Take A Look At Four Decades Of Apple Artifacts

Daniel Terdiman April 01, 2016
 
A page from the original Macintosh business plan, riffing on the famous Paul Masson wine commercials starring Orson Welles.Photo: Bruce Damer, DigiBarn Computer Museum

It’s hard to believe that it’s been 40 years since two young Silicon Valley kids—was it even called Silicon Valley back then?—got together to make a little personal computer they called the Apple I.

Everyone loves buttons, including Apple fans and employees.Photo: Bruce Damer, DigiBarn Computer Museum

Today, we celebrate 40 years of the company that Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak started. Back then, there’s no way anyone could have predicted that Apple would eventually become the most valuable corporation in the world, especially not in the fallow days of the mid-’90s, after Jobs was fired, and when the company’s product line was more complex and confusing than the list of ingredients on a package of processed cheese.

An Apple IIGS signed by Apple cofounder Steve WozniakPhoto: Bruce Damer, DigiBarn Computer Museum

Yet through all those years, there have always been passionate Apple fans, the kind of people who will go to the barricades to stand up for their beloved brand, the people some derisively call “fanboys,” while others call them “we.”

Over at the DigiBarn Computer Museum in California’s Santa Cruz Mountains, Bruce Damer has been collecting amazing artifacts for years, and here, he shares some of his best Apple-related treats with us. Enjoy!

In an age where most software is in the cloud, it’s hard to remember that in the early days of the personal computer era, a lot of software was distributed on cassette.Photo: Bruce Damer, DigiBarn Computer Museum

Related: The History of Apple in Under 3 Minutes

Slideshow Credits: 01 / Photos: Bruce Damer, DigiBarn Computer Museum; 02 / Bruce Damer, DigiBarn Computer Museum; 03 / Bruce Damer, DigiBarn Computer Museum; 04 / Bruce Damer, DigiBarn Computer Museum; 05 / Bruce Damer, DigiBarn Computer Museum; 06 / Bruce Damer, DigiBarn Computer Museum; 07 / Bruce Damer, DigiBarn Computer Museum; 08 / Bruce Damer, DigiBarn Computer Museum; 09 / Bruce Damer, DigiBarn Computer Museum; 10 / Bruce Damer, DigiBarn Computer Museum; 11 / Bruce Damer, DigiBarn Computer Museum; 12 / Bruce Damer, DigiBarn Computer Museum; 13 / Bruce Damer, DigiBarn Computer Museum; 14 / Bruce Damer, DigiBarn Computer Museum; 15 / Bruce Damer, DigiBarn Computer Museum; 16 / Bruce Damer, DigiBarn Computer Museum; 17 / Bruce Damer, DigiBarn Computer Museum; 18 / Bruce Damer, DigiBarn Computer Museum; 19 / Bruce Damer, DigiBarn Computer Museum;

 
A page from the original Macintosh business plan, riffing on the famous Paul Masson wine commercials starring Orson Welles.Photo: Bruce Damer, DigiBarn Computer Museum


 

 

<p/>A diagram of Apple’s Lisa computer from a draft of the Lisa user’s guide.</p> <p>” src=”http://c.fastcompany.net/multisite_files/fastcompany/imagecache/slideshow_large/slideshow/2016/03/3058470-slide-s-7-40-years-of-apple-artifacts.jpg”></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt=A confidential letter introducing the draft of the original Lisa Owner’s Guide.

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<p/>The full confidential document.</p> <p>” src=”http://a.fastcompany.net/multisite_files/fastcompany/imagecache/slideshow_large/slideshow/2016/03/3058470-slide-s-5-40-years-of-apple-artifacts.jpg”></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt=Once upon a time, Apple software came on cassette tapes.

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<p/>A copy of the December, 1986 issue of <em>Bandley Shuffle</em>, a magazine for Apple employees.</p> <p>” src=”http://c.fastcompany.net/multisite_files/fastcompany/imagecache/slideshow_large/slideshow/2016/03/3058470-slide-s-3-40-years-of-apple-artifacts.jpg”></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt=The 1989 press release for Apple’s Macintosh SE/30.

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<p/>A copy of Apple’s second-quarter 1984 quarterly report. Everything changed for Apple in 1984, the year the company introduced the Macintosh.</p> <p>” src=”http://a.fastcompany.net/multisite_files/fastcompany/imagecache/slideshow_large/slideshow/2016/03/3058470-slide-s-1-40-years-of-apple-artifacts.jpg”></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt=A collection of Apple-related buttons.

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<p/>Apple’s Lisa computer, the ill-fated predecessor to the Macintosh.</p> <p>” src=”http://a.fastcompany.net/multisite_files/fastcompany/imagecache/slideshow_large/slideshow/2016/03/3058470-slide-s-9-40-years-of-apple-artifacts.jpg”></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt=An AppleII GS, signed by Steve Wozniak.

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<p/>The circuit board of an Apple IIc.</p> <p>” src=”http://b.fastcompany.net/multisite_files/fastcompany/imagecache/slideshow_large/slideshow/2016/03/3058470-slide-s-11-40-years-of-apple-artifacts.jpg”></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt=A button promoting the Apple IIe.

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<p/>Even more Apple-related buttons.</p> <p>” src=”http://d.fastcompany.net/multisite_files/fastcompany/imagecache/slideshow_large/slideshow/2016/03/3058470-slide-s-13-40-years-of-apple-artifacts.jpg”></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt=A button promoting Apple’s famous Apple II.

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<p/>An original Macintosh, signed by Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak.</p> <p>” src=”http://b.fastcompany.net/multisite_files/fastcompany/imagecache/slideshow_large/slideshow/2016/03/3058470-slide-s-15-40-years-of-apple-artifacts.jpg”></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt=An Apple II, the computer that helped Apple become a computer powerhouse, signed by cofounder Steve Wozniak.

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<p/>An Apple IIe, complete with disk drives and monitor.</p> <p>” src=”http://d.fastcompany.net/multisite_files/fastcompany/imagecache/slideshow_large/slideshow/2016/03/3058470-slide-s-17-40-years-of-apple-artifacts.jpg”></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt=The front cover of a copy of the original Macintosh business plan.

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<p/>A page from the Mac business plan riffing on the famous wine ads starring Orson Welles.</p> <p>” src=”http://b.fastcompany.net/multisite_files/fastcompany/imagecache/slideshow_large/slideshow/2016/03/3058470-slide-s-19-40-years-of-apple-artifacts.jpg”></p> <p> </p> <p><a href=Fast Company , Read Full Story

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