Before the Mac, there was the Apple Lisa. It hit the market 40 years ago this month for a whopping $10,000 (today, that would be close to $30,000).
The Apple Lisa actually comes with a hard drive (5 megabytes in all — not gigabytes or terabytes, but megabytes). It also shipped with a floppy drive, but instead of using the standard 5-inch floppy (at the time), Apple created its own completely unique 5-inch floppy format with a read/write slot. second data. That dog didn’t go hunting either.
But there are also some innovations that will stand the test of time. The user interface is based on the Xerox Parc Alto calculator and is instantly recognizable to any Mac (and Windows) user today. It used a mouse. It has a menu bar and icons, but no Apple logo in the corner.
Also: You can now download the source code of Apple Lisa
Lisa also foreshadows Apple’s user interface standards document, which guides developers to build consistent apps from developer to developer. Lisa is creative, arrogant, overvalued and aspirational.
It was a complete failure.
But it paved the way for everything we have today, and in that way, it’s worth remembering. Another thing worth remembering (or at least discovering, if you haven’t seen it before) is the Lisa commercial that Kevin Costner did in 1982 or so.
At the time, Costner was virtually unknown. His big claim to fame is playing Frat Boy #3 in Night shiftstarring Henry Winkler, Michael Keaton and Shelly Long.
Of course, Costner has won two Oscars, three Golden Globes, a Primetime Emmy… and six Golden Raspberry Awards, including one for my all-time favorite movie, Water world.
In any case, with a thank you to my Internet Press Association colleague David Kimwho showed me this Kevin Costner video before he was Kevin Costner, I present this:
Do you know about Apple Lisa? Are you one of the very few people who have used or developed it? What is your favorite Kevin Costner movie or TV show? Share below in the comments. And yes, I like The postmanbut it’s not nearly as good as the book.
You can follow my daily project updates on social media. Remember to follow me on Twitter at @DavidGewirtzon Facebook at Facebook.com/DavidGewirtzon Instagram at Instagram.com/DavidGewirtzand on YouTube at YouTube.com/DavidGewirtzTV.
