An unusual exhibit has appeared at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, USA — the “Big Mac.” It is a comically oversized yet fully functional replica of the iconic 1986 Macintosh Plus computer. The project is dedicated to Apple’s upcoming 50th anniversary and clearly demonstrates how far technology has advanced over the past 40 years.
Past technology on a giant scale
The original Macintosh Plus was groundbreaking for its time. It featured a Motorola 68000 processor and just 1 MB of RAM. The model’s longevity is impressive: it supported software all the way until 1996.
The modern giant version recreates all the key details:
• Display: The original had a 9-inch screen. The “Big Mac” features a larger monitor, though it still appears tiny against the massive case.
• Keyboard: An enlarged replica of the Apple M0110A occupies half a table. Notably, the 1986 version was the first Apple keyboard to include arrow keys.
• Interfaces: The exhibit replicates the 800 KB floppy disk drive and the SCSI port for external devices.
The cost of progress: from floppies to terabytes
The museum invites visitors to compare technology costs. In 1986, the Macintosh Plus retailed for $2,599. Adjusted for inflation, that equals roughly $7,500 today.
For comparison, the same amount of money today can buy a powerful Mac Studio workstation with memory capacity hundreds of thousands of times greater than its predecessor. It is a striking example of how computing power has become more affordable while devices have grown more compact.
This giant computer is not merely a nostalgic art object. It serves as a vivid reminder of how the personal computer era began — and how dramatically our expectations of portability and performance have changed over the decades.
ORIENT
