Apple Lisa, the first computer with a mouse, turns 40.
Apple celebrate the 40th anniversary of the introduction of the Apple Lisa, one of the first personal computers to feature a graphical user interface and user-friendly operating system. Although it was not a big commercial success, Apple Lise laid the foundations for evolution of technology in modern computing.
And it is that for no one it is a secret that the apple i there Apple II They were the first personal computers to be mass marketed with great market success.
However, the 1978 computer, Apple II, had reached its capacity limit and was overtaken by PC computers. Additionally, Apple’s design team led by Jef Raskin wanted to create a computer easier to use and accessible to a wider audiencewhich had not been achieved with the Apple II.
In 1979 Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Computer, visited the Xerox research labs in California, as part of a Apple’s Xerox investment deal. During his visit, Jobs had the opportunity to see for the first time a graphical user interface (GUI) on a Xerox Alto system.
This experience would be crucial to the development of the Apple Lisa and the Macintosh, as Jobs adopted many Xerox GUI ideas and technologies for later use.
Apple Lisa: the first computer to use a window system and a mouse on a personal computer
Apple Lisa, 40 years have passed since its presentation
Years later, in 1983, Apple introduced the Lisa computer, a more intuitive and easy to use equipment with a graphical user interface and a mouse that would forever revolutionize the technological world.
At this point you might be wondering, Why did Xerox let Apple’s co-founder dig so deep into its cutting-edge technology? There are several theories as to why Xerox allowed Jobs to see its technologies, but one of the most common is that the company didn’t see the commercial potential of the GUI and mouse at the time. Xerox may not have realized the importance of these technologies or how to monetize them.
On the other hand, Jobs, seeing Xerox technologies, had a clear vision of how they could be used to create a personal computer with a graphical user interface.
So why was the Apple Lisa launched in 1983 a flop?
And it is that despite the fact that Lisa was a computer with more advanced features than its predecessorswas considered a failure due to its high price ($9,995) because its operating system was too advanced for the needs of users at the time. Additionally, its physical design has also been criticized for being too big and bulky
Despite this, Lisa was a pioneering computer in many wayssince it was one of the first to use a graphical user interface and incorporate a hard drive, it was also a influence on personal computers and in today’s desktop PC technology.
