Inside the Apple IIc
March 27th, 2008 by Benj Edwards
My trusty workbench has officially gone mainstream, courtesy of PC World. They’ve just published my autopsy of Apple’s first portable computer, the Apple IIc, as a richly illustrated slide show. It’s peppered with factoids and doses of VC&G-style humor, so I think you guys will like it. Here’s an excerpt from the intro:
Earlier this year Apple released its thinnest and lightest portable computer yet, the MacBook Air, to great fanfare. But it wasn’t the first time for such an event: Twenty-four years ago critics hailed another Apple computer–its first portable ever–as a masterpiece of compact industrial design. The Apple IIc marked an important milestone for Apple’s stalwart Apple II line, squeezing the power of a full-size IIe into a svelte 7.5-pound package.
With that intro in mind, I have a question for my keenly intelligent, historically-minded readership: Which release made more of a splash? The Apple IIc or the MacBook Air?
March 28th, 2008 at 8:48 am
I’ll have to say the Mac Book Air, but only because of your phrasing. The MBA made a much bigger splash due to the amount of coverage given all things computing this day and age. I don’t remember any of the press coverage of the IIc, but I would guess that it was just a footnote in the news for that day.
Layne
March 29th, 2008 at 5:30 pm
Great pictures and post! I love it. I was only 1 year old when the thing came out so I wouldn’t know how big of an impact it made. I would have to say macbook air though considering the overall popularity of macs and computers in general now.
March 30th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
HABEEB IT!
March 31st, 2008 at 4:55 am
I have a book about how to fix your apple2c by yourself, it has all diagrams so if you ever break your apple2 and all you got working is the keyboard, you can wire up a custom made apple2c for yourself.
I think I will try doing it myself on my next birthday 🙂