Why Apple Owes My Mom A Huge “Thank You” Today

Apple owes my Mom a huge “thank you” today.

Nearly 33 years ago, I stepped into my first computer store. If my memory serves me right, it was called “Computer Junction”, and it was located in a nondescript strip mall on State Road 441 in Hollywood, Florida.

The first thing I saw walking into the store was the Atari. It was an impressive model, and I was very familiar with the brand, having been an avid Pong and Atari 2600 player.

But after a few minutes of checking out the Atari, another model caught my eye. It was the Apple, and it was sitting near the store window, its green monochrome display, twin floppy drives, and light beige chassis beckoning me.

Somehow, between the ultra-sleek design and the salesperson’s pitch, I made my fateful choice: I wanted the Apple. The model? The Apple II Plus. 48K of RAM! 120K floppy disk! 16 “high resolution” colors! I was in heaven.

But before I could leave the store with my treasure, my parents had to figure out how to finance the thing. It did cost $2,660, after all. And that was in 1981 dollars, mind you.

I’ll never forget my mom pulling out a wad of paper. Not US dollars. These were US Government bonds she had saved up over the years. She laid each note out near the cash register, counting until she hit $2,660.

I went home the happiest kid on earth that night. I devoured manuals and magazines. Taught myself how to program in BASIC, Pascal and 6502 machine code. Downloaded videogames on my Hayes Micromodem 300 baud?—?as in 300 bits per second (later upgrading to 1200 baud)?—?modem. Wrote a rudimentary voice recognition program so I could literally tell my computer what to do. Made friends with people I had never?—?nor would ever?—?meet, around the country. And even, at the ripe old age of 13, got a job offer from some guy at a software company in a place called Tarzana, California (never told my parents about that one).

Since then, I’ve purchased a lot more Apple products. They’ve all in their own ways had an amazing impact on my life, and on my family. But I’ll never forget my first Apple. The Apple II Plus. The one I convinced my dad to buy with a ten-point list of reasons why he should buy one (at least two of which didn’t pan out?—?my promises to buy him a huge fishing boat and a Porsche).

So on this Mother’s Day today, I have one humble request of Apple: thank her. For she?—?and I would bet so many other mothers like her out there?—?have made their own indelible impact on your company, and the world, as a result of their intelligence, generosity, self-sacrifice, foresight, and, of course, love.

Happy Mother’s Day, Mom.

Glenn Leibowitz is Director of External Relations for McKinsey & Company’s Greater China Practice. He’s led their publishing, media relations, branding, and digital marketing efforts for the past 15 years. He blogs on Medium and at www.glennleibowitz.com Please follow him on Twitter here.

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