Remember Apple's Lisa--It's 20 This Week

It has been 20 years since the Lisa was introduced by Apple with the first graphical user interface or GUI and mouse in a commercial computer. Lowend Mac has a nice remembrance piece.

We got one in 1983 for our institute at the University of Miami. It led to replacing many of our Apple IIe's and various DOS machines with Macintoshes the following year. Miami's oceanography school is still a thriving Mac stronghold to this day.

Dana Baggett, who was responsible for setting up a computer system for the administrative office of the Maine court system, fondly writes:

"I signed a purchase order for a Lisa 2 in the early fall of 1984, along with a bunch of 512 Macs, for the Maine Administrative Office of the Courts. We bought Imagewriters for each desktop as well. I recall vividly the demo we had of the Lisa 2, on the dealer showroom floor. It was impressive, with its GUI (graphical user interface), the first computer 'for the rest of us.'

"The Lisa was more expensive - $5,000 as I recall - than the 512 Macs. But its attraction among other things was an integrated suite of software applications, including word processing, spreadsheet, and chart-making. The Portland, ME, Apple dealer told me that he had sold a roomful--double digit numbers--to National Semi-Conductor located in South Portland, because of the flow-charting capability alone. He said they had flowcharts taped to the wall that ran around the room."

"Ah Lisa. We hardly knew ya."

At least one, a Lisa 2, is hooked up to the internet and running the Lisa2.com web site--check it out. [Dana Baggett]