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The Macintosh computers are preparing to celebrate his 25 years with youthful vigor and Peter Friess remember like it was yesterday, the day he received his first 'Mac' in the hands of Steve Jobs, the legendary owner of the firm.

At that time, some twenty years, Peter Friess classified antique clocks for the Deutsches Museum in Munich (Germany), when he learned that Apple's nascent company, founded in 1976, had built a computer.


"The German was the biggest science museum in the world and not a single office was equipped with a computer at the time," says Friess, 49, now president of the Tech Museum of Innovation in Silicon Valley, south of San Francisco ( California).

"I called Apple to tell them in Munich that really needed a computer."


Jobs was right in Munich. It was not until the museum with a computer to Friess and one for the director.

"I was just a craftsman working in the basement, perhaps the most modest museum employee, and Steve Jobs gave us, me and the director, computers, still wonder Friess. "I gave him a hand. I do not know if you remember, but I do. I still have this computer."


When the first Macintosh-baptized, the legend, in homage to the variety of apples for your favorite co-inventor Jef Raskin left-market, the 24 January 1984, Apple, founded in a California garage by Steve Jobs and Wozniak, even gave his first steps.

The signing marked the departure of its first product for the general public with a publicity became legendary, and was inspired by the novel'1984 'by George Orwell, and that symbolized the emergence of a revolutionary innovation in a totalitarian and uniform universe .


Among the new Macintosh was the mouse, which led to move a cursor on the screen, and icons to activate various functions: it was the first graphical interface for users, avoiding having to type a long series of numbers and letters, and put the computers accessible to non-specialists.

Preserving its technology, Apple continued to produce Macintosh, which were adopted by creatives, whose quality is only matched by its price, then too high.


Several hundred miles further north, signing a couple of programs, Microsoft sells its systems under license for exploration and other programs that allow other manufacturers to market computers at a price more accessible.

In 1985, Jobs was ousted after a bid for power and did not return until 1997, during which time the brand has suffered a major setback.


Since then, Apple released news that led to changes in consumption of media, with digital players like iPods, iTunes Store online and mobile phones iPhones to rejuvenate the brand.

In addition, Apple made its products compatible with Microsoft software, thus removing a major obstacle to convert new believers.


Apple released on Wednesday a quarterly profit récors of 1610 million dollars, with a 9% rise in sales of Macintosh, which is 2.52 million copies (of a total of about 77.3 million computers sold worldwide ).

In the U.S., Apple is in fourth place in sales with a market share of 7.2%, according to marketing firm IDC.