February 26, 1982: Sign Here, Please

There is an oft-retold example of Steve Jobs' obsession with aesthetics that unravels as follows: seeing the original Mac's motherboard, Steve thought the design looked somehow inelegant. When queried as to why the perceived inelegance would be an issue if the Mac was only supposed to be opened by technicians, Steve testily replied, "I'm going to see it!"

More important visually than the internals, of course, was the case. The case went through numerous revisions including one emergency redesign after Steve Jobs was momentarily impressed by the industrial design of a Cuisinart. The redesigns paid off and the Mac case ended up both cute and, thanks to a built-in handle, functional.

Those who scoffed at Steve's obsession with things that no one would see sang a different tune when Steve, obviously proud, asked the original Mac design team to affix their signatures to the mold of the approved case. The final design of the defining Mac image was improved this month in 1982.