25 years of Macintosh

Dave Winer reminds us that this is the Mac's 25th anniversary year:

On January 24, 1984 a couple thousand people were present at Flint Center in Cupertino at the birth of something with real lasting value, the Macintosh.

[...]
Hard as it is to believe -- that was almost 25 years ago!
http://mac25.org/

My arc with Macintosh is not quite that long... I'm coming up on 20 years myself, with a couple of longish intervals of Windows/PC use:

First Mac purchased - Mac SE, 1989
(Other Macs owned: Macintosh LC, two PowerBooks... plus a couple of Newtons in there somewhere.)

Moved to NYC in 1996 as a Mac user (brought PowerBook with me) and promptly went to work for an all-Windows shop. :-)

Windows/Linux user from 1997-2005, despite an all-too-brief interregnum working in an all-Mac shop in 2000.

2006: After a bad experience with Microsoft Vista, I buy a Macbook for home use.

I liked it. I liked it a lot... and still do.

Most recent Mac purchases: 24" iMac, 2007; MacBook Air, 2008.

(And a couple of iPhones in there somewhere.)

So... from this:


To this:


In 20 years. Not bad.

Jobs pulled the original Mac out of a carrying bag in 1984 and it was a sensation ("never trust a computer you can't lift") - in 2008, he pulled the MacBook Air out of a standard manila interoffice envelope, and that was just the logical conclusion of a lot of advances in technology and engineering since 1984.

I really hope that Apple doesn't introduce the long-rumored tablet Mac at the upcoming MacWorld Expo... Steve Jobs' absence would suggest that AAPL will never again use MacWorld for major product introductions.

I hope they wait for warmer weather to announce general availability of the tablet Mac. I hate standing in line in the cold. (And I'm already on record as stating that I'm buying two of these - one for me and one for her.)

Related: Mactracker is a great walk down memory lane if you're an older Mac owner, or an owner of older Macs if you prefer.