Flashback to Feb. 1984: John C. Dvorak disses that “new fangled device” the computer mouse

January 13, 2009

In January, 1984 the first commercially successful personal computer to feature a mouse and a graphical user interface rather than a command line interface was introduced, Apple Computer’s Macintosh.

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Of course, the best and the brightest of the day’s tech writers immediately saw it for the game changer it was and heralded it as the next great advance in computer technology. Or did they?

“The Macintosh uses an experimental pointing device called a ‘mouse’. There is no evidence that people want to use these things. I don’t want one of these new fangled devices.”

— the ever-prescient John C. Dvorak in the San Francisco Examiner

Or how about David Bunnell from The Macintosh Reader: “To hold up the Macintosh experience as an example of how to create a great product, launch an industry, or spark a revolution is a cruel joke.”

For more jollies about ‘Job’s folly’ follow the link below:

Jan. 1984: How critics reviewed the Mac – Apple 2.0.

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