first affordable computer to include a Graphical User Interface.

Although it was announced several months earlier, most people first heard of the Mac upon seeing the famous 1984 Super Bowl commercial.

Today, the 1984 commercial is considered an advertising masterpiece.

The original Macintosh was built around the new Motorola 68000 chip, which was significantly faster than previous processors, running at 8 MHz.

It came in a small beige case with a black and white monitor built in, and had Mac OS System 1.0 installed on it.

Mac OS System 1.0 itself contained two important pieces of software - MacWrite and MacPaint - two apps chosen to emphasize the Mac’s revolutionary Graphical User Interface.

It came with a keyboard and mouse, and had a floppy drive that took 400 kB 3.5" disks. It was the first personal computer to do so.

The system sold for $2,495 upon its debut.

Courtesy of apple-history.com, the original Macintosh (128k) specs can be found below:

Essentials
- Family: Classic Macs
- Codename: Macintosh
- Gestalt ID: 1
- Minimum OS: 1.0
- Maximum OS: System 3.2/Finder 5.3
- Introduced: January 1984
- Terminated: October 1985

Processor
- CPU: Motorola MC68000
- CPU Speed: 8 MHz
- FPU: none
- Bus Speed: 8 MHz
- Register Width: 32-bit
- Data Bus Width: 16-bit
- Address Bus Width: 32-bit
- ROM: 64 kB
- Onboard RAM: 128 kB
- Maximum RAM: 128 kB

Video
- Monitor: 9" built-in
- VRAM: 1 bit 512x342

Storage
- Floppy Drive: 3.5" 400 kB

Input/Output
- Floppy: DB-19
- Joystick/Mouse: DE-9
- Serial: 2 DE-9
- Audio Out: mono 8 bit
- Speaker: mono

Miscellaneous
- Power: 60 Watts
- Dimensions: 13.6" H x 9.6" W x 10.9" D
- Weight: 16.5 lbs