Apple
Computer launched the Macintosh, the first successful mouse-driven
computer with a graphic user interface, with a single $1.5 million
commercial during the 1984 Super Bowl. Based on the Motorola 68000
microprocessor, the Macintosh included many of the Lisa´s features at a
much more affordable price: $2,500.
Apple´s commercial played on
the theme of George Orwell´s "1984" and featured the destruction of Big
Brother with the power of personal computing found in a Macintosh.
Applications that came as part of the package included MacPaint, which
made use of the mouse, and MacWrite, which demonstrated WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) word processing.
IBM released its PC Jr. and PC-AT. The
PC Jr. failed, but the PC-AT, several times faster than original PC and
based on the Intel 80286 chip, claimed success with its notable
increases in performance and storage capacity, all for about $4,000. It
also included more RAM and accommodated high-density 1.2-megabyte 5
1/4-inch floppy disks.
