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First Macintosh - 1984
First Macintosh - 1984
Long before the "I'm a Mac/I'm a PC" battle, Apple launched the first commercially successful personal computer with a graphics-based interface. The 1984 Macintosh, released on Jan. 24 for $2,500, was a revolutionary new device that shook the tech world.

Instead of entering computer commands made up of rows of text and numbers to run the device, users could operate the Mac with a mouse -- the first ever -- to click on the screen's images.

To launch the Mac, Ridley Scott directed a now-famous commercial aptly titled "1984" -- a nod to George Orwell's famous dystopian novel. The $1.5 million spot featured a blonde woman with a picture of the new Macintosh on her white tank top, smashing a screen meant to represent Big Brother. The ad was hailed as a marketing "watershed event" and helped set the tone for Apple's long reign.

NEXT: AT&T video phone - 1964

Last updated September 23 2009: 11:26 AM ET
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