Apple Macintosh Portable (1989-1991)

Westport Tech & Nostalgia Museum displays the same model and version artifacts that NASA astronauts Shannon Lucid and James C. Adamson used to send the first email from space on August 9th, 1991. While aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis during mission STS-43, Lucid and Adamson used an Apple Macintosh Portable and AppleLink 6.0 Software to send "Hello Earth! Greetings from the STS-43 Crew! This is the first AppleLink from space. Having a GREAT time, wish you were here,... send cryo and RCS! Hasta la vista, baby,...we'll be back!” via email to Marcia Ivans at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. 

Apple Macintosh Portable 

🥇Apple's First Portable & Battery-Powered Computer 

🥇First Commercially-Released Portable Computer with an Active-Matrix LCD Screen 

🥇First Computer to Send an Email from Space 

The Apple Macintosh Portable, launched in September 1989 for a staggering $6,500 (or over $7,300 with an optional internal hard drive), was Apple's ambitious first attempt to build a self-contained, battery-powered Mac. Powered by a fast 16 MHz Motorola 68HC000 chip, it featured a gorgeous 9.8-inch black-and-white active-matrix LCD screen that delivered incredibly sharp visuals with none of the motion blur common on competing laptops. It also included a built-in mechanical keyboard and a trackball that could be swapped to either side of the chassis to accommodate left- or right-handed users. However, because Apple refused to compromise on desktop-level performance, the computer weighed a massive 15.8 pounds due to its heavy lead-acid battery and bulky 3.5-inch hard drive, earning it the affectionate nickname "the luggable." Crucially, because the power supply was designed only to charge the battery rather than run the computer directly, a completely dead lead-acid battery meant the computer wouldn't boot up even when plugged into the wall—a flaw that, along with its massive size and eye-watering price tag, kept it from commercial success until Apple redesigned its mobile line into the much lighter PowerBook series two years later.

AppleLink 6.0 Floppy Disks

AppleLink 6.0, launched in the early 1990s as the definitive update to Apple's private online service, was a pioneering telecommunications network designed to connect Apple employees, authorized dealers, third-party developers, and university researchers. Operating long before the public World Wide Web was widely accessible, the system relied on a dedicated Macintosh client program that allowed users to plug their computer into a dial-up modem, connect via GE Information Services (GEIS) telephone nodes, and navigate a graphical point-and-click environment using recognizable Mac icons and folder hierarchies. Version 6.0 modernized the experience by introducing enhanced graphics, streamlined message forums, downloadable software updates, and faster electronic mail dispatching directly between Apple's Cupertino headquarters and its global technical community. Though it was an essential backbone for the Macintosh ecosystem throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, its high hourly usage fees and exclusive, walled-garden design eventually led Apple to phase out the service in favor of broader internet connectivity and open web portals.

Acquired from: eBay.com