By Seb Janacek on 24 January 2008 17:10
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Apple's long history of innovative and occasionally quirky design was reinforced with last week's Macworld launch of the wafer-thin MacBook Air laptop. But could this new machine one day figure in the pantheon of Apple's greatest creations? Seb Janacek sifts out his favourite Apple products from more than 30 years of lemons, blind alleys and sheer genius.
1: Macintosh 128K
Arguably the computer that had the biggest influence on personal computing. The Macintosh was launched in 1984 and everything about it was revolutionary, from the consumer-oriented graphical user interface to the mouse - both firsts for a commercially successful computer. Even the history of its development has passed into Mac mythology. The Macintosh set a new paradigm for Apple and the industry as a whole. Without the Mac there'd be no Windows. It was rather cute too - an all-in-one case with a nine-inch monitor. It was also marketed via the famous 1984 commercial directed by Ridley Scott. It's interesting to speculate about where personal computing would be now without the original Mac - the computer for the "rest of us" that Steve Jobs promised would put a dent in the universe.
Photo credit: Creative Commons licence
See what Apple's got up its sleeve for 2008 at this year's Macworld
Comments
There are 6 comments. Join the discussion
1. anonymous
Do not underestimate the significance of the iPhone: it has changed the telecomms landscape for ever.
2. Janice
... and don't forget the eBook - a NewtonOS-based notepad-style touch-screen computer for the primary and secondary education market that pre-dated the PC offerings by years. Never formally released in the UK, it was a huge success in the 'States. Kids literally cried when Apple announced it was to be discontinued with no replacement product.
3. Karen Challinor
no iTazer ?
4. George
If you value form over function then any of these will do.
5. Janice
... that should have been "eMate" of course, not "eBook", although the iBook was pretty cool as well!
6. Richard Marshall
Re "If you value form over function then any of these will do"
Quite correct. They are all well designed. Thanks.
Similarly, if you value form as a function, then any of these will do admirably. Personally, I like to live and work with nice things that work well and look good.
These are all iconic products. Yes, early Newtons failed to deliver in terms of function but the criterion is "king of Apple cool" not "most bang for your buck"!
Next you'll be moaning that Sid Vicious doesn't count as a rock icon because a) he couldn't play the bass and b) he died too young to make an impact...