Computer Science | Grinnell College

The Macintosh 128K was released in September 1984 in tandem with the Macintosh 512K. Although its specifications were equivalent to those of the original Macintosh (released in January 1984), its main logic board was essentially the Mac 512K's logic board minus the additional RAM. The Macintosh series was Apple's bid to bring the graphical user interface to middle-class personal computer users, and it enjoyed great success in this capacity. Many associate the original Macintosh with Ridley Scott's television commercial for it, "1984," which was aired only once during daytime television, in the third quarter of Super Bowl XVIII on January 22, 1984, two days before the Macintosh was first introduced. The ad references George Orwell's book of the same title, presenting a Big Brother character on a large screen (Steve Jobs has been quoted as suggesting that this is meant to represent IBM) and a woman with a Macintosh shirt who hurls a hammer at the screen, destroying it. To this day the advertisement is hailed as one of the greatest televised.

References: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macintosh_128k
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_(advertisement)