To celebrate the 40th birthday of the Macintosh, we held a mini celebration at the museum. This revolutionary computer elevated technological expression to a new level of human creativity and inspired the development of diverse services, technologies, and thought processes both globally and in Slovenia.
From the museum’s collections, we showcased all our Apple exhibits to illustrate the development trajectory of the Macintosh, as well as other products created by Apple.
We then presented the impact of the Macintosh to the audience through three key perspectives that are inevitably shaped by new technology: marketing, community, and the global market.
To set the stage appropriately, we kicked off the marketing segment of the retrospective by screening the revolutionary Apple Super Bowl commercial from 1984, which changed the perception of technology advertising.
Brand expert and advertising specialist Janez Damjan introduced the audience to the mindset of 1984 and how America at that time differed from the Yugoslav territory and its mindset. Interestingly, from the driving force of rebellion against Big Brother, a brand emerged whose phones, smartwatches, and computers are owned by one in every four people worldwide. At the same time, Apple ranks first in brand loyalty.
Since the heart of every brand and technology is its users, we opened the community segment of the retrospective by showcasing an amateur remake of the presentation footage from the Macintosh launch in 1984, which predicts the arrival of Steve Jobs. Janez Starc (slomacuser) obtained the original footage from Steve Capps, one of the original designers of the Macintosh. Together with David Praznik, founder and editor-in-chief of the community (and at that time officially registered association) Jabolko.org, they highlighted that the community, enabled by the rise of internet usage, addressed a variety of issues, from finding used Macintoshes and Apple-specific software to configuring keyboards for the Slovenian language. And yes, the famous ‘@’ symbol still deserves a separate article today on how to find it on various keyboards.
As a museum, we are always interested not only in the evolution of technology and the preservation of technological heritage but also in capturing the era when a particular technology was on the rise and documenting how it influenced the Slovenian environment. In the retrospective with our guests, we addressed this in the segment about the Macintosh from the market perspective. We were joined by Matevž Likeb, co-founder of the company Jabolko, which was authorized to sell, market, develop, and support Apple users in Slovenia until 2003; Jan Jagodič, artistic director and founder of the creative agency Kabinet 01, who was the lead designer during Jabolko‘s existence; and Matej Hrček, founder of Pro23—an officially authorized Apple company for sales and support.
We heard how the iMac influenced the rise of desktop publishing in Slovenia and how the company Jabolko had a unique position as a hub between creatives, businesspeople, and publishers. This allowed many, including those who could not afford it, to connect with new technology, which ultimately became their essential tool.
In the end, we discovered that today Macintosh computers in Slovenia have contributed to a spectrum of creativity, from artificial intelligence to the music of the Slovenian band Laibach. The value still connecting Apple users is this well communicated spirit of creative rebellion, no longer following the principles of a superb user experience, but rather about guaranteeing instant connectivity to online information and a device that you simply turn on and it works seamlessly.
And perhaps this is the most important aspect of good design in technological products: that it encompasses all levels of use, allowing individuals to engage based on their needs and desires. Some find it a tool for entertainment and enjoying the creativity of others, while others see it as a professional instrument for expressing their own creativity. Considering that in 2023, most of Apple’s revenue came from the sale of iPhone products and the Apple services segment—including music, streaming videos, games, and cloud storage—the key question may be which technology truly generates the creativity we enjoy daily and shapes our lifestyle.
We are pleased to invite you to form your own opinion by visiting the exhibition “Celebrating 40 years: Macintosh, thanks for the mouse!”, which will be on display at the Slovenian Computer History Museum until February 25, 2024.