Apple Mac computers could ride AI wave or be left behind
Forty years after igniting a PC revolution, Apple Mac computers are stronger than ever and could reach new glory due to AI computing -- or be left behind. Apple launched the Macintosh in 1984 with a history-making television ad pitching the machine as an anti-establishment blow against a dystopian future. The computer, referred to simply as a Mac, won fans with user-friendly features such as a graphical interface, clickable icons, and a mouse.
"The influence of the Mac is massive," Futurum Group research director Olivier Blanchard told AFP.
"Every laptop and every PC (personal computer) has tried to emulate the Mac and its success."
Macs became the preferred choice for Apple fans along with artists, film makers and other creative professionals.
Windows-powered computers, however, dominated business workplaces with lower cost machines that synced with ubiquitous productivity tools like data-bases or spreadsheets made by Microsoft and others.
More recently, Apple has been making inroads in business, getting help from iPhone lovers using their smartphones for work and Macs becoming more compatible with programs used on the job.
The Mac's market has expanded to "basically everyone," Dag Spicer, senior curator at the Silicon Valley Computer History Museum, told AFP at an exhibit to mark its anniversary.
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"A lot of the advertising and marketing is directed at making people feel special for buying a Mac," Spicer said.
"You know -- be a rebel, be an outsider, fight the system, even from the first 1984 ad."
Even Apple's soon to be released "spacial computing" headgear, the Vision Pro, plays up work-related uses -- and its compatibility with the Mac.
"Apple is doing more to get into businesses," said Creative Strategies analyst Carolina Milanesi.
"It is clear that with Vision Pro they want to get into the enterprise space, and they linked the Vision Pro to the Mac."
The Mac's 40th birthday comes when the global PC market has sagged with the rise
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