Computer History Museum revisits the birth of the Mac

by Brad Cook, MacCentral

January 2004 brings the 20th anniversary of the Macintosh computer, and The Computer History Museum is going to celebrate with its "The Macintosh Marketing Story: Fact and Fiction, 20 Years Later" panel lecture next month, approximately two weeks after Macworld Expo.

Featuring six members of the Macintosh launch team, the panel plans to revisit a time when BusinessWeek had declared IBM the winner of the personal computer wars and Apple was still smarting from the failures of the Apple III and the Lisa. Expectations were high for the Mac, which ultimately succeeded despite several knocks against it, including the price (US$2,495) and its small screen.

The panel will cover the marketing and advertising strategies for the Mac -- one assumes Ridley Scott's famous "1984" Super Bowl ad will be included in the discussion -- and how the team pulled off a product launch that was considered highly innovative at the time but is now de rigueur in the technology business.

"The Macintosh Marketing Story: Fact and Fiction, 20 Years Later" will be held Thursday, January 22, 2004 at 7:00 p.m., with a 6:00 p.m. reception for Computer History Museum members. The event will take place at Hahn Auditorium in Mountain View, Calif. Reservations are required. Visit the Computer History Museum's Web page devoted to the lecture for more information.