Before the Mac, there was the Lisa, Apple’s first computer with a graphical user interface. Lisa was released 40 years ago this week, and to celebrate the anniversary, the Computer History Museum, which calls Lisa “Apple’s most important flop”, is offering the Lisa software source code for free download.
The download is only 7MB compressed, 30MB expanded. However, you must agree to a license agreement before you can obtain the download, and provide your name and an email address. And then once you download it, you’ll need to figure out how to run it.
One look at Lisa’s GUI instantly tells you where the Mac has its roots. In fact, the desktop of the Mac still is inspired by Lisa, with drop-down menus at the top and icons for files and apps. The Lisa software ran on a Motorola 68000 and even allowed multitasking, but the 6800 had trouble handling the Lisa software, and the computer was slow and expensive, and it became a footnote after the Mac launched in 1984.
Named after Steve Jobs’ daughter, the Lisa debuted on January 19, 1983. It was priced at $9,995, several thousand dollars more than IBM PCs with command-line interfaces. Apple hoped the GUI would be enough to overcome the high price and slow performance, but the computer did not sell.
The Macintosh debuted in 1984, at a more reasonable price of $2,495, Apple also released new Lisa computers at the same time, but it was the Mac that caught on and Lisa was eventually discontinued. Needless to say, without Lisa there would be no Mac, and the history of the machine is fascinating. You can read more about Lisa’s story on the Computer History Museum website.
The Computer History Museum, located in Mountain View, Calif. (about 9 miles north of Apple Park in Cupertino), is hosting an event to celebrate Lisa’s 40th birthday. Speakers who were part of Lisa’s development team, such as Bill Atkinson, Bruce Daniels, and John Couch, are featured. The event will also feature demonstrations with a working Lisa computer and an Apple-themed scavenger hunt. The event takes place on January 31 at 5:30 p.m. PT, and registration is required.
