This day in history

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Richard Frost
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This day in history

Post by Richard Frost » Mon Jan 24 2022 9:10am

24 January 1984

Apple Inc unveils its revolutionary Macintosh personal computer.
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Re: This day in history

Post by macliam » Mon Jan 24 2022 10:51am

There were many "revolutionary" computers at that time.... most of which failed. There were computers that span the disk at varying speeds to keep a set data-denity across the disk, there were computers with much higher resolution screens, etc., etc. The Macintosh also had many restrictions, was very expensive........ and the digital interface was far from an overnight success.

Other companies, IBM, Xerox, Digital, etc. were also striving to be market leader in personal computers at the time, but what the Mac did was to represent Apple's "control" philosophy, being incompatible with other equipment and jealously guarding that to ensure that they held their consumers "loyalty"" and producing "complete packages" at a price. However, there were also many early Apple failures too (e.g. the Lisa) and in the mid 80s the Mac was seen as a bit of a failure as it had not sold in great quantities and certainly had no dominance in the market. The Mac was an all-in-one package (not the only one), was too expensive for home use and too restrictive in business use..... but it gained leverage in certain areas. Where it gained "advantage" was in the fragmentation of the PC market, driven by lower cost competitors and a more open (though confused) market proposition.

In the end, the Mac story is comparable to the Iphone..... except the Mac never reached the market position of the Iphone. It's success is certainly a case of hindsight being 20/20.
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Re: This day in history

Post by blythburgh » Mon Jan 24 2022 11:12am

Not that long after we bought an Amstrad PCW. What a workhorse that machine was for us.
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Re: This day in history

Post by Chadwick » Tue Jan 25 2022 10:53am

Richard Frost wrote:
Mon Jan 24 2022 9:10am
24 January 1984

Apple Inc unveils its revolutionary Macintosh personal computer.
blythburgh wrote:
Mon Jan 24 2022 11:12am
Not that long after we bought an Amstrad PCW. What a workhorse that machine was for us.
My Spectrum 48K was still going strong. It would be another 9 months before the next generation Spectrum+ came on the market (same computer inside; different case outside, with hard keys instead of the rubber ones).
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Re: This day in history

Post by macliam » Tue Jan 25 2022 2:38pm

Chadwick wrote:
Tue Jan 25 2022 10:53am
Richard Frost wrote:
Mon Jan 24 2022 9:10am
24 January 1984

Apple Inc unveils its revolutionary Macintosh personal computer.
blythburgh wrote:
Mon Jan 24 2022 11:12am
Not that long after we bought an Amstrad PCW. What a workhorse that machine was for us.
My Spectrum 48K was still going strong. It would be another 9 months before the next generation Spectrum+ came on the market (same computer inside; different case outside, with hard keys instead of the rubber ones).
I added a third-party keyboard to my Speccy, plus microdrives. I wrote DOS-style commands to work on the extended basic system and had some games published (Sub Hunt, which was a submarine based shoot'em-up paid the most.... about £300).

Later I bought a QL, added a "real" keyboard, plus memory expansion, double disk drives and an "ICE" unit that gave a digital interface like the Mac had (except mine was controlled by joystick as mice were too expensive!!) I spent the best part of £1000 getting that system in place... - then replaced it with an Atari-badged PC XT clone with a 20Mb hard disk (cost £750!!)
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Re: This day in history

Post by Sarah » Tue Jan 25 2022 4:52pm

macliam wrote:
Tue Jan 25 2022 2:38pm
Sub Hunt, which was a submarine based shoot'em-up paid the most.... about £300
This one?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paRU1Tstuyk
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Re: This day in history

Post by macliam » Tue Jan 25 2022 6:41pm

Sarah wrote:
Tue Jan 25 2022 4:52pm
macliam wrote:
Tue Jan 25 2022 2:38pm
Sub Hunt, which was a submarine based shoot'em-up paid the most.... about £300
This one?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paRU1Tstuyk
No, that's actually not as good as mine..... :oops:

Mine fired from the sub up at the ship, whilst dodging depth charges - and both moved (that was the hard part!) Similar graphics though (unsurprising given what you had to hand!)
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Re: This day in history

Post by Richard Frost » Wed Jan 26 2022 9:41am

26 January 1998
President Bill Clinton tells a White House press conference: “I want to say one thing to the American people… I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky”.
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Re: This day in history

Post by blythburgh » Wed Jan 26 2022 10:37am

Richard Frost wrote:
Wed Jan 26 2022 9:41am
26 January 1998
President Bill Clinton tells a White House press conference: “I want to say one thing to the American people… I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky”.
And Johnson did not attend a party. Same misuse of words
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Re: This day in history

Post by Chadwick » Wed Jan 26 2022 6:39pm

Richard Frost wrote:
Wed Jan 26 2022 9:41am
26 January 1998
President Bill Clinton tells a White House press conference: “I want to say one thing to the American people… I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky”.
Perhaps she ambushed him?
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