We have seen a single team dominate like McLaren did in 1984 long before that:

Alfa Romeo winning all six GPs in 1950, Ferrari winning every GP in 1952, Mercedes-Benz winning every GP except Monaco in 1955, the Ferrari-modified Lancia D50s dominated in 1956, and Jim Clark won seven of 10 GPs in 1963 and six of 10 (actually nine, as he didn't take part in the Monaco GP because he was busy at the Brickyard, winning the Indy 500).

But once the Cosworth DFV arrived, the pitch levelled out and the racing was close most of the time, even though a dominant champion like Stewart (1969 and 1971), Lauda (1975) or Andretti (1978) once in a while had a huge margin both in points and the number of GPs won in a single season.

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Freedom of speech includes the right to decide when and where to speak

You are totally right, but mine was an analysis that took into consideration a particular lapse of time: from the year of my birth (1976) till the current season.
If you examine this period of 30 years, and you bear in mind in 1984 I was only 8, I suppose you will agree with me when I say that 1984 was the first season that those aged 30 in 2006 remember as the first dominated by one single team

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When I was young, sex was safe and formula 1 was dangerous; now it's the other way around - Hans Joachim Stuck

Indeed so - 1984 was a momentous year, as McLaren (and Bosch, who developed the electronic engine management system for the Tag/Porsche engine) became the first team to compete with cars that hardly never broke down and usually always were running at the front. The first season for something like a quarter of a century, where the multinational companies' involvement became decisive, So, yes 1984 was a water-shed year in F1.

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Freedom of speech includes the right to decide when and where to speak

For me 1978 was more dominant than 1984. Not statistically but the technical advantage was bigger. Only the missed drivers of the Prost/Lauda category.

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"I have beaten top drivers such as Raikkonen, Massa and Webber as teammates" (Nick Heidfeld)

Point taken!

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"Clark came through at the end of the first lap of the race so far ahead that we in the pits were convinced that the rest of the field must have been wiped out in an accident."
Eddie Dennis, describing the dominance of Jimmy Clark in the Lotus 49 at Spa-Francorchamps - 1967.

Andretti/Peterson didn't come much better in 1978 - but as usual Colin Chapman's cars were a bit fragile. Lotus often built the by far fastest car, but lost countless wins because of mechanical unreliability.

But I agree that the advantage Lotus enjoyed in terms of speed in 1978 was larger than McLaren's advantage in 1984 - I think Lotus occupied pole position permanently, once the 79 was introduced for the Belgium GP at Zolder, which is a clear indication of its superior speed.

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Freedom of speech includes the right to decide when and where to speak