Classic Systems Emulated : The Macintosh (All Is Not Well)


The Macintosh experienced phenomenal growth immediately upon release. The future looked very bright and promising for a brand-new platform. However, their was a sales slump in the Summer of 1984 though. This was expected though as computer sales usually hit their low point during the Summer months. Apple were looking at the Holidays, as this would be the time that sales would skyrocket. However, fortunes didn't change through and the Macintosh saw further decreases in sales through Fall and Winter. The revenue generated from the Apple II and its peripherals still accounted for around 80% of company sales by the end of the year. 

What happened? On one hand, their was eager anticipation from those who were willing to purchase the computer, regardless of its price. However, once those with serious dough received there Macintosh, it was hard to convince the general public to spend such a massive amount of money for the new computer.

Cost

At introduction, the Macintosh carried a $2,500 price tag. On one hand, this was much cheaper than the Lisa. However, compared to other personal computers, including those made by IBM, this was an astronomical amount for a new computer. And that's $2,500 in 1984 too. Adjusted for inflation, that would be roughly $4,300 today. There were many reasons that contributed to the high price. Even though it was falling in price, the Motorola 68000 that powered the Mac didn't come cheap. The chipsets used to support that 68000 didn't come cheap either. Development cost figured into the price, along with manufacturing expenses as well. Finally, the marketing budget (the largest for Apple yet) drove the price of the Apple II to its $2,500 figure. 

Steve Jobs fought against the price hikes to no avail. As Andy Hertzfeld noted on his website (Folklore, linked below, where the vast majority of the information came from, awesome site, check it out), the Macintosh was intended on being a low-cost appliance computer that would have been similar in price to the Apple II. However, by the time the computer was introduced, it's $2,500 was seen as a betrayal to those trying to create a utilitarian PC. However, given the expenses, their was nothing that Steve Jobs could do. This price tag worked against the Macintosh. However, the troubles didn't end their. 

Development

In order to do software development on the Macintosh upon release, you needed a Lisa. For major corporations loaded with money and capable of buying whatever hardware was needed for development, this really wasn't much a issue. However, for independent developers, this this was a massive blow. Not many could afford the $10,000 Lisa, along with the developers kits and the $2,500 Macintosh to test those programs on. As such, software development would be in the hands of either Apple or those companies who could afford the Lisa development environment. In time, developer tools that could run on the Mac would be released, with the most notable being the MPW (Macintosh Programmers Workbench). That Lisa would no longer be required in time. However, this was still about 1-2 years away. As such, the software library for the Macintosh was always going to be more minimal compared to the competitors. Upon release, the Macintosh was already rapidly falling behind in a flood of the IBM compatibles running MS-DOS.

In The Shadow Of The Clones

It was originally intended for the Macintosh to be released in the Summer of 1982. If the Macintosh was released at that time, then the new computer could compete with the IBM PC on equal terms. The IBM PC's  market-share was still quite small, and a newly released Mac could have further competed with it while early in the game. However, due to development issues, the Macintosh wasn't released until January 1984. By that time, the IBM PC was firmly established, and it wasn't just IBM either. Compaq was making significant inroads with it's Portable. By 1984, the new Houston startup was outpacing even Apple in sales growth. Later in 1984, Tandy would introduce the Model 1000 IBM Compatible PC. This was the first (true) mostly IBM-Compatible PC that cost less than a $1,000. The Tandy 1000 would take the PC world by storm that year. Apple would have a very intense uphill battle with the DOS-based clones. 

Expandability (More Like Lack Of)

The Macintosh's lack of expandability would be a further contributing factor to decreasing sales. Steve Jobs was a massive proponent of the idea of the computer as an appliance. All you needed to do is buy it, plug it in, and start using it. Jobs was against the use of expansion slots as he felt that they held computers back from the every user. As Andy Hertzfeld has also noted on his Folklore website, Jobs fought hard against expansion slots in the Apple II, but was overridden by Apple's management. It's ironic that what he saw as a flaw became one of the II's defining features. However, once he commandeered the Macintosh project, their would be no slots. However, it has to be noted that the  Macintosh was never envisioned as having slots since its inception as its original creator, Jeff Raskin, was also against expansion slots as well. 

On one hand, having a all-in-one design greatly helps for those who want simplicity. However, in the field of computing, where hardware becomes obsolete rather quickly, the lack of expandability often becomes an obstacle, not a feature. This is true when one wants to upgrade memory, expand storage, or wants to add features to enhance the system, like a modem, NIC, video, or audio adapter.

The defining feature of the IBM PC and the countless clones that it inspired was the ability to expand the machine to your liking. There was a vast array of adapters that expanded the abilities of the computer. This wasn't possible on the Macintosh. 

What's ironic was that the Apple II was a major source of inspiration for the Big Blue engineers at Boca Raton, Florida when they designed the IBM PC. Yet, Apple ignored their own work with the development of the Macintosh. A few years later when development on the Mac II started, Apple's engineers started to lift design elements found on the PC to create their follow-up, even though the PC itself was influenced by the Apple II! Things have come full circle.

It didn't help that Steve Jobs was against the idea of having any sort of compatibility bridge between the Mac and PC world. As noted, by the time of the Mac's release, the PC was already firmly established and it would be the Mac that would play catchup. As such, with the proliferation of the PC, some sort of compatibility bridge would have been needed. However, Jobs wanted the Mac to have nothing to do with the DOS-based PC's. Not being able to share data early on caused further  declining interest in the new platform. However, Apple's troubles didn't end their. Microsoft was about to go gangsta on them very quickly.

Price Fight (Folklore) - https://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=Price_Fight.txt

The Times They Are A-Changin' (Folklore) - https://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=The_Times_They_Are_A-Changin.txt

3rd Party Developers and Macintosh Development (Folklore) - https://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=3rd_Party_Developers_and_Macintosh_Development.txt

Diagnostic Port (Folklore) - https://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=Diagnostic_Port.txt

The End Of An Era - https://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=The_End_Of_An_Era.txt



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