Welcome To Macintosh

Apple never intended to sell computers. They wanted to just give them away! The documentary ‘Welcome to Macintosh’, takes the viewer through the early years of Apple. The founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak talked with several interested retailers that convinced them to put their product on the market. The two businessmen from California began to sell their computers in Minnesota. Their first mass-produced computer was the Apple II. The documentary gets very detailed about the Apple II and the impact that it had on the computer industry Apple itself. The Apple Corp. grew substantially after the Apple II was released in 1977. The Mac was released in 1984 and gave computers a new standard. Both Wozniak and Jobs left Apple soon after though. As the computer industry grew, Apple began to fall into the shadows, as their products could not compete with competitors such as IBM and Microsoft.

The middle of this documentary is quite grim as the view learns about Apples slump. The company had three different CEO’s between 1983 and 1996. Apple was not producing quality products during this time period and only 1 out of every 10 computer users used a Mac. Then the documentary gives us a glorious moment of rejoice, when Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997. The rest of the documentary details how Apple has grown since then and how other products such as the iPod and iPhone have changed other industries as well.

‘Welcome to Macintosh’ gives the viewer many interesting interviews with employees, Mac users, collectors, and retailers. There is a sense of real intuitive innovations throughout the film as the viewer sees all that Apple has gone through and created. The viewer also gets to feel a connection to the company, and maybe even feel bad for Apple as it was being abused and neglected by its subpar CEO’s. I personally felt a connection to some of the people being interviewed during the film. I laughed at many of their comments and I felt bad for them at some points as they spoke of Apples slump. This documentary left me wondering what Apple would do next? What would be their next breakthrough? Most people don’t enjoy documentaries, but if you have to watch one, I would defiantly suggest this one. I give ‘Welcome to Macintosh’ a 8/10.

-Nick