40 years ago today, Apple became a household name with the release of Macintosh. Here's the inspiring story behind it: 1981 IBM was leading the PC game. Though Apple proved to be a commercially good option, corporate tech managers stuck to IBM as it was more promising. Apple positioned itself to be the rebellious company compared to the tech Goliath IBM "Once IBM gains control of a market sector, they almost always stop innovation," Jobs told an interviewer. Job's Mac was also competing with Lisa, another group from Apple he was ousted from. Mac was positioned as the low-cost competitor to Lisa. To make matters worse, MAC software was incompatible with Lisa (or any other non-MAC product). Jobs believed the tight link between software and hardware makes a computer truly great. Jobs followed the same principle for all his products (Mac, iPad, iPod, iPhone) which distinguished them from other products like Microsoft and Android. He also wanted to have full control of what goes inside a Mac and he did not like hobbyists messing up with the hardware. "We don't have control, and look at all these crazy things people are trying to do to it. That's a mistake I will never make again" said Jobs holding Apple II. Special tools were designed for Mac so that the case could not be opened with a regular screwdriver. 1983 Meanwhile, IBM was dominating the PC market and was expected to take over 50% of the market by 1985. Figures of 1983: 420,000 Apple IIs vs 1.3 million IBMs and it's clones. This built up the pressure for the Macintosh release scheduled for January 1984. Jobs was rallying Apple's sales force with his inspiring speeches, as always. In the spring of 1983, Jobs wanted to put a commercial for Mac's launch event that was as revolutionary as the product. "I want something that will stop people in their tracks," he said "I want a thunderclap". Chiat/Day advertising agency led by Lee Clow was tasked with the commercial. Clow developed an ad with the tagline " Why 1984 won't be like 1984" 1984 is a SCI-FI dystopian novel by English author George Orwell. The villain "Big Brother" is the symbol and head of the authoritarian government that controls everything in the fictional world. The book is about a rebel who tries to go against the government. The ad portrays giant corporations like IBM as Big Brother and Apple as the cool, rebellious, and heroic company. Jobs loved it as he fancied being a rebel. Ridley Scott, the director of Blade Runner was hired to direct the ad. An unprecedented budget of $750,000 for the ad was arranged by Jobs. When Jobs screened the ad to the Apple board, they did not like it. Philip Schlein, the CEO of Macy's, had his head on the table. The board ordered Jobs to find a new agency and sell off the two commercial spots at Super Bowl they bought but they only sold one. They told the board that they couldn't sell one but they just didn't try. Bill Campbell, the head of marketing, decided to let the ad air. 1984 In the third quarter of Super Bowl XVIII, instead of an instant replay, the screens went black with ominous images of drones marching filled with spooky music. More than 96 million people watched the ad which was nothing like they had seen before. The ad ended with the announcer saying " On January 24th, Apple Computer will introduce Macintosh. And you will see why 1984 won't be like '1984' ". It was a sensation. fifty local stations and all three networks aired news stories about the ad, making it the most viral topic of the month. Unfortunately, the ad was aired only a few times before the estate of George Orwell and the television rightsholder of the novel 1984 considered the commercial to be a flagrant copyright infringement, and sent a cease-and-desist letter to Apple and Chiat/Day in April 1984. The commercial was never televised as a commercial after that. Apple got the attention needed for the launch. The ad cemented the Super Bowl as the advertiser showcase. The ad was just one of the ingredients of publicity blasts that the genius mind of Steve Jobs would replicate, from Macintosh in 1984 to iPad in 2010. The launch event was scheduled for the Apple annual stockholders' meeting on January 24. 8 days before the launch, the Macintosh team completed the software and was ready for the launch. Jobs wanted it to be an epochal moment in the world history. Launch Day On the day of launch, Jobs started with his rant on IBM. He made jokes about it making the crowd laugh. He mentioned all the missteps that IBM made starting from it's foundation to the present. Then he walked onto a small table with a cloth bag on it. "Now I'd like to show you, Macintosh, in person". The theme from Chariots of Fire began to play. After the demo, Jobs smiled and said "We've done a lot of talking about Mac recently. But today, for the first time ever, I'd like to let Macintosh speak for itself." He strolled back and pressed a button on the mouse. "Hello. I'm Macintosh" said the computer.