Remembering 1984 With The Mac 128K, Apple //c, & Education Ad (With Pics)

February 15th, 2001 at 2:00 PM - News by Bryan Chaffin

Update: Several Observer have comments and written to remind us that while the Apple ][ was written with the bracket signs, the Apple //c was written with the forward slash marks to signify the "2." This article has been updated accordingly. Thanks to everyone who has once again reminded us that one of our greatest assets is the Mac community. - Editor.

As part of our series of articles remembering the early days of Apple, the Mac, and computing we bring you two more great ads from Apple. Observer Charles Mangin has sent us several vintage Apple ads (and a really great Microsoft ad from 1983 we will share with you later , including these two ads from the April 1984 issue of Byte magazine. They feature the original Mac (128K) and the Apple //c. According to Mr. Mangin:

The first spread is another inside cover spread from April 1984is BYTE magazine, touting the original Macintoshis "blindingly fast" 68000 processor, its 32-bit Lisa Technology, and its "built in polyphonic sound generator" capable of speaking in any language (like Yiddish or Serbo-Croatian). Fun.

A quote from the text of the ad:

The Mouse itself Replaces [sic] typed in computer commands with a form of communication you already understand -- pointing.

Note the very cool transparent illustration of the Mac allowing you to see inside. There are several more poignant quotes in the ad like the one we quoted above. More from Charles Mangin on the Apple //c add:

The second is an inside cover spread for the Apple IIc computer from BYTE December 1984, touting its educational appeal for students, low price tag, and expandability. The "kidis room" is decked out with an apple modem, Motley Crue stickers, books on BASIC and the SAT. Kind of an odd assortment if you ask me...

That is an odd assortment. Your editor distinctly remembers that most of the kids who were into Mötley Cruë in 1984 were not in computer class, though there was this Eddie Van Halen-style prodigy who shared his Pascal programming class in 1984 (Hello David!)...

A great quote from the text of the ad:

Today, there are more Apples in schools than any other computer [Editoris Note: Would that this were still true today...]. Unfortunately, there are still more kids in schools than Apples. So innocent youngsters (like your own) may have to fend off packs of bully nerds to get some time on a computer. Which is why it makes good sense to buy them an Apple ][c Personal Computer of their very own.

"Packs of bully nerds," thatis awesome.

Thanks to Charles Mangin for sending these great scans to us! If you have an old Apple ad for the Mac (or Mac clones), the Apple ][ (or clones), the Lisa, or any other Apple product, scan them in and send them to us, so that we can share them with other Mac fans.