[Info-vax] Fwd: Apple says company co-founder Steve Jobs has died

[Rich Jordan]

On Oct 11, 4:41 pm, MG <marcog... at SPAMxs4all.nl> wrote:
> On 11-10-2011 23:24, Bob Eager wrote:
>
> > They weren't that bad...people still pay vast sums for Apples, after all.
>
> That's a good point.
>
> I do remember that the very first were even more expensive than Macs
> are today, even without taking inflation into consideration.  I read
> a while ago that the first, or first generation, IBM PC was in the
> price range of thousands of dollars (thus similar to that of a new
> car, or a VAXstation at introduction).
>
> Though, I must admit, I don't remember those days too well; I was
> still very young back then, after all.  Were IBM PCs hyped in the
> same way as Apple Macs are today?
>
>   - MG

IBM PC was the second coming.  It was hyped the way Windows 95 and NT
were hyped for years before release.  They were going to change the
world, bring computing to everyone, destroy Unix and VMS and all other
comers well before anyone actually saw them or used them.  I used to
have a stack of unix magazines that were 20% about the coming of NT
before it came... the pc mags might as well have been the rantings of
the ayatollah about the impending worldwide takeover for all their
objectivity.

Of course it became in part a self fulfilling prophecy.

People forget how expensive things were back then.  I paid $1200 for
my first 48K Apple ][+ and another $400 for a third party floppy and
controller (the Apple unit was $700 or so in 1981).  EVERY
manufacturer charged tons for their named parts, and third party
options were legion.  FWIW the Apple still works, as does the Disk ]
[... the third party Lobo drive and controller died a long time ago.

I could pull out a late 1980s DECdirect for a really scary number of
digits in a price, or my early Byte and Creative Computings but they
are well packed in the back of storage, so sorry, not now.

>From the IBM website the original 1981 base cost was $1565 for a bare
unit:

"The $1,565 price bought a system unit, a keyboard and a color/
graphics capability. Options included a display, a printer, two
diskette drives, extra memory, communications, game adapter and
application packages — including one for text processing."

I don't have prices for the 'options' that made the system usable.

The first Mac in 1984 was $2495 'complete' with monitor, floppy, and
base application software.  Limited but entirely usable.

Some comparison: from a 1982 Advanced Computer Products catalog ( so
discounted, not retail); it didn't have IBM PCs or clones yet, but I
know our college had a clone by late 1982 so they were out there (and
a damn site cheaper than the real thing).  Unfortunately my Computer
Shopper magazines from the time are long since gone, so the catalog is
all I have left.

Loaded Apple ][+, 48K, Disk II with controller (floppy), Sanyo 12"
green monitor, game paddles, 10 floppies (and DOS):  $2165.

Apple ][+ 48K base system  $1530 -  Disk ][ Floppy and controller:
$645

Epson MX70 printer (revolutionary for the low price)  $405

Visicalc: $199

Xerox 820 DTC1, dual floppy display terminal, one commercial s/w
package:  $2995

Atari 800, 16K base unit: $799    (floppy disk drive $499, dual floppy
$1350)

Cheapest floppy drive:  Shugart SA400: $299 (bare drive)

Cheapest video terminal:  Soroc IQ120: $749.00