Very well-done! I love how the background changes to suit each era in the history you're summarizing. Took me a while to notice! Also excellent writing on your script. I've never been that avid reader of Cult of Mac, but I'll have to start.
Discovered the Mac in 1985 -- they were being used in the offices where I worked to support the sales team. They had a shared, networked 80MB 'Symbiotic' hard disk to share data! The 'network' was the Apple proprietary one that Mac Pluses brought in, but worked back to the 512s as well. Eventually, cheaper storage meant the Symbiotic solution was obsolete, and I was able to use it directly as an external SCSI disk. I never looked back, and eventually writing Mac software went from a hobby to my career. I still think that the high point of the whole journey was the first time I got a Mac+ to display a window with some content of my own devising (writing software for it in the early days was hard - the tools were very crude, and you had to know 68K assembler). It's been a long road. Honestly though, Apple as a company were much "nicer" back then. Struggling for survival tends to work that way, I think.
The LC- and Performa series are almost identical (but sold in different regions -- don't quote me 😅) The primary difference between the LC/Performa series vs Quadras (and to some extent, Centris- line) is the LC/Performas was based on a 68LC040 (primarily lacking a math coprocessor a la FPU) vs the full-bore 68040 (with FPU) in Quadras (and some Centris-). Can't remember if there were additional esoteric differences (on-die cache?). IIRC there was a running joke that the "LC" in 68LC040 stood for "low cost". It was definitely a strange time in the land of 6 colors.
Well done story. Have had a Mac since the Mac 128, which I still have. The 128 had a very unique disk drive sound that is hard to forget. Swapping did get old
The Performa line was the complete package with monitor, mouse and software for the entry market. There were games, software-samplers and productivity software included. Often Performa-packages were combined with printer, modem, scanner or other peripherals as well as part of a promotion. Some dealers did very competitive bundles based on the Performa line.
the Perfoma line was basically Apples approach to home computer market, it was in some way direct predecessor of iMac. The LC was basically a small business and education segment and Quadra/Centris was the professional segment. LC and Performa sometimes shared hardware sometimes even the bundle, but it was the segmentation which made it different.
I used Macs at work, but the first one I bought new was a Classic II, which I used for six years, all through my time at University - eventually with a hard disk and RAM upgrade. I finally retired my last Mac two weeks ago, when my Framework laptop arrived. Feels good to be modular and repairable again.
Loving the Tandy machines in the background (Model 4P, 1400LT, and Tandy 1000 EX). I started with the TRS-80 model I and eventually worked with Tandy 1000's. I was a die hard windows guy until 2003 when I tried my first Mac. I've been on the mac since then. Great video!
I'll challenge you on the idea that the micro-computer market was consolidating in 1984. New models and companies were springing up everywhere. The 1980's saw an explosion in small computers aimed at consumers and businesses. What _was_ consolidating around 1984 was the large computer market, where companies from the 1960s were clearly doomed, if they had not yet gone out of business.
Switching floppy discs: there was a little fun extension that would make a throwing up sound when you ejected a floppy disc. Sounded silly then, and I guess it still sounds silly (but was great fun with people who never heard it)
Really enjoyed that. Ive had Mac since Mac Classic. Over the years we has Mac servers, mini's power's iMac.etc. Everything is a lap top now. Next big jump is touch only and voice recognition. I think "real" computer use will morph back to a smaller segment .
Great video! Loved the changes of the computers on the background. I still have my G4 Cube and a 2012 MacBook Pro. When I have the room here, someday I want to get an original Mac and the Sunflower Mac. 😊
This was a great explanation of the history of the Mac. My first computer was a Mac Classic that I purchased in 1991. I have always said that I am glad that my introduction to computers was through the Mac. I could not imagine trying to learn DOS. Windows is a poor imitation of the Mac Operating System.
For a time, I had the most powerful 68k Mac that Apple never built: a Commodore Amiga 3000T with a 68060 processor board at 50 MHz and 96MB of RAM running Mac OS under Shapeshifter. 😀 My first 'real' Mac was a beige G3 desktop, followed by G4 and G5 Power Macs, various Mac Minis and now a M1 Studio.
nope, that is a nonsense... First of all there was no Commodore Amiga A3000T with 68060 CPU, so you might have to have one, but that was using a "turbocard" a completely new computer of later era stuffed into your Amiga. But then again we can claim that any Quadra or Centris is much faster 68k Mac then your setup if you had a PowerPC G3 CPU board in it... and it may even be the fastest Amiga after all... And if we stay with stock computers, the fastest Mac was Quadra 840AV with 68040 at 40MHz and DSP3210, Commodore never made such a powerful computer.
That was a decent overview. Nothing glaringly inaccurate, great job. (Though I'm not sure I agree that Swift is the first time you can run the same code base on the Mac and iOS devices, before Switch, everything was running Objective-C. What really lets everything run everywhere, without a recompile, is the fact they're all now running the same CPU architecture.) Not only that, but you brought up the Mac Portable. Definitely didn't expect that cameo!
My understanding is that yes, an Objective-C app could share a lot of code between an iOS and macOS target, but it wasn’t until SwiftUI that the *exact same* code could build for both. The architecture actually doesn’t have as much to do with it - SwiftUI predates the Mac on Apple silicon. I developed Mac + iPhone-targeted apps on my former Intel MacBook Pro.
@@dgriffinjones I'm not sure what you mean by "exact same" code. Yes, you can run the exact same code in both places, as it's the exact same language. Now there may be differences in the available frameworks, but that has nothing to do with the language, and Swift would do nothing to address that. The architecture actually has everything to do with it (in terms of the actual code getting executed), as the gcc (Objective-C) compiled binaries are not cross architecture compatible. Apple's magic "universal binaries" are really just two binaries (an Intel and an ARM) that are packaged together in an executable directory, where the system picks the executable that suits it. Swift is still a compiled language, so it doesn't have a virtual machine to abstract out the differences in ISA, and so unless you are running the same architecture, you'll have to have compatible binaries, or a real time translator (Rosetta), just like you would with Objective-C.
@@bujin5455 I understand all that, but explaining that degree of nuance in one of the last lines of a video that isn’t even about programming wouldn’t really fit in. From a stratospherically higher-level perspective, AppKit for macOS and UIKit for iOS are two different things; SwiftUI is one thing that does both. As both a computer scientist and writer, picking how much to simplify is always a balancing act between confusing people and upsetting other programmers.
@@dgriffinjones if you understand all of that, then you understand Swift did not enable a write once run everywhere experience. Sure you have SwiftUI, but before SwiftUI, there was interface builder that goes all the way back to NextStep. BTW, glad to hear you also have a CS background, as a computer scientist myself and a professional software engineer, I guess when people say XYZ technology did a thing that is completely unrelated to anything, I'm left scratching my head.
The Performas were simply re-branded versions of their non-Performa counterparts, just sold direct to consumers. Typically the LC series were sold to schools and institutions.
The Mac is an incredible product. I am a bit disappointed that the iMac M3 was such a lame launch. If it had M3 Pro I would have upgraded from my 2020 i9 5700 XT iMac
I loved the Newton. Pretty much had them all, but it was a novelty and mostly useless. The handwriting recognition worked surprisingly good for me - much better than Siri understand my voice today. My first Mac was an 8500Av. I was pretty happy with it. I also got the first iMac, and have been using them ever since. Apple still neglects the pro market, and the Top end iMac has been missing for years now. I feel like my 2020 27" imac might be my last mac after all these years.
Give the M3 iMac a try! It’s not Apple’s “pro” chip, but it’s still plenty powerful for most workflows. And if that’s not enough, I can endorse the Mac mini - my M2 Pro mini been a video production powerhouse for me.
What drugs were they taking when they put out all the Quadra and Performa and LC computers that were all the same thing ? I remember all of that, thanks to this video it brought that confusion back into my life haha! Kidding. But i do remember the head scratching going on.
Wow,, the late 80s-early 90s were a confusing time. Apple will never have a product line so confusing ever again? *looks at the iPad lineup* Oh, nevermind....
This was Fabulous........ I'm THRILLED that I didn't get into computers during the disaster daze. 🥳 BTW......If Apple ever dumps the iMac I'll walk to the Window and toss my Body to the street below.... in front of a Bus ! Just sayin'. :)
.......... you paint a pretty picture,, the MAC cost $2000 !! it originally just had MAC write & MAC draw . ................ the PC or commodore etc were INEXPENSIVE & had lots of applications
PC was very expensive in 1984/85, what are you talking about? Even first Amiga was 2000USD when introduced in 1985. Yes the C=64 was very cheap, but that was in a different league.
@@madigorfkgoogle9349 you mis understand the point, the MAC didnt sell because there was only two apps, mac write & draw for a $2,000 machine.... it took a long time for other software to arive,, its what caused steve jobs to be fired
@@matthews4159 no that is not true. Actually 3rd party devs were able to get Macintosh dev pack based on Lisa either with assembly or Pascal since 1983. Those two apps you mentioned were bundled, which means those were "for free" in package with the computer. When the Mac started its sales bunch of 3rd party apps were already available, like for example MS Word and MS Multiplan (spreadsheet). Apple was offering MacBasic, MacPascal, MacTerminal and MacProject, basically all you needed for new computer back then.The limiting factor was the low RAM, having GUI based OS with just around 90KB free RAM after boot was very limiting. And no, this didnt cause Jobs to be fired, in fact he left and was not fired at all. He had major difficulties with the board of directors prior to moving to Macintosh project, in fact he was kinda moved aside during the Lisa development over to low cost Macintosh project, so he is not in the way of Lisa.
nope, actually the Mac was a success thanks to Wozniaks apple II, first 2-3 years in life of the Macitosh apple was utterly living out of apple II, and without it, it would go bankrupt.
Very well-done! I love how the background changes to suit each era in the history you're summarizing. Took me a while to notice! Also excellent writing on your script. I've never been that avid reader of Cult of Mac, but I'll have to start.
Discovered the Mac in 1985 -- they were being used in the offices where I worked to support the sales team. They had a shared, networked 80MB 'Symbiotic' hard disk to share data! The 'network' was the Apple proprietary one that Mac Pluses brought in, but worked back to the 512s as well. Eventually, cheaper storage meant the Symbiotic solution was obsolete, and I was able to use it directly as an external SCSI disk. I never looked back, and eventually writing Mac software went from a hobby to my career. I still think that the high point of the whole journey was the first time I got a Mac+ to display a window with some content of my own devising (writing software for it in the early days was hard - the tools were very crude, and you had to know 68K assembler). It's been a long road. Honestly though, Apple as a company were much "nicer" back then. Struggling for survival tends to work that way, I think.
Anyone notice the time-period matching machines in the background as he progressed through the history?
Very enjoyable trip down memory lane. My first computer was a Lisa and I never looked back. Now my M2 mini ROCKS!
Thanks, nice trip down memory lane.
The LC- and Performa series are almost identical (but sold in different regions -- don't quote me 😅)
The primary difference between the LC/Performa series vs Quadras (and to some extent, Centris- line) is the LC/Performas was based on a 68LC040 (primarily lacking a math coprocessor a la FPU) vs the full-bore 68040 (with FPU) in Quadras (and some Centris-). Can't remember if there were additional esoteric differences (on-die cache?).
IIRC there was a running joke that the "LC" in 68LC040 stood for "low cost".
It was definitely a strange time in the land of 6 colors.
Well done story. Have had a Mac since the Mac 128, which I still have. The 128 had a very unique disk drive sound that is hard to forget. Swapping did get old
I love the blip-blip-blip noise
We used to call swapping disks "Making Toast". Sometimes you could get into a rhythm but yes it did get old....LOL
The Performa line was the complete package with monitor, mouse and software for the entry market. There were games, software-samplers and productivity software included. Often Performa-packages were combined with printer, modem, scanner or other peripherals as well as part of a promotion. Some dealers did very competitive bundles based on the Performa line.
the Perfoma line was basically Apples approach to home computer market, it was in some way direct predecessor of iMac. The LC was basically a small business and education segment and Quadra/Centris was the professional segment. LC and Performa sometimes shared hardware sometimes even the bundle, but it was the segmentation which made it different.
Love how you changed the Mac’s in the background seamlessly
I used Macs at work, but the first one I bought new was a Classic II, which I used for six years, all through my time at University - eventually with a hard disk and RAM upgrade. I finally retired my last Mac two weeks ago, when my Framework laptop arrived. Feels good to be modular and repairable again.
Loving the Tandy machines in the background (Model 4P, 1400LT, and Tandy 1000 EX). I started with the TRS-80 model I and eventually worked with Tandy 1000's. I was a die hard windows guy until 2003 when I tried my first Mac. I've been on the mac since then. Great video!
actually the ADB was for input devices so printers would not hook up that way, they used one of the serial ports
Very well put together, great information!
I'll challenge you on the idea that the micro-computer market was consolidating in 1984. New models and companies were springing up everywhere. The 1980's saw an explosion in small computers aimed at consumers and businesses. What _was_ consolidating around 1984 was the large computer market, where companies from the 1960s were clearly doomed, if they had not yet gone out of business.
I agree with you 100%, this video is very poorly researched and the author is too young to remember the time.
Great video. The Mac has come such a long way since the Performa 550 I grew up with at home.
Switching floppy discs: there was a little fun extension that would make a throwing up sound when you ejected a floppy disc. Sounded silly then, and I guess it still sounds silly (but was great fun with people who never heard it)
Fantastic documentary. Well done. Thank you.
I became an Apple Fanboy in 1987 when I used a McIntosh for the first time.
The Mac is an amazing success story! Last year in 2023, about 22 million Macs were sold.
In 2023, about 220 million Windows PCs were sold.
Really enjoyed that. Ive had Mac since Mac Classic. Over the years we has Mac servers, mini's power's iMac.etc. Everything is a lap top now. Next big jump is touch only and voice recognition. I think "real" computer use will morph back to a smaller segment .
Great video! Loved the changes of the computers on the background. I still have my G4 Cube and a 2012 MacBook Pro. When I have the room here, someday I want to get an original Mac and the Sunflower Mac. 😊
thank you for the video, i loved your story bor!
This was a great explanation of the history of the Mac. My first computer was a Mac Classic that I purchased in 1991. I have always said that I am glad that my introduction to computers was through the Mac. I could not imagine trying to learn DOS. Windows is a poor imitation of the Mac Operating System.
For a time, I had the most powerful 68k Mac that Apple never built: a Commodore Amiga 3000T with a 68060 processor board at 50 MHz and 96MB of RAM running Mac OS under Shapeshifter. 😀
My first 'real' Mac was a beige G3 desktop, followed by G4 and G5 Power Macs, various Mac Minis and now a M1 Studio.
nope, that is a nonsense... First of all there was no Commodore Amiga A3000T with 68060 CPU, so you might have to have one, but that was using a "turbocard" a completely new computer of later era stuffed into your Amiga. But then again we can claim that any Quadra or Centris is much faster 68k Mac then your setup if you had a PowerPC G3 CPU board in it... and it may even be the fastest Amiga after all...
And if we stay with stock computers, the fastest Mac was Quadra 840AV with 68040 at 40MHz and DSP3210, Commodore never made such a powerful computer.
@@madigorfkgoogle9349 You have your definition, I have mine. And something with a PowerPC CPU wasn't a 68k machine. But never mind...
@@fotoralf since the CPU of Quadra or Centris was 68040 then what it was?
Great job Griffin! I'd love to know where you store all your old computing stuff! You're amassing quite the collection! Keep up the good work!
I live alone in a three-bedroom house, that’s almost enough space
Good summary.
That was a decent overview. Nothing glaringly inaccurate, great job. (Though I'm not sure I agree that Swift is the first time you can run the same code base on the Mac and iOS devices, before Switch, everything was running Objective-C. What really lets everything run everywhere, without a recompile, is the fact they're all now running the same CPU architecture.) Not only that, but you brought up the Mac Portable. Definitely didn't expect that cameo!
My understanding is that yes, an Objective-C app could share a lot of code between an iOS and macOS target, but it wasn’t until SwiftUI that the *exact same* code could build for both. The architecture actually doesn’t have as much to do with it - SwiftUI predates the Mac on Apple silicon. I developed Mac + iPhone-targeted apps on my former Intel MacBook Pro.
@@dgriffinjones I'm not sure what you mean by "exact same" code. Yes, you can run the exact same code in both places, as it's the exact same language. Now there may be differences in the available frameworks, but that has nothing to do with the language, and Swift would do nothing to address that. The architecture actually has everything to do with it (in terms of the actual code getting executed), as the gcc (Objective-C) compiled binaries are not cross architecture compatible. Apple's magic "universal binaries" are really just two binaries (an Intel and an ARM) that are packaged together in an executable directory, where the system picks the executable that suits it. Swift is still a compiled language, so it doesn't have a virtual machine to abstract out the differences in ISA, and so unless you are running the same architecture, you'll have to have compatible binaries, or a real time translator (Rosetta), just like you would with Objective-C.
@@bujin5455 I understand all that, but explaining that degree of nuance in one of the last lines of a video that isn’t even about programming wouldn’t really fit in. From a stratospherically higher-level perspective, AppKit for macOS and UIKit for iOS are two different things; SwiftUI is one thing that does both. As both a computer scientist and writer, picking how much to simplify is always a balancing act between confusing people and upsetting other programmers.
@@dgriffinjones if you understand all of that, then you understand Swift did not enable a write once run everywhere experience. Sure you have SwiftUI, but before SwiftUI, there was interface builder that goes all the way back to NextStep. BTW, glad to hear you also have a CS background, as a computer scientist myself and a professional software engineer, I guess when people say XYZ technology did a thing that is completely unrelated to anything, I'm left scratching my head.
The 1990’s was just a sad period in the companies history 😢
*C major breathy chime*
This video was better than anything Apple presented on January 24.
Well, Apple also did nothing on January 24 to acknowledge it...
The Performas were simply re-branded versions of their non-Performa counterparts, just sold direct to consumers. Typically the LC series were sold to schools and institutions.
But where'd you get the font used in the thumbnail?
It’s called Chicago
Yes you CAN make the argument that Apple’s success is down to marketing and design veneer. The thing is though, it worked.
VIC-20 oh yeah.
The Mac is an incredible product. I am a bit disappointed that the iMac M3 was such a lame launch. If it had M3 Pro I would have upgraded from my 2020 i9 5700 XT iMac
nice hair
I loved the Newton. Pretty much had them all, but it was a novelty and mostly useless. The handwriting recognition worked surprisingly good for me - much better than Siri understand my voice today. My first Mac was an 8500Av. I was pretty happy with it. I also got the first iMac, and have been using them ever since. Apple still neglects the pro market, and the Top end iMac has been missing for years now. I feel like my 2020 27" imac might be my last mac after all these years.
Give the M3 iMac a try! It’s not Apple’s “pro” chip, but it’s still plenty powerful for most workflows. And if that’s not enough, I can endorse the Mac mini - my M2 Pro mini been a video production powerhouse for me.
Intel forgot how to make faster processors.
Sick burn 🤣
What drugs were they taking when they put out all the Quadra and Performa and LC computers that were all the same thing ? I remember all of that, thanks to this video it brought that confusion back into my life haha! Kidding. But i do remember the head scratching going on.
You missed the entire Color Classic era. Tsk tsk.
Wow,, the late 80s-early 90s were a confusing time. Apple will never have a product line so confusing ever again? *looks at the iPad lineup* Oh, nevermind....
This was Fabulous........ I'm THRILLED that I didn't get into computers during the disaster daze. 🥳 BTW......If Apple ever dumps the iMac I'll walk to the Window and toss my Body to the street below.... in front of a Bus ! Just sayin'. :)
.......... you paint a pretty picture,, the MAC cost $2000 !! it originally just had MAC write & MAC draw
.
................ the PC or commodore etc were INEXPENSIVE & had lots of applications
PC was very expensive in 1984/85, what are you talking about? Even first Amiga was 2000USD when introduced in 1985. Yes the C=64 was very cheap, but that was in a different league.
@@madigorfkgoogle9349 you mis understand the point, the MAC didnt sell because there was only two apps, mac write & draw for a $2,000 machine.... it took a long time for other software to arive,, its what caused steve jobs to be fired
@@matthews4159 no that is not true. Actually 3rd party devs were able to get Macintosh dev pack based on Lisa either with assembly or Pascal since 1983. Those two apps you mentioned were bundled, which means those were "for free" in package with the computer. When the Mac started its sales bunch of 3rd party apps were already available, like for example MS Word and MS Multiplan (spreadsheet). Apple was offering MacBasic, MacPascal, MacTerminal and MacProject, basically all you needed for new computer back then.The limiting factor was the low RAM, having GUI based OS with just around 90KB free RAM after boot was very limiting.
And no, this didnt cause Jobs to be fired, in fact he left and was not fired at all. He had major difficulties with the board of directors prior to moving to Macintosh project, in fact he was kinda moved aside during the Lisa development over to low cost Macintosh project, so he is not in the way of Lisa.
Macs was a success because of Jobs
nope, actually the Mac was a success thanks to Wozniaks apple II, first 2-3 years in life of the Macitosh apple was utterly living out of apple II, and without it, it would go bankrupt.