On 24 January 1984, a man called Steve Jobs got up on a stage and introduced Apple’s first personal computer. By today’s standards, the tiny screen, boxy form and rudimentary graphics of the original Macintosh look ludicrous. The device was not even the first personal computer. But it was, arguably, the first to change the world.

Today, the Mac 128K – so called because it came with 128kb of Random Access Memory (RAM). Apple stopped producing the computers in October 1985 and discontinued software support for them in 1998. But a handful of diehard fans still use their Mac 128K computers today. Even with its diminutive memory, no modem or ability to connect to the internet, and rudimentary graphics, there is a community of avid fans who delight in poring over this seemingly ancient hardware.

The Centre for Computing History in Cambridge, England, is one of many collections that feature a functioning 128K. “It’s 40 years old and it’s still going,” says Lisa McGerty, chief executive, who remembers the introduction of Macintosh computers as a “massive” improvement for people in the printing and publishing business.

Despite the fact that functional models of the Mac 128K are still available, it is already considered a museum piece.

Source – BBC News