Earlier than there was the Mac, there was the Apple Lisa. It hit the market 40 years in the past this month at a whopping $10,000 (right this moment, that might be near $30K).

Additionally: Now you’ll be able to obtain the Apple Lisa’s supply code

The Apple Lisa really got here with a tough drive (all of 5 megabytes — not gigabytes or terabytes, however megabytes). It additionally shipped with floppy disk drives, however quite than utilizing the usual (on the time) 5-inch floppies, Apple created its personal fully distinctive 5-inch floppy format with a second data-read/write slot. That canine did not hunt both.

However there have been some improvements that might stand the check of time, as properly. The UI was primarily based on the Xerox Parc Alto pc and can be instantly recognizable by any Mac (and Home windows) consumer right this moment. It used a mouse. It had a menu bar and icons, however no little Apple glyph within the nook.

The Lisa additionally heralded the Apple consumer interface requirements documentation, which guided builders into constructing purposes that had been constant from developer to developer. The Lisa was progressive, hubristic, wildly overpriced, and aspirational.

Additionally: I requested ChatGPT to jot down a brief Star Trek episode. It really succeeded

It was an utter failure.

However it paved the way in which for every little thing we have now right this moment, and in that approach, it is value remembering. One different factor that is value remembering (or at the least discovering, if you have not seen it earlier than) is the Lisa advert Kevin Costner made again in 1982 or so.

At that time, Costner was barely recognized. His large declare to fame was enjoying Frat Boy #3 in Night time Shift, which starred Henry Winkler, Michael Keaton, and Shelly Lengthy.

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Costner, after all, went on to win two Oscars, three Golden Globe awards, a Primetime Emmy award… and 6 Razzies, together with one for my all-time favourite film, Waterworld.

In any case, with a shout out of because of my Web Press Guild colleague David Needle, who turned me onto this video of Kevin Costner earlier than he was Kevin Costner, I current this:

Do you know in regards to the Apple Lisa? Have been you one of many only a few who ever used or developed for it? What’s your favourite Kevin Costner movie or TV present? Share under within the feedback. And sure, I favored The Postman, however it wasn’t almost nearly as good because the guide.

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