New Media Timeline (1984)

By: David Shedden

December 16, 2004

Previous: 1983 / Next: 1985 Intro and links to the other years in the timeline
TECHNOLOGY Jan. 16, 1984 — “Apple Expands Product Line.” By Andrew Pollack, New York Times. Jan. 22, 1984 — During the 1984 Super Bowl, Apple introduces its new Macintosh computer with what has become one of the most famous television commercials of all time. The ad features Orwellian images from the book 1984 and is directed by Blade Runner director Ridley Scott. It ends with the voice-over: “On January 24th, Apple Computer will introduce the Macintosh. And you’ll see why 1984 won’t be like 1984.” “YouTube Video: Steve Jobs Demos Apple Macintosh, 1984.” January 24, 1984. “YouTube Video: 1984 Macintosh Super Bowl TV commercial.” “Apple’s ‘1984’ Super Bowl commercial still stands as watershed event.” By Kevin Maney, USA Today, Jan. 28, 2004. Jan. 24, 1984 — The Macintosh personal computer is officially introduced by Apple. The Mac is one of the first popular computers to use a 3 1/2″ disk drive, a mouse, and a graphical user interface. Jan. 31, 1984 — “Personal Computers; Software for the Macintosh: Plenty on the Way.” By Erik Sandberg-Diment, New York Times. YouTube Videos: Apple Ads.” 1984-2004 Mar. 30, 1984 — “Zenith Introduces An IBM-Compatible That Really, Truly Is.” By Bob Schwabach, Knight-Ridder Newspapers / St. Petersburg Evening Independent Apr. 2, 1984 — “Computers: The Peanut Meets the Mac.” By Thomas McCarroll, Michael Moritz and Phillip Elmer-DeWilt, Time Magazine. Apr. 16, 1984 — “Computers: A Hard-Core Technoid (Bill Gates).” By Micheal Mortiz, Time Magazine. Sep. 26, 1984 — “IBM Vaults Ahead With 3 New Moves.” By Peter McWilliams, Milwaukee Sentinel. Dec. 2, 1984 — “ADVERTISEMENT: Introducing the Tandy 1000 MS-DOS Personal Computer.” Pittsburgh Press.		THE MEDIA Jan. 30, 1984 — “Move Over, Videotex; Here Comes Audiotex.” By Andrew Pollack, Miami News / NYT News Service. Feb. 27, 1984 –“Advertising: Viewtron Assigns Videotex to D’Arcy.” By Philip H. Dougherty, New York Times. May 13, 1984 — “Videotext Has Wall Street Reading ‘Profit’.” Chicago Sun-Times / Deseret News. Oct. 24, 1984 — “VideoText or Videotex?: Industry Having Identity Problems.” UPI / Times Daily. Nov. 5, 1984 — “2 Chosen to Run Newspaper Chain’s Videotex Service.” Gainesville Sun / NYT News Service. The ExtraVision teletext system is tested at various CBS affiliated television stations. The Times Mirror company offers its Gateway videotex service to selected communities in California. The Gateway service uses both telephone and two-way cable distribution. The Dow Jones News/Retrieval service offers full-text versions of The Wall Street Journal. The Knight-Ridder Vu/Text database service is started with full-text editions of The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News, the Detroit Free-Press, and The Miami Herald. There are 15 newspapers that offer full-text database versions of their stories through vendors such as Nexis, Vu/Text, Dialog, or DataTimes. (Source: News Media Libraries: A Management Handbook)

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David Shedden