Personal computers were invented in the early 1970s, but the computer as we know it today –- a vehicle of creativity, communication and entertainment -- began on January 24, 1984. Under the title "We're All Mac Users Now", Wired News publishes the first article in a series dedicated to "the groundbreaking machine, the people who created it and the Mac's impact on computing and culture in general." The article title suggests the fact that all computer industry is following Apple's lead in innovation, so all the pee-cees out there are kind of cheap Macintosh clones. Hmm. Paid, unpaid, this is Wired speaking, not Macworld. Here is an excerpt:

«When it debuted, the Mac impressed some, but many were unmoved. It was widely dismissed as childlike and trivial: a toy. (The Mac took off several years later, when married to a laser printer and desktop publishing software).

But 20 years on, it's obvious the machine has had the most profound impact. Although Apple is now a relative minnow in the PC industry, it is fair to say that every personal computer these days is essentially a Macintosh clone, even if it runs Microsoft's Windows. Windows, after all, is the sincerest compliment Microsoft has paid to Apple.

"It's real easy to see that every computer in the world's a Macintosh," said Steve Wozniak, Apple's co-founder, in an interview with theBaltimore Sun. "There was a time when Windows wasn't Windows. They had Microsoft DOS, and DOS was lines you had to type… And the funny thing is, when they switched over -- Windows 95, Windows 98 -- now they've got a Macintosh."

Twenty years ago, the Mac pointed the way forward for the PC industry, and Apple continues to lead to this day. The company’s products are still a couple of years ahead of the rest of the industry, and in many ways set the standards that all the others adopt. If Apple embraces a technology, the industry usually follows suit down the line. Examples abound – the graphical user interface, Ethernet, USB, WiFi and Bluetooth, which hasn’t taken off yet, but will."» [read "We're All Mac Users Now" in Wired News]