I remember it well. 40 years ago yesterday, we took delivery of the very first Macintosh to arrive at the ASUC Store in Berkeley. Its arrival was a secret; Macintosh wouldn’t be announced to the world until the next day, January 24, 1984.

I don’t remember everyone who was there, but certainly Fred and Dave, and I think William, Rick and Robert. We took Macintosh out of its signature white box, plugged it in and were greeted by the now familiar “bong”, with the little smiling Mac icon in the center of the screen.

For the next I don’t know how many hours, we played with Finder, MacWrite and MacPaint. Apple also sent us an ImageWriter, which was unlike any other dot matrix printer at the time, and a LaserWriter, which was basically magic in a box. I don’t think the computer was turned off for over a day and we went through many reams of paper.

We were mesmerized and it’s not hyperbole to say it was a life changing experience. I was bored and had lost interest in school but on that day, I knew my future had been set by that amazing little box.

The next day, the world saw what we did and there was a line outside the store, dozens of people long, waiting to get in to see Macintosh. Every day, for weeks, that line would form again, people wanting to get their hands on the “Computer for the rest of us”.

From there, a purloined copy of Inside Macintosh, some “borrowed” compilers, the start of BMUG and the BMUG Developers Group, co-authoring the first book on programming the Mac in C, and Fred, Dave and I were on our way to an amazing journey, our lives changed forever. We all started at Apple, each doing different things, and Fred’s still there (over 35 years and counting!).

When Macintosh arrived at the ASUC store 40 years ago yesterday, none of us were very clear about our career choices. Macintosh changed that in an instant, pulling us into the most revolutionary industry the world has ever known.

Thanks, Macintosh.