WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.000 We could go for the low-hanging fruit here and talk about the original IBM PC or the first Macintosh from 1984 but you already know about those. 00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:13.000 So instead, let's talk about five other machines that changed the PC market in a big way. 00:00:13.000 --> 00:00:21.000 Let's start with the Xerox Alto. Although Xerox was already well known as a manufacturer of copiers, their entry into the PC market was extremely impressive 00:00:21.000 --> 00:00:27.000 as the Alto was the first personal computer designed with a graphical user interface, or GUI. 00:00:27.000 --> 00:00:35.000 And keep in mind, this was all the way back in 1973, eight years before the original IBM PC and eleven years before the original Macintosh, 00:00:35.000 --> 00:00:40.000 with the latter being the system that really popularized the GUI for the mass market. 00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:49.000 The Alto didn't receive as much attention as it could have because of its high price, $32,000, which today would be over $110,000. 00:00:49.000 --> 00:00:58.000 Nonetheless, it was well ahead of its time, not just due to its desktop-based GUI, but also because it had its own hard drive, a 606 x 808 pixel display, 00:00:58.000 --> 00:01:04.000 very high res at the time, and even a mouse, which wouldn't become broadly popular until the Macintosh came out. 00:01:04.000 --> 00:01:11.000 Unfortunately, Xerox made a big strategic mistake when they decided not to take the Alto's concepts and make them affordable for home users. 00:01:11.000 --> 00:01:17.000 By the time they realized this, Apple had already seized the initiative and Xerox computers just faded into obscurity. 00:01:17.000 --> 00:01:23.000 But before the Mac popularized the GUI concept, Apple had a huge hit in 1977 with the Apple II. 00:01:23.000 --> 00:01:33.000 Before the Apple II was released, people tended to think of computers as super expensive machines only used in business or as difficult DIY projects just for enthusiasts. 00:01:33.000 --> 00:01:42.000 The Apple II went a long way towards changing these perceptions as it sold for less than $1,300 and it came fully assembled and ready to use. 00:01:42.000 --> 00:01:45.000 But the Apple II wasn't just appealing because it was cheap and easy. 00:01:45.000 --> 00:01:51.000 It used programming tricks to enable color on its display without charging the consumer a huge premium. 00:01:51.000 --> 00:02:00.000 In fact, this became such a defining characteristic of the Apple II that it led Apple to change its logo to that multi-colored bit and fruit it used until the late 90s. 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:07.000 The color support combined with a killer app called the VisaCalc, the first ever automatic PC spreadsheet, made it really popular with businesses, 00:02:07.000 --> 00:02:11.000 helping the Apple II become one of the best-selling personal computers ever. 00:02:12.000 --> 00:02:21.000 Moving on, we've got the Commodore 64. And although it sounds like some kind of naval simulator from Nintendo, it was actually an early PC that looked a lot like a smaller Apple II. 00:02:21.000 --> 00:02:27.000 Released in 1982, the Commodore 64 absolutely crushed the lower end of the PC market for most of the decade, 00:02:27.000 --> 00:02:32.000 as it was even more affordable than the Apple II at a release price of just $595. 00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:35.000 But the lower price didn't mean it was underpowered. 00:02:35.000 --> 00:02:42.000 Like the Apple II, it had color graphics but with better quality, which made it a popular platform for computer games at the time, 00:02:42.000 --> 00:02:47.000 as well as the demo scene, which was an early computer art movement centered around small AV pieces. 00:02:47.000 --> 00:02:55.000 The Commodore 64 also included a signature audio chip called the Sound Interface Device that made it very attractive to electronic musicians. 00:02:55.000 --> 00:03:02.000 And although its Haiti came to an end in the late 80s when the more powerful 32-bit IBM PC compatible started to dominate the market, 00:03:02.000 --> 00:03:05.000 the Commodore 64 still has a very loyal following. 00:03:05.000 --> 00:03:11.000 But what about laptops? Let's talk about the compact LTE, not to be confused with the modern cell network, though. 00:03:11.000 --> 00:03:15.000 Although it wasn't the first laptop, it was definitely one of the most important. 00:03:15.000 --> 00:03:20.000 It was introduced in 1989, a time where laptops really started to make inroads with professionals, 00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:24.000 but most were either bulky or limited in what they could do. 00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:30.000 And the LTE changed all of that as it weighed only 3 kilograms or 6.7 pounds for our friends in the US. 00:03:30.000 --> 00:03:36.000 It ran a 286 processor and MS-DOS and was powerful enough to support Windows as well. 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:42.000 Because of its computing muscle and small size, the LTE is often considered the first true notebook-style laptop, 00:03:42.000 --> 00:03:46.000 since it was, as you guessed it, about the same size as a notebook. 00:03:46.000 --> 00:03:54.000 The LTE also featured a docking station, enabling it to entirely replace a desktop computer at a time when doing so really wasn't all that common. 00:03:54.000 --> 00:04:02.000 However, even though it had a 2.4 kilobyte per second modem, the compact LTE lacked one crucial feature that's present in all modern laptops. 00:04:02.000 --> 00:04:07.000 Wi-Fi, the first consumer laptop to feature it, and our final system of the day, was the Apple iBook. 00:04:07.000 --> 00:04:13.000 Released in 1999, this was the first computer in Apple's main laptop lineup before the MacBook debuted, 00:04:13.000 --> 00:04:19.000 and it originally had a look comparable to the iMac G3, which was brightly colored plastic and a rounded aesthetic. 00:04:19.000 --> 00:04:23.000 Aside from its looks, the iBook's Wi-Fi boasted speeds of up to 11 megabits per second, 00:04:23.000 --> 00:04:28.000 and although it sounds super slow by today's standards, it was actually pretty amazing for its time. 00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:33.000 As Steve Jobs famously demonstrated at the launch event, where he passed the iBook through a hula hoop while he surfed the web, 00:04:33.000 --> 00:04:38.000 to the ooh and ah of a rather easily impressed crowd. 00:04:38.000 --> 00:04:45.000 No wires! Come to think of it, Apple events haven't fundamentally changed in the past two decades. 00:04:45.000 --> 00:04:48.000 So those are our picks for the five computers that totally changed the game. 00:04:48.000 --> 00:04:52.000 But what do you guys think? Is there a system more deserving of the title? 00:04:52.000 --> 00:04:56.000 Let us know down in the comments and you might see them in a future episode. 00:04:56.000 --> 00:05:02.000 Thanks for watching. Like, dislike, check out our other videos, comment with video suggestions, and don't forget to subscribe and follow.