The thrilling day the original Macintosh was introduced to the world in 1984 was a day I’ll never forget, even though my work at Apple at that time had nothing to do with the Mac. I sometimes get credit (wrongly) for being the videographer at the intro event. So I wanted to write down what I was actually doing that day, before I forget and start believing the mistaken stories myself.
Apple product introductions were not always spectacular stylish events. When the very first Mac was shown to the world, the reveal didn’t even get its own show. The Mac intro was part of Apple’s 1984 Shareholders Meeting. I guess they figured there would be a few thousand folks gathered and paying attention to Apple anyway, so it was a good time to also show off the cool new thing.
On that Tuesday, January 24th, 1984, everybody working at Apple knew it was Mac intro day. And most of us walked the mile or so from Apple’s campus to Flint Center to watch the occasionally exciting Apple Shareholders Meeting. I remember walking down Stevens Creek Boulevard with my wife Barbara, who also worked at Apple, when we were passed by a much-faster-walking Andy Hertzfeld, headed for the same destination. I figured he was late for being early to something important related to the Mac intro. I didn’t know him personally, but he was one of my Silicon Valley heroes, and I was excited to see him going my way on this momentous occasion.
Mostly Apple employees, and a few other shareholders, crammed into Flint Center. Everybody was impatient to see the Mac introduced. But that wasn’t going to happen for a while. Unfortunate Apple business execs had to spend legally required time on the business part of the meeting: financial reports, shareholder votes, and so on. Those of us watching tried to care, but we wanted to see the Mac. One shareholder from Philadelphia complained about the difficulty of traveling to Cupertino, insisting future meetings be held in San Francisco instead. He was heckled, and the meeting stayed in Cupertino until it moved to cyberspace decades later. We Apple folks in the audience were still excited, but we wanted the main event already.
Finally, Steve Jobs took the stage for his dramatic introduction, which is preserved on video. And then we all went crazy, as you can see and hear on the video. It was a fantastic day, a day to remember forever. Macintosh was going to change all our lives.
I know I have readers who were also at the Mac intro event. Are you one of them? What are your memories of that day?
https://www.futuredistributors.com/january-24-1984-the-macintosh-introduction/
I think I walked to Flint Center? Maybe? Ask me what I had for breakfast yesterday. No, wait, I don't remember that either