January 24th, 2004 marks the 20th anniversary of the Apple Macintosh.
This Mercury News article from January of 1984 gave early rumor-followers a sneak peak at the launch of the Macintosh. According to their sources at the time:
For $2,495, Macintosh buyers will get a computer that operates unusually quickly and is directed by a mouse - a handheld device that, when slid across a table top, moves the cursor on the Mac's screen.
The user gives commands by pointing the cursor at graphic symbols on the screen, such as a paint brush and an eraser to enable the user to draw a picture, or a trash can to destroy a document.
With the anniversary approaching, there is understandably a small buzz in the air about new product announcements over the next week. Unfortunately, none of these reports can be corroborated... The buzz is consistent with previous rumors with PowerMac (2.6GHz), PowerBook (G4) and iMac (20" G5?) blurbs. Earlier expectations of a PowerMac Jan 20th announcement did not come to pass.
More concrete information will be posted as available.