Fun Facts You May Not Know About Your Apple Mac
Photo by Marcin Nowak on Unsplash
With so many of us tapping away on our computers these days, it’s sometimes fun to take a look behind the scenes at our favorite devices, such as the Apple Mac.
While the Mac seems like a modern piece of kit, it’s actually been around in one form or another for about fifty years. Apple began selling home computers in the mid 1970s, only a few years after the moon landings.
Of course, things didn’t remain static. Apple grew into the worldwide brand that we know and love today, and has improved its products over time. However, despite their long history, many users still don’t know all the little details about their devices.
OS X Isn’t Said How You Think It’s Said
If you think you pronounce OS X as “OS Ex” then we have bad news for you: that’s the wrong pronunciation. It’s actually said “OS Ten” because of the fact that it is the tenth operating system developed by the firm.
X is just a Roman numeral that means 10, which could be part of the confusion.
Before OS X, Mac had OS versions running from 1 to 9, so the fact that OS X would be said “OS ten” actually makes a lot of sense. It just doesn’t look very good when written down.
If you’re still not convinced, you can actually get your Mac to say “OS X” aloud in the Terminal App. You just type “say os x” and it’ll spit back the correct pronunciation for you.
The First Portable Mac Weighed 16 Pounds
Can you imagine lugging around a portable computer that weighs the same as a year-old child?
It sounds ridiculous from today’s perspective -- most laptops weigh between two and three pounds. However, back then people actually considered it lightweight.
Currently, the heaviest MacBook on the market at the moment is the Pro 15-inch with the Retina Display. That comes in at around four pounds, so still substantially lighter than the original technology.
Photo by Alex Bachor on Unsplash
As you might expect, the Mac Portable was a flop. Apple revised it and then released the PowerBook series, which was much more competitive.
Before Yosemite and El Capitan, Apple Code Named Its OS X Versions According To Big Cats
Apple recently made a switch from big cat to national park code names. The first of these was Cheetah, followed by Puma, Tiger, Snow Leopard, Mountain Lion and others.
Because of the fact that Apple is located in California, developers then changed the code names for new versions after landmarks in the state. The move was not welcomed by many Apple purists.
Microsoft Multiplan Was The First Microsoft Product On Mac
Apple originally wanted to keep their products completely separate from Microsoft and the rest of the computing ecosystem, but that proved impossible. The Bill Gates-run firm was just so dominant that they had to make some compromises.
One of those was to allow the use of Microsoft Multiplan -- a spreadsheet program -- from 1982 onwards. Apple then permitted users to access Excel from 1987 after Microsoft changed and updated their spreadsheet software.
OS X Has An In-built Therapist
There’s no need to drive to a shrink office and lie on your back when you have an Apple Mac. OS X offers an in-built therapist you can use any time.
To access, open your Terminal app and then type “emacs” followed by “shift+escape” and then press “X”. then type “doctor” and hit enter.
After you do this, a virtual therapist will enter the room, ready to answer all your questions.
Of course, because you’re talking to a machine, it often feels like you’re conversing with a brainless automaton. But that doesn’t stop it from feeling quite fun!
Apple Supplied The Original Mac Keyboard With Some Of its Buttons Missing
Can you imagine using a keyboard with no arrow keys? Well, that’s precisely what Apple demanded of its early users. While the PC platform had arrow keys, Apple didn’t. Naturally, they corrected this mistake, and we all forgot about it. After all, Macs are easier to use than PCs, right?
Weird Time Stamps On Your Downloaded Files Are An Easter Egg
Steve Jobs liked to give Apple Mac users Easter Eggs on their devices -- fun little quirks that don’t obey all the usual rules and patterns -- and one of them relates to downloads.
Have you ever noticed weird-looking created and modified timestamps on half-downloaded files or files you canceled? If you go into the file browser via Commander One or similar, you’ll see the date “Tuesday, 24 January 1984 at 1:30 PM.”
What the heck does that mean? Well, it just so happens to be the date and time that Steve Jobs unveiled the first Macintosh in history.
Macs Couldn’t Multitask Until 1987
Today we take it for granted that we can open a hundred tabs in our browser, play video games and do word processing at the same time. But back in the 1980s, you couldn’t multi-task at all on a Mac. You had to do things sequentially. That changed in 1987 with the release of the System 5 windowed interface, which launched in response to new products coming out of Microsoft.
Steve Jobs Wanted The Original Mac To Have Just 128KB Of Memory
These days, most Macs have eight gigabytes of RAM. But back in 1984, Steve Jobs wanted his original machine to have just 128KB, which was next to nothing, even back then. The reason for this was the shape of the enclosure: Jobs wanted it to be smaller -- and with less RAM it could be.
Steve Jobs And The Team Autographed Every Original Mac
Imagine buying a PC with Bill Gates’s original signature on it. It sounds unlikely, and it never happened. However, that’s not true of Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and the team. They actually signed all the first-generation Macs they sold individually.
In summary, the Apple Mac has a rich history. While the device is popular today, it also has deep roots. Apple won our hearts over the course of decades, way before social media was a thing.