On the cutting edge of 1984
Exactly 26 years ago this week, Apple released the MacIntosh computer.
January 25, 1984 to be exact.
The Mac was a radical step forward in the world of computing.
It was built on the Motorola 68000 microprocessor with 128K of RAM. A 512 version was due out later.
It weighed only 22 lbs and cost $3100 in 1984 dollars.
Yet it was a revolution.
It also introduced the mouse and ‘icons’ which replaced complicated onscreen instructions.
Yesterday, (in case you were in a coma), Steve Jobs introduced the iPad.
Which weighs considerably less than 22 lbs, costs considerably less than $3100 1984 dollars, and has a bit more computing power than 128K RAM.
Computers and computing and the web have made a lot of progress in the past 26 years, but what about other sectors of the economy and technology?
Here, for example, is the Space Shuttle, circa 1984
and now, here is the Space Shuttle in 2010
Notice anything strange about these two photos?
Yes, in 26 years, NASA and the space program seem to have made very little progress when compared to computing and the web.
OK. So NASA is a government agency, but Apple responds to consumer demand.
Let’s take another example.
Here is a Ford Mustang in 1984:
And here is a Ford Mustang, ca. 2010
Well, the 2010 version is more…. rounded?
If the computer industry moved at the same pace as the automobile industry (or the Space Shuttle industry, if there is such a thing), we would still be sitting with 22 lb laptops on our laps, and struggling with 128K processing speeds.
Why is it that computers and the web (Google and Apple, for example) move with such rapidity and industries like automobiles move at a glacial pace (even in this era of global warming – all glaciers do is retreat)?
There is a reason that GM and Chrysler went bankrupt (and that Ford survived by the skin of their teeth), while Apple stock doubles.
Does technology plateau at some point? Is there a kind of terminal velocity beyond which innovation is simply impossible?
I think of video cameras and still cameras and the breathtaking speed with which they change and improve – better and cheaper (except in the case of my Leica M9 – better, yes).
At the same time, when I go to London, I am still getting on a Boeing 747 that was probably built before 1984. Not much has changed there.
Will personal computers one day plateau out the way cars and planes have? Or is there something inherently wrong with our auto industry and NASA?
I have no idea.
I will note however, that the iPad was released 26 years after the very first Mac, almost to the day, and that was an event that certainly changed the world forever – much more than the 1984 Mustang.
6 Comments
Paul January 28, 2010
Only in the ‘developed’ world would grown men clap, whoop and rave at the sight of the latest creation from a computer company. The real tragedy is that 25 years on from the first Mac there are still millions living – and dying – in the most terrible poverty.
And we wet our pants over the latest computer. Absurd isn’t it.
Vanessa January 28, 2010
The answer is THE GOVERNMENT! SLOOOOOOOOOW! Let the creative juices flow, work hard, follow your dream AND KEEP THE GOVERNMENT OUT OF YOUR BUSINESS and you will see progress. Maybe not as fast as Apple – those guys are what Wile E. Coyote would call “SUPER GENIUS!”
steve January 28, 2010
although i think apple priced this thing right for the masses, i think they could have charged twice as much and folks would have thought it twice as good. it’s f’in apple!
i don’t think i need to convince michael about the wisdom of knowing what you are worth and charging for it.
i bought a tiny bottle of chanel as a gift for a good friend the other day. while it was a bit more than i recall it went for in 1984, i happen to think it’s worth every scent.
fosca January 28, 2010
i personally don´t get the hype that is made about this new apple-thing even so i was, as of today, never in a coma (hahaha, good one). i have no desire to get into one for that matter.
it seems, reading some reviews that obviously hold no shares in the releasing company, sexy but crap altogether. multitasking seems to be an issue and i do not get why someone should restrict my viewing habits by making flash as one example unavailable.
but i don´t really care either. mea culpa.
nevertheless, happy birthday 1984, we almost made it come true.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYQKDqjCEBQ
fosca January 29, 2010
maybe advances in technology are not always to be hailed
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/jan/23/cctv-sky-police-plan-drones
but what do i know
fosca January 29, 2010
oooops
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/01/high-tech-guns-digital-revolvers-koosh-bullets-and-triple-tasers/all/1