80's Apple: Gift Catalogs, That Commercial, Yuppie Fashion & Matt Groening
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Apple went through massive seismic changes in the 1980s. There were internal wrangling, which saw Steve Jobs resigning from Apple in 1985, only a year after the release of the Macintosh, which despite a promising start failed to deliver on its promises. Without Jobs at the helm, Apple floundered, never achieving the great success it so desired. And thus remaining a quirky computer of yuppies, hip baby boomers, and anti-IBM snobs. It's likely that in the 80s the only place you'd see an Apple computer was in the offices of designers, architects, magazine publishers and other fashionistas who wanted to been seen as bucking the trend. Oh the odd Apple sat in the corner of university computer science labs, and collecting dust in a school computer room. No one, especially Apple themselves, didn't seem to know what to do with Apples. It wasn't until Jobs returned to Apple in 1996, that it was a game changer for the corporation, as the diversified from producing computers, and moved into the "gadget" and eventually the phone market. To become the behemoths they are today. Although they still hold a minuscule market share in the home computer market, compared to IBM PC clones running Microsoft. (I'm writing this on a Mac, as I love Apple!)
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Anyway, one of the best ways to examine any culture, is through its artefacts. And by examining the artefacts, see how that culture changed over time. And with Apple in the 80s we can do that. I've collected together some Apple artefacts, for your entertainment, that speak volumes about how the corporation shifted during the decade, and how different an entity it was before and after Steve Jobs. How in 1983, Apple produced a small gift catalog selling cute quasi-hip branded items to the baby boomers, and by 1986 was producing a sizable "collection" aimed right at the yuppie market, featuring an Apple branded wind-surfing board!!! That just says it all.
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Before Jobs left in 1985, Apple released the Macintosh. Jobs had been pushed out of the Lisa team, and ended up working on the low-cost-computer project called Macintosh. Lisa won the race to be released, but crashed and burned. So in 1984, Apple released the Macintosh, the first computer to be sold without a programming language. Apple launched it with what has become a seminal piece of commercial advertising. Exploiting the fact that it was "1984", they had cool-director-on-the-block Ridley Scott create a commercial for it. Costing 1.5 million dollars and aired during the third quarter of Super Bowl XVIII on January 22, 1984, it blew the socks off any commercial that had gone before. It was a water-shed moment for Apple, but it would be short-lived.
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By 1985 Jobs was gone, and Apple were selling brightly coloured sweaters to yuppies to sling around their necks at the country club. By the end of the decade, they were using Matt Groening (just before The Simpsons broke), to sell Apples to college students.
Commodore 64 Vs. Spectrum - The great rivals of early home computing in the 80s, but which was the best computer? Weird Retro compares the two machines.
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Bizarre Japanese Arcade Machines - Amongst the rows of Tekken machines and bubble gum photo booths in Japanese gaming arcades, are machine cabinets, that'll leave you dumbfounded.
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Apple Gift Catalog (1983): A low-key gift catalog from Apple in 1983, that seems to be aimed at the wholesome ex-hippy middle class vegans turned business success. Expect big changes, after Steve Jobs leaves, as is seen in their 1986 "collection" aimed at the go-getter yuppie market.
Apple Collection (1986): In 1986, Apple expanded their range into fashion and accessories. The result?! A time-capsule of bad yuppie leisurewear, from the now uber chic Apple corporation.
Rare Matt Groening Apple Mac brochure (1989): Apple's "Who Needs A Computer" brochure designed for college students, contains typical Apple information with Groening's cartoon illustrations. Produced just before The Simpsons first aired.
