The MAC @ 20

Forbes.com ^ | 12.15.03 | Quentin Hardy

[uglybiker]

Now we'll have another +1000 post PC vs. Mac thread. Can't we all just get along?

The Ford vs. Chevy boys have been going at it for generations with no sign of letting up, so I don't see this rivalry as being any different.

[Woahhs]

Ahhh you didn't understand a word of that, did you?

Airport rocks! Got a headless G3, G4, and duelly G5 networked in the time it takes to make a pot of coffee.

[Fred Mertz]

I've been a MacUser since 1987. I just bought a new one last week...my 4th.

[poindexters brother]

[Vermonter]

I just bought a new one last week...my 4th.

I've lost track of how many I've had. My timing is always perfect though. When I buy, you can bet a new model is due within a month!

[The_Victor]

The Ford vs. Chevy boys have been going at it for generations with no sign of letting up, so I don't see this rivalry as being any different.

Good point. I've used both computers, and can see pros and cons of each. Not the same with Ford and Chevy though. My 88 Mustang was a heap. My 96 Chevy suburban has 120000 miles and going strong (mostly). My 90 Jeep Cherokee is 172000 miles and beats them both. (Linux equivalent?)

[Orangedog]

If the mice haven't gotten into 'em they're probably still as functional as the day they were made; maybe even if the mice have gotten into 'em, too.

Nah, there are some things even mice won't eat.

[brbethke]

My grandchildren love my 2C.

Sweet little machine, isn't it? Apple did actually develop a flat-panel display for it, to make a sort of notebook PC a good five years before anyone else, but as I heard the story Jobs killed the project because he didn't want the //c to compete with the soon-to-be-introduced Mac.

More "Apple brilliance" at work, eh?

[Orangedog]

Apple wasn't just accused of stealing from Xerox they lost the case

Didn't Apple and Xerox PARC have some kind of business arrangement?

[brbethke]

Not to eat them. Mouse urine is incredibly corrosive.

[discostu]

I don't think they had a business arangement that included stealing a revolutionary idea without any kind of credit or compensation. The case got thrown out (thinkDifferent provided a link) but the evidence is pretty clear cut, Xerox got raided.

[Glenn]

which Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people ) Windows appeared to copy over several generations

Wrong!

John Scully licensed the GUI to Microsoft but failed to structure it properly (it cost him the court case). Apple would own MSFT if it weren't for that gaffe. It's something Steve never would have screwed up.

[brbethke]

I beg to disagree. It's a cult.

[tubebender]

You forgot the "Low Carb" vs "Low Fat" love fests popular on FR these days...

[Poser]

"I believe Apple got started with the Apple I back in 1977, although the Apple II was what got things going in the commercial market. The mac, OTOH, was not introduced until 1984. That is the anniversary that is being celebrated, since the macintosh is the only computer now sold by Apple, having replaced the original Apple II around 1986 or so."

The Mac was 2 years too late. The PCXT had already become the standard computer. I was just starting to build clones that year (or the next). I could build a dual floppy XT for $720 or buy one from IBM for about $1,500. The MAC was more expensive.

Soon, Zenith built the Z100 and DEC built the Rainbow. Neither of them were clones of the IBM PCXT. They needed special versions of the software and thus, failed.

If the Mac had come out in '82, it could be the standard today.

[GOP Jedi]

The Ford vs. Chevy boys have been going at it for generations with no sign of letting up, so I don't see this rivalry as being any different.

There is one material difference. Backing a Ford or Chevy doesn't change the laws of the road. Backing a PC means backing the upcoming Longhorn OS, which, some industry observers opine, will chip at the base of internet freedom by forcing net IDs on users. Jury's still out on that one, but if there's peeing in the collective punchbowl ahead, it won't be coming from the Apple end of the room.

[Elliott Jackalope]

I remember those DEC Rainbow ads, with the fuzzy caterpillar designed to make their system seem warm and user friendly. Poor DEC. A company without a vision is a company without a future...

BTW, I agree that the original Mac was a day late and an dollar short. And then it took them FOREVER to get color on those puppies. Boy, they really screwed the pooch on that whole deal.

However, a new day is dawning for Apple. Their new systems are priced well, they don't cost twice as much as an equivalent PC any longer, and OS X is simply fantastic. Here's hoping they can do well from here on out.

[avg_freeper]

One of these days I plan on posting a:

"Neocon Crawls Out Of Hobbit-Hole to Reconstruct South Using Intelligent Design Modeling Program On A Macintosh"

All shall tremble before the greatness of my post.

[RS]

"I bought a 20th Anniversary Mac (which I am using right now) back in November of 1997. Maybe it's the 25th anniversary now???"

So THAT's how they avoided the Y2K bug !

[Orangedog]

I'll have to thumb through my copy of Infinite Loop again. There wasn't much mentioned in it about the Xerox lawsuit. But, yes, Xerox got greased-up and not even given the common courtesy of a reach-around.