Remembering the Apple I 153
harrymcc writes "This month marks the 35th anniversary of Apple--and the 35th anniversary of the Apple I, its first computer. It was a single-board computer that was unimaginably more rudimentary than any modern Mac — it didn't even come with a case and keyboard standard — but in its design, sales and marketing, we can see the beginnings of the Apple approach that continues to this day. I'm celebrating with a look at this significant machine."
Re:ahh, the good ole days (Score:3, Insightful)
When Apple hardware was open. Apple ][ computers had their wiring diagram on the inside of the lid (which required no screws to open!). 8 slots, baby, *eight*, to fill with whatever you wanted. No voiding the warranty by opening it up, etc. I later went Amiga and didn't look back until recently. I got a nice ROM 03 Apple //gs on eBay, and even got a nice TransWarp GS card for it. Hot stuff! :) Never was a fan of Macs. *shrug*
I've owned a few Macs over the years and some models had slots, easy opening cases, no warranty issues with 3rd party cards, etc. This is still true for towers.
Other Macs are sealed boxes. Just like the laptop PCs that represent the majority of the computer marketplace. As a nerd I have an affinity for things I can tweak but I have to admit this represents a minority opinion and that sealed boxes make sense for typical users (cost reductions, simplified supply chain, etc).
Re:ahh, the good ole days (Score:4, Insightful)
Yep, my first computer was a Power Mac 7500, with an outer case that slid off by pressing two buttons, and the power supply and drives tilted to the right to reveal the motherboard. Best case I ever worked with.
Funny, though, those 'open' Macs only appeared after Jobs was gone!
Re:ahh, the good ole days (Score:4, Insightful)
Yeah, and the NeXT didn't have any slots, nor did it use standard tech (TCP/IP, Postscript, ...) to interact with the world.
Oh, wait...
Re:ahh, the good ole days (Score:4, Insightful)
Funny, though, those 'open' Macs only appeared after Jobs was gone!
The tower form factor Power Macs (G3 and up) and the Mac Pros will open, have slots, etc. Jobs seems just fine with the models targeting "professionals" to be designed to be worked on by end users. Jobs' pre-Mac baby, the Lisa (1983), had slots IIRC. The Lisa was also targeted towards "professionals".
Re:ahh, the good ole days (Score:4, Insightful)
Apple ][ computers had their wiring diagram on the inside of the lid
WTF are you smoking, and can I have some?
Apple ][ computers NEVER had a schematic (or anything else) on the inside of the lid. The schematic was in the "Red Book"; but not on the lid.
And I think I know from experience. Not only do I OWN an Apple 1; but the first Apple ][ I ever saw/programmed was s/n 0013 (!!!). It was part of the first production run. So old it didn't even have the "cooling slots" in the top!
And subsequently, I sold Apple ][s for a couple of years, and they didn't have a schematic on the lid, either...
I'm not sure what computer you are think of; but it is not an Apple ][.
Re:Who's not a geek (Score:4, Insightful)
Steve is not really selling so much, he is only selling at most ten days of the year and not even full days, in fact he spends most of the days running a company where he oversees design and production of both software and hardware, that is not the job of a salesman.
I do not think Steve Jobs would be happy doing whatever makes him rich, remember what he said to John Sculley in 1985 "Do you want to sell sugarwater the rest of your life, or do you want to come with me and change the world?" is a pretty strong indicator that Steve was not in it just to make money (but I wouldn't fault him if he saw money as something entirely positive). Jobs most likely sees himself as a visionary or an artist, perhaps even a philosopher, he probably is an "architect" archetype where he wants to leave a lasting legacy (see his Stanford Commencement speech where he hints at this).