We Were This Close to Never Having Macs

Thirty years ago today Steve Jobs unveiled the first-ever Macintosh computer to much fanfare, naturally. The Apple hype machine was in full swing, and in all fairness, Jobs' claim that the Mac would change the world turned out to be true. But things look different through the lens of nostalgia. Really, Macintosh nearly bombed for the same reasons that it was eventually a huge success—prioritizing aesthetics, showmanship, and consumer appeal.

The launch of the first Mac was full of Jobs' trademark theatrics and drama, only 80s-style so campy in an awesome way. (Definitely watch the video above if you haven't seen it; it’s hilarious.) Jobs recited Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are a Changing". The music swelled; the crowd cheered; Jobs choked up. The computer spoke: “Hi, I’m Macintosh. It sure is great to get out of that bag!”

Of course the Apple marketing campaign was in full swing well before the product’s dramatic reveal. The iconic Super Bowl ad previewing the launch was a sign of what was to come from the company just as much as the machine. It was all about image. There was no mention of computers—just a hot girl chucking a hammer through a movie screen showing an Orwellian video hypnotizing an audience of conformist drone-people that were supposed to represent the world according to IBM. Then the famous tagline: "On January 24th, Apple Computer will introduce Macintosh. And you'll see why 1984 won't be like 1984."

But once the buzz died down, sales were disappointing and the reaction to the Mac was a mixed bag. By the end of 1984 only about 10,000 Macs were selling per month, Apple was in a financial crisis, and six months later Jobs was essentially fired. Many of the press reviews dismissed it as exciting and fun to use but not much more than an expensive toy.

The machine cost $2,495—in the 80s. That was a huge improvement over the mainframe computers of the day, but hardly mass marketable. And tellingly, part of that high pricetag was to cover the extensive marketing and advertising costs attached to the product.

Though the Mac's breakthrough features—the user-friendly GUI, introduction of the mouse, windows and icons, word processing and paint program—wowed consumers, the computer couldn't actually do very much. Its 128K memory made it slow as hell and not able to run many software programs. The word processor, MacWrite, was only powerful enough to handle a 10-page document. Yet when Jobs revealed the machine's futuristic features on stage, they jacked up the computer’s memory to make sure it gave an impressive performance.

Jobs also opted to not install a fan in the Mac, worried it would distract from the computer's zen, calming appeal. (Before Macintosh people were afraid of computers.) That caused it to fry programs and earn the unfortunate nickname the "beige toaster."

"The problem was a fundamental one: It was a dazzling but woefully slow and underpowered computer, and no amount of hoopla could mask that,” Walter Isaacson wrote in his biography of Jobs.

It wasn't until two years later when the Macintosh Plus came out with a single megabyte of ram and software fixes that sales picked up and the personal computer really took off. Which is a pattern we see again and again. The first models of innovative technologies tend to suck, then they're revamped and eventually become valuable to consumers. The original Mac was a proof of concept more than anything. As Bill Gates put it at the time—ironically enough—it "captures people's imaginations." Thankfully, the Mac lived up to all the hype.

@meghanneal