A new 60-second TV commercial spotlighting the iPhone 5s, Parenthood, was posted by Apple last Sunday. In it, parents are shown using their iPhones to teach kids how to brush their teeth, as well as using it as a baby monitor, to find a lost pet, and to turn down the room lights. This dovetails neatly with Apple’s recent announcements surrounding HomeKit, a platform for smart home devices.
It also happens to be a clever, warm and engaging piece of advertising.
The first Apple computer was a kit. These early versions were hand-built by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, and first shown publicly at meetings of the Homebrew Computer Club. This club was an informal, Silicon Valley-based group of electronic enthusiasts and technically-inclined hobbyists. In other words, nerds – über nerds, with a number of infamous hackers and future entrepreneurs among its members.
Apple I creator Steve Wozniak
The Apple I was essentially a motherboard, with CPU, RAM, and basic text/video chips on a single board (see above). You had to build your own enclosure, and provide your own keyboard and monitor. But it was a fully functioning system on a single circuit board, it was reasonably affordable – and that was a breakthrough at the time. Apple had incorporated a few months earlier (on April 1st), but this was their first product to make it to market.
[A side note: A little over a year later, Connecting Point – then known as TEAM Electronics, on E Street in Grants Pass – would become one of the very first retailers in the world to sell and service the newly-introduced Apple II – launching a decades-long partnership between the two companies that persists to this day.]
Its $666.66 price tag works out to about $2,800 in 2014 dollars, adjusting for inflation – which may seem a bit steep for such a rudimentary device. But recent auctions have seen original Apple I’s selling for as much as $50,000. They’re extremely rare, and an important part of computing history. The Apple I paved the way for the revolution to come.
So check your attic. Scour your garage. Look under the bench in your cellar workshop. You may be sitting on a goldmine.
Today, Apple announced a new entry-level iMac priced at $1099 – $200 less than the previous entry-level model (which, like all the other iMac® models, remains current). It retains many features identical to its two 21.5-inch brethren:
21.5-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit display with IPS technology, 1920×1080 pixels
8GB DDR3 memory (not expandable)
FaceTime HD camera
Built-in downward-firing stereo speakers
Dual microphones
Headphone/optical digital output
Four USB 3.0 ports; Two Thunderbolt ports; SDXC card slot
Gigabit Ethernet; 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi; Bluetooth 4.0
Apple Wireless Keyboard and wireless Magic Mouse
OS X Mavericks operating system
So what’s different? A few key changes have been made to reduce the cost:
1.4GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor, with Turbo Boost up to 2.7GHz. Contrast this with the substantially faster (2.7GHz and 2.9GHz) quad-core processors in the other two models. The L3 cache is smaller, too, and shared by the two processor cores.
500GB 5400 RPM SATA hard drive, in place of the 1 TB hard drives in the other models.
Intel HD Graphics 5000, in lieu of Intel Iris Pro graphics in the $1299 model, and the 1GB NVIDIA GT 750M graphics in the $1499 model.
To better see how the new model fits in with the other 21-5-inch models, click here.
AVAILABILITY: We’ll be accepting orders for this new iMac model immediately. Fulfillment will depend on initial supplies and demand, which could push delivery to as much as two weeks away.
Apple, the Apple logo, Mac, and Macintosh are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.
A Mac for Dad | June 6th, 7th, and (Medford only) 8th
This weekend, Connecting Point wants to make it both easy and affordable to get a Dad a new Mac® for Father’s Day:
Buy any Mac with AppleCare®, receive a $50 store gift card.
Buy any Mac with AppleCare and a qualifying HP or Epson All-in-One, and it goes up to a $75 store gift card.
Got an old computer you’ve outgrown? Bring it in with you. We’ll be evaluating both Macs and PCs for trade-in all weekend long. We can even transfer your files from the old computer into a new Mac.*
These offers available at our Medford and Bend stores Friday and Saturday (June 6th and 7th), and also Sunday, June 8th at our Medford store.
*There is a charge for this service.
Apple, the Apple logo, Mac, and iPhone are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. AppleCare is a service mark of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.
A Mac, iPad, or iPhone for your Graduate | May 30th, 31st, and (in Medford) June 1st
Connecting Point has long offered education pricing for college students and full-time educators. But this weekend, we’re widening that offer to include graduating high school seniors. Here’s how your graduate can save $150 by purchasing any Mac® with AppleCare® from Connecting Point:
Take $50 off the price of any Mac
Take $50 off the price of AppleCare
Get a $50 Connecting Point Gift Card
College-bound scholars need the best tech at their disposal – and that includes tablets and smartphones. And the best of class for these devices are Apple iPad® and iPhone®. As a Verizon Wireless Authorized Retailer, we’ll be sharpening our pencils to give you the most value for your dollar:
Up to $200 off any Verizon iPad with 2-year activation
Free case with any iPad or iPhone with 2-year Verizon activation
Free iPhone 5c (or $100 off iPhone 5s)
Free activation (a $35 value)
Discounts on select iPad and iPhone accessories
Got an old computer you’ve outgrown? Bring it in with you. We’ll be evaluating both Macs and PCs for trade-in all weekend long. We can even transfer your valuable files from the old computer to your new Mac.**
These offers available at our Medford and Bend stores Friday and Saturday (May 30th and 31st), and also Sunday, June 1st at our Medford store.
*On qualifying purchases made with your GE Capital Retail Bank Home Design credit card between May 23rd, 2014 and January 16th, 2015. Interest will be charged to your account from the purchase date if the promotional purchase is not paid in full within 6, 12, or 18 months.
**There is a charge for this service.
New two-year activation, upgrade, early termination fee may apply. Coverage details at VerizonWireless.com.
Apple, the Apple logo, Mac, iPad, and iPhone are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. AppleCare is a service mark of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.
We don’t know about you, but we can’t get the song out of our heads – total earworm material. As a bonus, here are its originators, the Pixies, in a live performance recorded in London in 1988:
A Mac for Dad | June 6th, 7th, and (Medford only) 8th
This weekend, Connecting Point wants to make it both easy and affordable to get a Dad a new Mac® for Father’s Day:
A Mac, iPad, or iPhone for your Graduate | May 30th, 31st, and (in Medford) June 1st
Connecting Point has long offered education pricing for college students and full-time educators. But this weekend, we’re 
College-bound scholars need the best tech at their disposal – and that includes tablets and smartphones. And the best of class for these devices are Apple iPad® and iPhone®. As a Verizon Wireless Authorized Retailer, we’ll be sharpening our pencils to give you the most value for your dollar:
