Come on y'all. Apple and its Macintosh is part of the great '80s heritage shared with Commodore and the Amiga, and others of that era. We don't stand apart from Apple or Microsoft or IBM, we stand with them and in many ways because of them. I think its perfectly fine to wish a Happy 30th Birthday to the Macintosh.
Next year will be our turn, and y'all can post on Mac, and Atari, and other forums in the 'Other Operating Systems' category (or something to that effect); Happy 30th Birthday Amiga!!!
The Mac is never positioned as perfect. True, Apples marketing department can spin things with the best of them, but some facts do remain and Apple's Macintosh lineage of computers has given the personal computer market some of its firsts.
Commodore also gave the computer and digital entertainment industry some of its firsts:
First 32-bit games console with CD-ROM
First pre-emptive multitasking personal computer under $1,000 that can plug into a TV out of the box.
These "firsts" can always be spun this way or that, just keep adding caveats. As we have learned, and Apple has taught us this lesson more than most; just because it is "first" does not mean it's good, or successful. But is does put ideas in the minds of others to improve upon. If for nothing else, the Mac has been an arena where a lot of industry disruption played out, for better or worse. Like 'em, don't like 'em, it doesn't matter; It has been a platform that has simultaneously delighted and disappointed computer users consistently for 30 years, and that my friends is a feet worth recognising.
