Jump to content

Macintosh 128K

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Mikegt (talk | contribs) at 08:23, 15 October 2007. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Template:Mac specs

Back case of an unaltered, still-working original Macintosh (sold from January 1984 to September 1984). Those made after 10 September, 1984, will have the label Macintosh 128k on the back of the case.
Logic Board serial # 5123 one of the original Macintosh models(of 6000) sold in the dealerships on introduction in January 1984.The sales of the Macintosh reached 72,000 on May 3, 1984 afterwards sales plummeted.

The Macintosh was the original Apple Macintosh personal computer. Introduced in January 1984 at the price of $2,495 US, it had a beige case containing a 9-inch monitor, and came with a keyboard and mouse. An indentation in the top of the case allowed the computer to be lifted and carried. After its successor was introduced, it was rebadged as the Macintosh 128K to differentiate it.

The Macintosh was not very expandable, as it was intended to perform a more limited range of functions as compared to more expensive minicomputers of its day yet required high performance for graphical operations. Its 128 KiB memory was large compared to the 64 KiB available in some other desktop computers of the time(although much smaller than the contemporary IBM PC which supported up to 640K), but was a major constraint on multimedia software. Since the memory chips were soldered, not socketed, customers found that to expand the memory required an expensive motherboard replacement. Expansion and networking were achieved using two standard RS-422 DE-9 serial ports named "printer" and "modem", albeit they did not support hardware handshaking. An Apple floppy drive could be added using a proprietary connector. The keyboard and mouse used simple proprietary protocols, allowing some third-party upgrades. Standard headphones could also be connected to a monophonic jack.

The Macintosh contained a 400 kB, single-sided floppy disk drive and had no internal hard drive or other internal mechanical storage. At the time, one floppy disk was sufficient to store the System Software, an application, and the data files created with the applications. Indeed, the 400 kB drive capacity was large compared to the basic 160-180 kB floppy drives in other computers at the time. However, most users write-protected their System/Application disks and found themselves swapping the system and data diskettes interminably. The Macintosh External Disk Drive (also a single-sided 400 kB floppy), was a popular add-on at $495.

The 128K had a crisp one-bit monochrome, 9-inch display with a resolution of 512x342 pixels, establishing the desktop publishing standard of 72 PPI. The keyboard had no arrow keys or numeric keypad — although later, a numeric keypad could be purchased separately — and the mouse had only a single button, a signature of Apple's mice that would continue until the introduction of the Apple Mighty Mouse in 2005.

The unit did not include a fan, making it quiet while in operation. Steve Jobs insisted that the Macintosh ship without a fan, a marketing (not engineering) decision that persisted until the introduction of the Macintosh SE in 1987, after Jobs was forced out of Apple. This was the source of many common — and very expensive — component failures in the first four Macintosh models, so much so that Larry Pina wrote two very successful (and now highly sought-after) how-to repair manuals, The Dead Mac Scrolls and Macintosh Repair & Upgrade Secrets. The persistent overheating, and the design of the floppy disk drive, led to the nickname "The beige toaster".

The applications MacPaint and MacWrite were bundled with the Mac, other programs including MacProject, MacTerminal and Microsoft's Word and Microsoft Multiplan, eventually turning into Microsoft Excel. The Macintosh also came with a manual and a guided tour cassette tape which worked together with the guided tour diskette.

Following the release of the Macintosh 512K which expanded the memory from 128 KiB to 512 KiB, the original Macintosh was nicknamed the 'thin Mac' and the new model the 'fat Mac'.

Credits

The original Macintosh was unusual in that it included the signatures of the Macintosh Division as of early 1982 molded on the inside of the case. The names were Peggy Aleixo, Colette Askeland, Bill Atkinson, Steve Balog, Bob Belleville, Mike Boich, Bill Bull, Matt Carter, Berry Cash, Debbie Coleman, George Crow, Donn Denman, Christopher Espinosa, Bill Fernandez, Martin Haeberli, Andy Hertzfeld, Joanna Hoffman, Rod Holt, Bruce Horn, Hap Horn, Brian Howard, Steven Jobs, Larry Kenyon, Patti King, Daniel Kottke, Angeline Lo, Ivan Mach, Gerald Manock, Mary Ellen McCammon, Vicki Milledge, Mike Murray, Ron Nicholson Jr, Terry Oyama, Benjamin Pang, Jef Raskin, Brian Robertson, Dave Roots, Patricia Sharp, Burrell Smith, Bryan Stearns, Lynn Takahashi, Randy Wigginton, Linda Wilkin, Woz, Pamela Wyman, Laszlo Zidek, and two others.

See also

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Macintosh_128K&oldid=164673045"