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Hardware

Dinosaur Sighting: The original Apple Macintosh Classic

By Mark W. Kaelin June 6, 2008, 4:58 AM PDT

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Dinosaur Sighting: The original Apple Macintosh Classic

It is official

It is official

The Apple Mac Classic is one of the most famous and easily recognizable personal computers ever manufactured. First introduced in 1990, the Mac Classic was Apple’s low-end under $1,000 computer, which made it very popular with the education market. In the next few weeks, we’ll be Cracking Open this classic computer to examine what makes it tick.

Dinosaur Sighting: The original Apple Macintosh Classic

Portable

Portable

Our Mac Classic arrived inside its very own carrying case. This case must have been designed specifically for the Mac – it fits perfectly.

Dinosaur Sighting: The original Apple Macintosh Classic

Bagged and ready

Bagged and ready

The bag has compartments for the keyboard, mouse, software, and books. I think I like this solution better than the portables we cracked open earlier:

  1. Cracking open the Osborne 1: The original portable computer
  2. Cracking Open the Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 4P
Dinosaur Sighting: The original Apple Macintosh Classic

I know that look

I know that look

The shape of the Apple Mac is an icon of personal computing. You can’t mistake it.

Dinosaur Sighting: The original Apple Macintosh Classic

In the back

In the back

The back of the Apple Mac Classic is where you find your peripheral ports – standard practice even today.

Dinosaur Sighting: The original Apple Macintosh Classic

Goop

Goop

Moving in on the ports, you can see our Mac has some sticky substance leaking from the vents. We will have to investigate that when we Crack It Open.

Dinosaur Sighting: The original Apple Macintosh Classic

Left ports

Left ports

Working left to right we have the keyboard/mouse port, a port for an external floppy drive, and a SCSI port for a scanner (or other device).

Dinosaur Sighting: The original Apple Macintosh Classic

Right ports

Right ports

Again working left to right, we have the SCSI port, ports for a printer and modem, and an audio jack.

Dinosaur Sighting: The original Apple Macintosh Classic

July 1990

July 1990

Our Apple Mac Classic was manufactured in July 1990.

Dinosaur Sighting: The original Apple Macintosh Classic

But there is only one button

But there is only one button

The famous one button mouse. My Logitech MX810 Gaming mouse I have at home has eight buttons.

Dinosaur Sighting: The original Apple Macintosh Classic

It works!

It works!

It works. The Mac boots up no problem and welcomes me to cult.

Dinosaur Sighting: The original Apple Macintosh Classic

Monochrome screen

Monochrome screen

The Macintosh has a monochrome display, but my XT clone ran 16 colors at that time I believe. (Maybe it was only eight.) I would guess color would raise the price too much for the market the Classic was trying to reach.

Dinosaur Sighting: The original Apple Macintosh Classic

Chessmaster

Chessmaster

So we meet again my old nemesis.

I had Chessmaster 3000 at one time and it used to kick my butt regularly.

Dinosaur Sighting: The original Apple Macintosh Classic

It is a classic

It is a classic

The Apple Macintosh Classic is just that — classic. With its small desktop footprint I can understand why it would appeal to many. The IBM XT I had at this same 1990s time period was huge, made out of steel, and weighed a ton.

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By Mark W. Kaelin
Mark W. Kaelin has been writing and editing stories about the information technology industry, gadgets, finance, accounting, and tech-life for more than 25 years. Most recently, he has been a regular contributor to BreakingModern.com, aNewDomain.net,
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