History of Apple Lisa at 40
The Flop that Influenced Macintosh
Forty years ago, on January 19, 1983, Apple Computer introduced Lisa. It has well been called Apple’s biggest flop, but it’s accurate to say that without the Lisa computer, there would have been no Macintosh, and it is likely Microsoft Windows would not look like it does today.
In this article, I’ll address the following:
- What was the Apple Lisa?
- How did it influence the creation of Macintosh?
- How did it influence Microsoft Windows?
- What did it do for the NeXT computer?
Lisa at the Computer History Museum
But first, in celebration of the anniversary, the Computer History Museum (CHM) in Mountain View, CA, has received permission from Apple to release the source code to the Lisa software, including its system and applications software, as part of CHM’s year-long celebration of the “Art of Code” program. You may access the Lisa code here.
Additionally, last night, the CMH hosted a meeting with some of the original Lisa development team. I attended the event virtually to see the interviews with the creators.
