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| Giuseppe diFranco and President Esver Camacho are delighted by a working original 128K Macintosh. |
Gold Coast Mac celebrated the 20th Anniversary of the Macintosh in a unique way at the group’s January meeting, with a parade of Macintosh computers representing the earliest version of Apple’s innovative machine, to the latest technology cooked up in Cupertino. Among the machines displayed was an original 128K Mac introduced in January 1984, and two of the most expensive Macs ever produced, the Mac II FX at $9995, and the Twentieth Anniversary Mac at $7500.
The computers were set up in a roughly chronological display in the circular hall outside the Space Transit Planetarium of the Miami Museum of Science, where Gold Coast Mac meetings are held. Virtually all of the machines came from the private collections of Gold Coast Mac members, who brought them to the meeting for the special 20th anniversary event.
Apple announced the Macintosh in a one-time only Superbowl commercial on January 24,1984, in what’s become known as the “1984” ad. Even though the computer was announced, Macs were not general available until February or later, as initial demand far outstripped the supply.
The Gold Coast Mac display included one of those original machines, preserved by former GCMac President Rose Lynn. With software provided by former GCMac president Dave Game, the 20 year old machine started right up, much to the delight of members who had never before used the Mac which gave birth to a computer revolution.
In fact, despite the age and lengthy storage seen by most of the computers on display, virtually every one of the display machines started and ran. Members had a chance to see and use a Mac Plus, and SE, various Quadra and Performa machines, the original Macintosh Portable and the groundbreaking Powerbook 100, as well as a selection of Power PC, G3 and G4 machines.
January 2004
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