LEGO Couch

LEGO Couch

Those are some seriously huge bricks, but I assure you this is the real deal. Can’t imagine it’s very comfortable. Just imagine the impression it must make on your butt cheeks. [Source]

Macintosh II Couch

Macintosh II Couch

I count 25 old Macintosh II computers. Yes, they really are Macs, and not fakes. And you really can sit on it. The Macs have been attached to one another with drywall screws. [Source]

Mouse Pad Couch

Mouse Pad Couch

A perfect compliment to the Mac II couch, this one is made of real, stacked mouse pads. No idea how many, but there’s got to be hundreds of them in there. [Source]

Pac-Man Couch

Pac-Man Couch

A clever modular design that takes its inspiration from Pac-Man’s nom-nom-nom maze action. [Source]

Pixelated Couch

Pixelated Couch

Designer Cristian Zuzunaga (love that name) created this unique take on the 8-bit/pixelation craze. [Source]

Space Invaders Couch

Space Invaders Couch

Designer Igor Chak must be a big retro gaming fan, because his take on Space Invaders is spot-on perfect. Under its straight edges and ninety-degree angles are memory foam cushions lined in black leather. [Source]

Tetris Couch

Tetris Couch

Designer Stefano Grasselli came up with this interesting idea for modular seating that separates into individual seats and ottomans, or comes together as a couch. One cushion in near the center tells you exactly where he got his inspiration. [Source]

Remember the endlessly epic MacPaint? All through my childhood and adolescent Macintosh years, I tried to master its sheer brilliance by creating hideous black and white abstract art with titles like “Square Dancing in a Blender”. Having zero actual illustration talent, I wasn’t able to manage much else, but I was ever in awe of anyone who could actually draw anything more than a stick figure (in a blender).

For me, it was basically the only thing I could actually use on the Macintosh, which I first acquired hand-me-down when I was somewhere in the ballpark of 9 years old. For some years prior to that, my step-brother had been creating MacPaint artwork for me and faxing it to me for special occasions. (Remember the fax machine?) I spent hours I should’ve spent getting fresh air hunkered over my mouse, attempting to draw a straight line.

Nowadays I’ve moved on from Macs but I will always have a healthy appreciation for pixels neatly arranged in what was, as far as software goes, one of the greatest time-wasting tools ever invented. And so it is with great pleasure and fervent hope that you too fondly remember those grand, golden days in digital art that I present to you some pretty damn amazing MacPaint art…painted, of course, by those far more talented than me.

Preface: For those who don’t recall MacPaint, it was a bitmap-based paint program developed by Bill Atkinson of Macintosh’s original dev squad. It hit the streets standard with Macintosh in 1984, and was also available for purchase separately for a mere $195, or approximately $400 in today’s financial climate. MacPaint was so awesome it stayed on the market until 1998 – 10 years after its last version, 2.0, had been released.

Without further delay, the art:

The much vaulted Japanese girl woodcutting as created on MacPaint.

A near pointillist landscape as only MacPaint could present it.

A Macintosh on MacPaint; the nostalgia is almost palpable.

A river runs through MacPaint.

Now if you’ll pardon me, it’s time for me to wipe the tears of longing for defunct-software-for-even-more-defunct-hardware from my eyes.

Apple is currently going through some relatively tough times right now with Steve Jobs decision to temporarily step down as CEO to address the health issues that have been hounding him over the past year. The company is taking a bit of a beating in the media for allegedly hiding the details of Jobs’ health from investors.

This controversy may put a cloud over the people at Apple but there is also something to be happy for. Tomorrow, January 24, Apple will be celebrating the 25th anniversary of the release of the Macintosh line.

The Mac has helped pave the road for the level of acceptance and ubiquity that PCs now enjoy and their 25th year just illustrates how far we have come from those first attempts at making an affordable computer. Consider — the first Macintosh only had 128kb of on-board RAM and was priced at a whopping $2,495. Contrast this with today’s Mac that is thousands of times more powerful at just barely over half the price.

Here’s to another 25 years of Apple ingenuity.