Named in honor of Raskin's favorite edible apple (the McIntosh), the Macintosh had been in the works since 1979, so when Jobs joined the team it was already well advanced.
From the beginning, the Macintosh project was powered by the dedicated drive of two key players on the project team. For Burrell Smith, who designed the Macintosh digital hardware, the project represented an opportunity for a relative unknown to demonstrate outstanding technical talents.
For Steven Jobs, the 29-year-old chairman of Apple and he had a clear vision of the product from the beginning.
In 1984, Apple released the Macintosh, which provided advanced graphics capabilities and a revolutionary Graphical User Interface.
Macintosh is a platform of desktop computers targeting the home, educational, and professional markets. Included in this line are the iMac, which helped Apple recapture success in the personal computer market; the Mac mini, a tiny desktop computer targeting price-conscious consumers; and the Mac Pro, a series of high-performance machines.
The original Mac was the first affordable personal computer to feature a menu-driven, graphical user interface. It also came with a built-in monitor, keyboard, mouse, and a more compact 3.5" floppy drive.
Mouse was developed by Douglas Englebart of the Stanford Research Institute, the point-and-click interface replaced the cumbersome commands of MS-DOS with an intuitive, elegant means of interaction.
Between 1984 and 1985, Apple's net income fell 17% due to poor follow-up sales of the Macintosh computer. Jobs was forced out of the company, while CEO John Sculley, who was previously brought into the company by Jobs, assumed control. Later risky ventures such as the Newton PDA caused market share and stock price to drop at an alarming rate.
Macintosh computer
