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Flickr Find: Grampa Mac Portable, meet the baby MacBook Air

by Michael Rose Nov 1st 2010 at 10:00PM

It's hard to look at Patrick McCarron's snapshot of -- how many generations? Hard to count -- many generations of mobile computing development and 22 years of Macintoshes on the move without being a little bit awed. The Mac Portable, 1989's answer to getting things done on the go, seems simultaneously quaint and grotesque next to the sleek and dramatically faster MacBook Air. A trackball! That keyboard, that screen! And the floppy drive -- while the newest member of the family doesn't even sport a built-in optical drive. I don't even want to think about how many iPads would fit inside that case.

You've come a long way, baby. Here's to another 21 years of portable computing, Apple style.

Photo by Patrick McCarron, all rights reserved. Used with permission. Hat tip to Michael Gartenberg.



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It's hard to look at Patrick McCarron's snapshot of -- how many generations? Hard to count -- many generations of mobile computing...
 

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John Culver

I wrote up an article about the Mac Portable vs the Air from a historical/tech perspective.
http://www.cpushack.com/2010/11/11/grampa-mac-portable-meet-the-baby-macbook-air/

Is amazing how fast Apple progressed from their first laptop (which by most accounts was a total flop)

November 11 2010 at 8:42 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
mulls

Kevin, IIRC it was 16 lbs
The first version was non-blacklit display.

Price after EDU discount was ~$5700. LOL.

Kids these days don't know how good they have it.

November 02 2010 at 8:33 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
tick

I'd like to see a side-by-side with the PowerBook 100, the first actual Apple 'laptop', as opposed to this 'luggable' beast!

November 02 2010 at 7:37 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Philip

Don't diss the old keyboards! I love the old Apple keyboards (my first exposure being on my brother's Performa 430, but I now own a Macintosh Plus that's only four years younger than I am). They felt like they had real substance and made a great sound... Kind of akin to the feeling of quality when closing the door of a Volkswagen Golf!

As an aside, anyone know how I can get my hands on some software compatible with a 1988 Mac Plus running system 7.5.3? Id love to get Quark Xpress or an old version of Photoshop just to compare it to what it's like now (and figure out how anyone worked with colour images on a monochrome screen).

November 02 2010 at 3:03 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Kevin

Didn't the portable weigh in at something like 14 lbs?

November 02 2010 at 1:48 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Kevin's comment
Michael Allen

Yes, and it was just over 16 with the batteries. :)

November 02 2010 at 1:17 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Michael Allen

You guys think it's sad you're old enough to have seen one of these? I was a member of the team that designed and built the thing.

I feel old. :)

November 02 2010 at 1:32 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
2 replies to Michael Allen's comment
Luis.Llull

Michael, you're WISER not old ;o) and it's tx to people like you that I have been able to enjoy ALL my Macs since 1989!

November 02 2010 at 5:21 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
ds

Much respect to you. I grabbed one of these at a garage sale (fits with the rest of my collection), it's one of my favorites. Snow White lines, great keyboard, only problem, of course, was its luggable nature, brought on by being no-compromises (and packing the lead-acid battery).

November 02 2010 at 10:02 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Lance

Try getting a Mac Portable through TSA now, let alone using it on the plane.

November 02 2010 at 12:09 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Lance's comment
Shunnabunich

Should be fine as long as you're up for a little BDSM before the flight.

November 02 2010 at 12:18 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Stan

I keep an original '84 Apple //c on my desk, next to my MacBook Pro. The two look great together. As a bonus, it makes a great iPad stand; the //c monitor is the exact same size as the iPad.

November 01 2010 at 11:59 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
SireB

The sad part is I'm old enough to have seen this machine with my own eyes... 28 never felt so old.

November 01 2010 at 11:29 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to SireB's comment
robogobo

hahahahahahaha whipper snapper.

November 02 2010 at 5:40 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Cervantes

Took one of those Mac Portables to a conference in Vienna in late 1989. It was the only computer in the room. Pointing at it, an older attendee observed aloud that someday everyone would be attending conferences with one of those things.

November 01 2010 at 10:53 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
2 replies to Cervantes's comment
Brett

Did he mean specifically one of THOSE? If not he was right on target; if so he was way, way off.

November 02 2010 at 8:29 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Cervantes

He was referring to what we now call laptops -- not Mac Portables in particular.

November 02 2010 at 8:52 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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