INTRODUCTION This paper is an attempt by a long time Lisa user to clarify the significance of the Apple Lisa personal computer for the computing industry. The audience of this paper is anyone who has an interest in innovative computing technology and wants to learn a little about Apple Computer's brief foray into this area via the Lisa computer. This paper hopes to show why the Lisa was significant in its time and how some of what was called "Lisa Technology" is slowly migrating to other computer systems, mainly the Apple Macintosh computer series. The author has never worked for Apple and as such is not privy to any insider secrets about this machine. All facts contained herein were obtained from Apple's cornucopia of Lisa literature, Apple's Macintosh literature, discussions with other Lisa owners, and my personal involvement with and close observations of both machines since 1984. This paper is loosely based upon the excellent article "The Legacy of the Lisa" (MacWorld magazine, Sep. 1985) as written by Mr. Larry Tesler, one of the Lisa's main designers and currently a key technologist at Apple Computer. |