Apple Macintosh

In 1984, Apple Computer rolled out its 128 K Macintosh computer, revolutionizing the world of personal computing in the process. The advent of the Macintosh represented an ambitious gamble. IBM, the leading personal computing company of the time, was an incredibly dominant force. The Apple Co. famously rolled out the Macintosh with a dramatic commercial spot, which aired during the Super Bowl on January 22, 1984.

This commercial featured a young woman in orange shorts running terrified as she's being chased by Orwellian machinery--an obvious metaphor for IBM. The Macintosh promised that "1984 wouldn't be like '1984'," a reference to George Orwell's futuristic dystopian world. The 128 K Macintosh introduced ideas which personal computer users now take for granted--including the graphical user interface, the mouse, and the ergonomic "whitespace" designs employed on most of today's PCs.

Before the Mac's graphical user interface came out, home users had to implement commands via a command line interface. Technophobes and people lacking fluency in computer language couldn't accomplish much computing prior to the Mac's advent. The Macintosh also pioneered the idea of clicking and double-clicking on icons to move them around screens.

More recently, Apple developed the iMac, a desktop computer that offers a panoply of ports, programs, and other technological amenities. The iBook is the laptop companion to the iMac. These new Macintosh computers run on Apple Computer owned proprietary operating systems, and both iMacs and iBooks are engineered to serve the home and creative user markets.