Business Bytes
Renee Oricchio

Happy Birthday, Mac!

 

Someone turned 25 over the weekend. For those of you old enough to remember, it was the famous "1984" ad (directed by Riddley Scott, no less) that debuted during the Superbowl that announced to the world the launch of the Macintosh. The ad promised to turn the world of personal computing on its head; and it did.

Or did it?

25 years later, the Mac is still barely breaking into double digits of the market share in PC sales.

While it may be the personal computer of choice for graphic designers, college students and set designers who want to make their movies and shows look hipper; businesses are still wary to commit to them.

At the end of the day, it's still a Windows world.

Here's what I think the Mac has really done for personal computing over the past quarter of a century;

It made computers cool.

If you think Vista stinks, imagine what Windows would be like without the pressure of user-friendly Macs over its shoulder? Apple's Macintosh has consistently raised the bar for the rest of the tech industry. Yes, it's a tool. But make it a cool tool, please. PCs don't have to be ugly almond boxes with blank black or blue screens with scrolling DOS code. Without the Mac, maybe that's where we would still be. Maybe we would have all been forced to learn DOS (perish the thought).

Here's two words that will make you shiver: DOS Vista.

It's what might have been. If that's the case, then thank you Mr. Jobs and get well soon.

CNet has put together a fun little Mac trivia test together. Enjoy!


Renee Oricchio is a technology writer and former supervising news producer for CNN Financial News. She has been covering the computer industry since 1987. @oricchio