History of the Macintosh

The Macintosh debuted on January 24, 1984, but before its January 1984 debut, the project was well underway for a full five years before. And although some regard Steve Jobs as the father of the Mac, the true father is Jef Raskin.

The Beginnings: 1979
Mike Markkula, then chairman of Apple Computer, approached Jef Raskin in early 1979 to see if he was interested in producing a game machine which would sell for USD 500. (This was when Steve Jobs was working on the Lisa.) Although Raskin considered it a "fine project", he wasn't interested and instead proposed his idea of the Macintosh. Raskin's Macintosh would be designed from a human factors perspective -- very new at the time. The Mac, a computer for the "person in the street" (in stark contrast with the increasingly complex Apple II), had its most basic ideas in place by late May 1979.

The Macintosh, according to plans back then, would see no slots (but ports would be put in place). A fixed memory size would be in place, and the system would be so built in (which even included the possibility of an integrated printer) that the customer would have a fully complete system in his hands, with an appearance that Apple could control. The Mac would be designed in an all-in-one case, and ideally, be portable.