Big Blue Vs Big Red

Big Blue vs Big Red

For decades the digital war between Macintoshes (Macs) and Personal Computers (PCs) has been a never ending struggle to see who ranks the better competition. Because Microsoft has dominated the software field, more and more businesses use PCs rather than Macs. But does that make the PC better than the Mac. Let's take a trip back in time and review the evolution of a computer company. It's not IBM or Microsoft. This company is Apple Computers, Incorporated.

In the year 1976, before most people even thought about buying a computer for

their homes. "Back then the computer community added up to a few brainy hobbyist. So when Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs sold a van and two programmable calculators for thirteen hundred dollars and started Apple Computers, Inc., in Jobs garage, the reach for success seemed far. (macworld, 12)" But these two young business men, Wozniak 26 years old and Jobs 21 years old, had a vision. "Computers aren't for nerds anymore," they announced. "Computers are going to be the bicycle of the mind. Low cost computers for everyone.(Wingfield)" From the first day on the founders of Apple kept their vision intact, and they spoke it at every turn. They only hired people into the company that had the same visions as they did.

In early 1976 Wozniak and Jobs finish work on a preassembled computer circuit

board. It has no Product keyboard, case, sound or graphics. They call it the Apple I. They form the Apple Computer Company on April Fool's Day and sold the Apple I board for $666.66 at the Home brew Computer Club in Palo Alto, California.

In 1977 the Apple II is available to the general public. Fully assembled and pre-tested, it includes 4K of standard memory, and comes equipped with two game paddles and a demo cassette. The price is $1,298. Customers use their own TV set as a monitor and store programs on audio cassette recorders. Compare this price with computers today. The price about the same, but the computer has changed tremendously. In 1979 Apple II+ is introduced, available with 48K of memory and a new auto-start ROM for easier startup and screen editing for $1,195.

In 1980 Apple FORTRAN introduced and proves to be a catalyst for high-level technical and educational applications. Apple III announced at the National Computer Conference. It has a new operating system, a built-in disk controller and four peripheral slots priced at $3,495, the Apple III is the most advanced system in the company's history. In 1981 Accessory Products Division formed to handle production of printers, modems and other peripherals. The Apple Language Card is introduced. It allows Apple II users to run programs in either Pascal, FORTRAN or Pilot. "The IEEE-488 interface card is announced and allows Apple II computers to be linked to over 1,400 scientific and technical instruments. International Business Machines came on the PC scene in August of 1981 with the IBM Personal Computer. Apple greets its new competitor with a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal with a headline that reads, 'Welcome IBM. Seriously'. (Wingfield)" Apple's first mass storage system was also introduced that year, the 5MB ProFile hard disk, priced at $3,499.

In January of 1987 Apple introduced a new desktop communications products

including the Apple Share file server software and Apple Talk PC Card. They are priced at $799 and $399. Also introduced in 1987 is the Apple Fax Modem, priced at $699. Now you get a fax modem with the purchase of an Apple computer. In February of 1988 Apple introduces AppleCD SC, an optical storage device that gives access to huge amounts of information. Priced at $1,199, a single CD-ROM disc can store up to 270,000 pages of typewritten information. Also in 1988 Apple files suit against Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard to protect its Macintosh audio visual display. The lawsuit is seen as having industry wide implications regarding copyright laws. In late 1988 Apple introduces the Macintosh IIx computer, priced at $7,769. It is the first Macintosh II computer to use Motorola's 68030 microprocessor and 68882 math co-processor. It retails for $5,069.

In May of 1992 IBM, Motorola and Apple formally dedicate a new facility that will serve as the focal point of design and development efforts for the PowerPC family of single-chip, reduced instruction set computing (RISC) microprocessors. In 1993, during the annual Apple Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple demonstrates a prototype Macintosh computer running on an 80 MHz PowerPC 601 processor, achieving a new performance level in the industry. The company also demonstrates PowerPC-compatibility with existing Macintosh applications software.

"Today the Power Mac G5 offers 2.0GHz, 2.3GHz and 2.7GHz dual-processor models with a speed boost at the top of the line. The dual 2.7GHz model packs so much power into tight quarters that Apple designed a liquid cooling system for it, resulting in a cool tower that runs Photoshop nearly two times faster than a Pentium 4-based system. In fact, for most creative endeavors, the Power Mac G5 simply has no competition in its class(apple.com)."

As sophisiticated as Macintoshes may be not everyone uses them. Still and most likely for a while, businesses tend to use PCs because of their easy-to-use programming. The Pc has come quite a long way from the very first Personal Computer. In factthe Pc is the most advanced technological computer in the world. And it does have some history to its origin.

In the late 1930s punched-card machine techniques had become so well established and reliable that Howard Hathaway Aiken, in collaboration with engineers at IBM, undertook construction of a large automatic digital computer based on standard IBM electromechanical parts. Aiken's machine, called the Harvard Mark I, handled 23-digit numbers and could perform all four arithmetic operations. The Mark I was controlled from pre-punched paper tape. The outbreak of World War II produced a desperate need for computing capability, especially for the military. In 1942, John P. Eckert, John W. Mauchley, and their associates at the University of Pennsylvania decided to build a high-speed electronic computer to do the job. This machine became known as ENIAC, for (Electrical Numerical Integrator And Calculator). It could multiply two numbers at the rate of 300 products per second, by finding the value of each product from a multiplication table stored in its memory. ENIAC was thus about 1,000 times faster than the previous generation of computers.

ENIAC used 18,000 standard vacuum tubes, occupied 1800 square feet of floor space, and used about 180,000