Macintosh: Mac History - Progress Report (1980)

This report from 1980 presents Macintosh as a “very high volume” single-model consumer product - a personal and educational computer, not a home computer, and not a business computer. To be compared with hand-held calculators, telephones, home appliances and televisions.

The machine is to be seen as a word-processor with extra capabilities: calculation, database, communication. It’s a 64k machine based on 6809: 64 of RAM, and 32k of ROM for all application and system software. No mass storage: cassette for user documents. No cartridge. Display is a 6" monochrome CRT, with 256x256 pixel, displaying approx 72x25 characters (proportional)

The project formally started in September 1979, although informal work was being done as early as late 1978. Macintosh is, above all, intended to be a low cost but complete computer. Most of the instructional materials will be presented by the computer itself. We hope for an end-user price of under $1500

via this thread on mastodon: “A progress report on the macintosh project from one Jef Raskin, dated 1980”

See previous related thread:
Meet the Canon Cat, the forgotten 1987 alternate-reality Mac

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