The Ill-Fated Apple III

As a computer manufacturer, Apple gets a strangely distorted press. Its position as the only serious commercial competitor to Microsoft guarantees that every move the company makes is documented – and often distorted.

Apple III Chaos: Apple’s First Failure

The Apple III was meant to be Apple’s bold entry into the business market; it ended as Apple’s first commercial failure and put the company into financial uncertainty. It was also responsible for sprouting both the Lisa and Macintosh projects, efforts that would save Apple.

2 Apple Failures: Apple III and Lisa

Realizing that the Apple II would not sustain Apple forever, the Sara project began. The main idea of Sara was to create a more powerful and capable Apple II. It would include 128 KB of RAM, an integrated floppy drive, and a high resolution display – 80 columns wide instead of the Apple II’s 40.

The Lisa Legacy

For most Mac users, Apple’s Lisa isn’t even a footnote in Mac history. The $10,000 computer is rarely remembered as the Mac’s mother – and those who do remember it also tend to recall how Apple dumped thousands upon thousands of unsold Lisas in a Utah landfill when the computer was discontinued.

Apple Lisa Index

Apple’s Lisa was the predecessor of the Macintosh that introduced the mouse, the graphical user interface, and the integrated all-in-one design that would characterize the earliest Macs – and later on the iMac.

Mouse Design: 1963 to 1983

Although it was invented by Doug Engelbart in 1963, the computer mouse wasn’t an instant success. That had to wait for the 1980s and the introduction of computers with graphical user interfaces (GUIs).

The MacBook Legacy: 2006 to 2011

On May 16, 2006, Apple introduced the consumer MacBook, the 13.3″ replacement for the old 12″ and 14″ iBooks. The first MacBooks had a wider 1280 x 800 display (vs. 1024 x 768 for G4 iBooks) and used Intel’s Core Duo processors. The biggest differences between the consumer MacBook and the MacBook Pro are the […]

Best 13″ MacBook Prices

Apple last updated the 13″ MacBook in May 2010 and discontinued it with the introduction of the Mid 2011 MacBook Air, although it was still available in the education channel for a while after that. The final model claimed up to 10 hours of wireless productivity, has a 2.4 GHz CPU, and uses Nvidia’s 320M graphics processor.

Mac Calculators: From Jobsian Simplicity to Eye Candy

If you’re at all interested in the early history of Macs, especially the Mac OS, you owe it to yourself to bookmark Mac Floppy or put it in your RSS news feed. Billed as, “A look back at the Mac’s past when the best things in life fit on a floppy,” it’s an enjoyable reminiscence […]

Best 21″ and 27″ iMac Prices

There have been so many iMac models since Apple switch to Intel processor back in 2006 that we’ve found it easier to divide Intel iMac deals into two page. This page covers the more recent iMacs, which ship in 21.5″ and 27″ sizes. The other page covers older models, which came in 17″, 20″, and […]

Change It Up! We Don’t Want an iPhone 18S Plus!

Remember the old days, back when Apple used names for its computers? Well I sure do, and I have a lot of fond memories of machines with names such as Performa, Centris, and Quadra. Sure the names were meaningless, but it made the machines sound that much more important.

Performa Index

Apple’s Performa line of computers attempted to bring the Mac experience to the consumer market. The line was launched with three rebadged Macs in 1992 and phased out in 1997 when the last two models were renamed Power Macs with their last upgrade.

Best 2006 to Early 2009 iMac Prices

There have been so many different iMac models since Apple switch to Intel processors in 2006 that we’ve found it easier to divide iMac deals into two pages. This page covers older models, which came in 17″, 20″, and 24″ sizes. The other page covers more recent iMacs, which ship in 21.5″ and 27″ sizes.

Apple iCar Coming This Summer

The long rumored Apple iCar is just around the corner, scheduled to be announced at an Apple media conference at 2 PM PDT on April 1, 2015 in San Francisco. It is expected to be available sometime this summer as a 2016 model.