Original Mac revolutionary, but no match for iPhone or iPod Touch
With the 25th anniversary of the Macintosh upon us (officially it’s January 24), retrospectives have flooded the Web.
Rather than add to the nostalgia parade, I thought I’d do something nutty: compare the specs of the original Mac 128k not with one of today’s Macs, but with the iPod Touch 2G I got for Christmas.
The iPhone/iPod Touch platform has assumed the paradigm-changing mission of the original Mac -- it’s a new approach to computing for a new era. Someday pundits will look back on the significance of the launch of the iPhone and iPod Touch platform as they’re doing with the Mac now.
It’s amazing how much more powerful the iPod Touch and iPhone are compared with that original groundbreaking Mac despite their far smaller physical size.
And check out the chart’s bottom line: A Mac 128k cost about $5,000 in 2008 dollars, adjusted for inflation, compared to $229 for the least expensive iPod Touch, not to mention a $199 subsidized iPhone.
Happy 25th birthday, Macintosh!!
Long live the iPhone/iPod Touch!!
Comments
I remember when I put a 40MB HD into my old SE and a whole 4 megs of ram... and thought that little machine could do anything now!
Life goes on ;)
Posted by: MrRational | January 23, 2009 10:09 PM
I remember when I upgraded from a 1 Mbyte, 8 mhz Mac Plus to a 4 Mbyte, 16 mhz Color Classic and thought that I had arrived at the big time!
That old Mac Plus died years ago, but that little Color Classic, though rarely used, is still alive and still kicking!
Posted by: don | January 24, 2009 12:23 PM
I remember paying 250$ to upgrade the ram in my 128Kb original MacIntosh to 512kb. I also remember paying over $500 for 16 MG of rams in the 90s. Technology has gotten a lot cheaper since.
Posted by: Jocca | January 24, 2009 8:19 PM