 The
Apple Lisa is a fascinating computer, both in its history and
its specifications. I think this computer is the epitome of everything
good and bad about Apple computer back then, and even today.
It was the computer that had the power to put a dent in the universe,
but was destined to live a life of failure. I will attempt to
make this short, for I am planning a full-scale article on the
Lisa in the future. The Lisa was released in January 19, 1983.
The project first began life in 1979 though, which called for
a business machine to replace the Apple II.
After Steve Jobs visited PARC, and to a look at the Xerox
Alto (see Apple & the GUI or
the Apple History Timeline for
more info) he immediately called the Lisa team members to recreate
the graphical interface. The bulk of that work was handed to
Apple Fellow Bill Atkinson, who created LisaGraf, the graphics
routines on the Lisa display that were the heart of the GUI project.
Sparing no expense, the team added two of Apple's short-lived
in-house "Twiggy" drives, multitasking, a then-expensive
5 MHz 68000 processor, 5 MB ProFile HD, application suite, and
an OS that would put even the Xerox Star to shame. Lisa team
members were dedicated to their goal of making this a revolutionary
machine that would change the face of computing. Although they
succeeded, it was a bittersweet victory. Even though Lisa's clock
speed was five times faster than the IIe shipped at the same
time (which still used the same processor as the Apple
I), it was torturously slow. The applications were big and
bulky, and the OS was not compatible with any prior software
from any developer. Worst of all, a Lisa system cost $9995, way
too much for anybody that would want to buy one. A famous quote
really says it all, "It was a great machine, we just couldn't
sell any". The Lisa was quickly discontinued to make room
for the Lisa 2. Check out a Lisa
Office System 7/7 screen shot. |
