5 ms·

Vintage Apple advertisements

perardi 4y ago
This is meta-vintage for me, because I have not looked at Print magazine in years. This was a staple when I studied graphic design in college, but as I transitioned to UI design, it just slipped out of my mind. And here I see at the top of the article they’ve been acquired by a collective of designers to keep it going, which is a great outcome versus just fading away.
- neontomo 4y ago
  Thank you for the extra perspective. Print is something very hard to replace, it just feels great to hold and touch!
  - perardi 4y ago
    Print Magazine had sumptuous paper. I can’t seem to find the price per issue for this, but it must have been ridiculous.
    - Finnucane 4y ago
      My recollection is that in the '90s it was on the order of seven or eight dollars a copy? $7.50 maybe? Not cheap for a magazine in those days. But I don't remember exactly. Back when I was doing more graphic design work, it was pretty essential reading. But after the content started getting more digital-oriented and I was doing more editorial work, I wasn't following it as closely. Glad to see it still exists sort of, because the editorial content was always top-notch.
bitwize 4y ago
That GUI button that says "Create" hits way way different in this era of AI-produced art.
- ioblomov 4y ago
  Or, for that matter, in this era of human "content creators".
ytdytvhxgydvhh 4y ago
Matt Groening (yeah, the Simpsons & Futurama guy) did some posters for Apple back in the late 80’s/early 90’s too. https://www.cultofmac.com/218211/check-out-the-posters-matt-groening-did-for-apple-before-the-simpsons/ https://www.cultofmac.com/218211/check-out-the-posters-matt-...
- dhosek 4y ago
  I still think of him as the Life in Hell guy. When I saw the first Simpsons short on the Tracy Ullman show, I recognized his style right away.
- superdug 4y ago
  I've got a few of the bongos dream dorm posters in storage, last offer was $300 a-piece, I've held on to them and given them as gifts for people impossible to find gifts for.
megax 4y ago
The content is great, but am I the only one that’s annoyed by those gnarly red image overlays on the mobile website breakpoint that (accidentally) activate as you scroll down?
PostOnce 4y ago
I wanted to read the "please tell me what a personal computer can do" list, but it's blurry, so here's a high-res version: http://www.macmothership.com/gallery/newads15/someoneplease3.jpg http://www.macmothership.com/gallery/newads15/someoneplease3... How much longer that list would be today is a little breathtaking.
- jxy 4y ago
  Thanks for the high-res link. Surprisingly our computers still do these things, after forty some years. Yet their ancestors did the same job while holding "2,400 double spaced pages or 30,000 names and addresses."
- amelius 4y ago
  It's funny that Apple calls their computers a "PC". Was that before the IBM PC?
  - mcculley 4y ago
    Yes. It is a weird historical artifact of terminology. We had lots of “personal computers” before IBM made theirs. After that, IBM’s offering became the product most associated with the term. It is a weak example of genericide.
Jun8 4y ago
The Apple II interaction ad with an Apple on the kitchen table (also one on the wall!) is delightful for both of its naivete (in the last the past 20 yrs or so, an ad agency would be put through the ringer for the husband plays with cool devices wife does the dishes) and power (showing a gadget unknown to most people in a familiar setting). The Atlantic has a great article (https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/06/clear-the-kitchen-table-how-apple-and-ibm-marketed-the-first-personal-computers/396047/ https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/06/cl...) on how Apple did its early marketing. They compare this ad with a "Kitchen Computer" concept from Honeywell that's beyond ridiculous.
- joezydeco 4y ago
  The funny thing is that a lot of "home computer" ads continually promised that it would be easier to balance your checkbook or evaluate your stock portfolio using these machines. Perhaps that was aspirational advertising or something, but the actual implementation of those tasks on the Apple wasn't really that great. Things finally broke loose when VisiCalc showed up in 1979.
- majormajor 4y ago
  > (in the last the past 20 yrs or so, an ad agency would be put through the ringer for the husband plays with cool devices wife does the dishes) Is this when we all feel old because that ad isn't even close to only 20 years old? It's 46 :o
- izacus 4y ago
  All of those ads also show a vague bar graph or a line chart... I wonder if anyone EVER actually used any software that rendered those charts in their home :)
pleb_nz 4y ago
Seems they new macs were a type of PC in the early days
- Gigachad 4y ago
  They always have been.
  - boomboomsubban 4y ago
    While yes, Apple claiming they are different helped launch John Hodgman's career.
    - cmiller1 4y ago
      Blame IBM, PC doesn't mean Personal Computer, it means IBM PC Compatible
amelius 4y ago
I chuckled at "What kind of man owns his own computer?"

This is meta-vintage for me, because I have not looked at Print magazine in years. This was a staple when I studied graphic design in college, but as I transitioned to UI design, it just slipped out of my mind. And here I see at the top of the article they’ve been acquired by a collective of designers to keep it going, which is a great outcome versus just fading away.

neontomo 4y ago
Thank you for the extra perspective. Print is something very hard to replace, it just feels great to hold and touch!
- perardi 4y ago
  Print Magazine had sumptuous paper. I can’t seem to find the price per issue for this, but it must have been ridiculous.
  - Finnucane 4y ago
    My recollection is that in the '90s it was on the order of seven or eight dollars a copy? $7.50 maybe? Not cheap for a magazine in those days. But I don't remember exactly. Back when I was doing more graphic design work, it was pretty essential reading. But after the content started getting more digital-oriented and I was doing more editorial work, I wasn't following it as closely. Glad to see it still exists sort of, because the editorial content was always top-notch.

bitwize 4y ago

That GUI button that says "Create" hits way way different in this era of AI-produced art.

ioblomov 4y ago
Or, for that matter, in this era of human "content creators".

ytdytvhxgydvhh 4y ago

Matt Groening (yeah, the Simpsons & Futurama guy) did some posters for Apple back in the late 80’s/early 90’s too. https://www.cultofmac.com/218211/check-out-the-posters-matt-groening-did-for-apple-before-the-simpsons/ https://www.cultofmac.com/218211/check-out-the-posters-matt-...

dhosek 4y ago
I still think of him as the Life in Hell guy. When I saw the first Simpsons short on the Tracy Ullman show, I recognized his style right away.
superdug 4y ago
I've got a few of the bongos dream dorm posters in storage, last offer was $300 a-piece, I've held on to them and given them as gifts for people impossible to find gifts for.

megax 4y ago

The content is great, but am I the only one that’s annoyed by those gnarly red image overlays on the mobile website breakpoint that (accidentally) activate as you scroll down?

PostOnce 4y ago

I wanted to read the "please tell me what a personal computer can do" list, but it's blurry, so here's a high-res version: http://www.macmothership.com/gallery/newads15/someoneplease3.jpg http://www.macmothership.com/gallery/newads15/someoneplease3... How much longer that list would be today is a little breathtaking.

jxy 4y ago
Thanks for the high-res link. Surprisingly our computers still do these things, after forty some years. Yet their ancestors did the same job while holding "2,400 double spaced pages or 30,000 names and addresses."
amelius 4y ago
It's funny that Apple calls their computers a "PC". Was that before the IBM PC?
- mcculley 4y ago
  Yes. It is a weird historical artifact of terminology. We had lots of “personal computers” before IBM made theirs. After that, IBM’s offering became the product most associated with the term. It is a weak example of genericide.

Jun8 4y ago

The Apple II interaction ad with an Apple on the kitchen table (also one on the wall!) is delightful for both of its naivete (in the last the past 20 yrs or so, an ad agency would be put through the ringer for the husband plays with cool devices wife does the dishes) and power (showing a gadget unknown to most people in a familiar setting). The Atlantic has a great article (https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/06/clear-the-kitchen-table-how-apple-and-ibm-marketed-the-first-personal-computers/396047/ https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/06/cl...) on how Apple did its early marketing. They compare this ad with a "Kitchen Computer" concept from Honeywell that's beyond ridiculous.

joezydeco 4y ago
The funny thing is that a lot of "home computer" ads continually promised that it would be easier to balance your checkbook or evaluate your stock portfolio using these machines. Perhaps that was aspirational advertising or something, but the actual implementation of those tasks on the Apple wasn't really that great. Things finally broke loose when VisiCalc showed up in 1979.
majormajor 4y ago
> (in the last the past 20 yrs or so, an ad agency would be put through the ringer for the husband plays with cool devices wife does the dishes) Is this when we all feel old because that ad isn't even close to only 20 years old? It's 46 :o
izacus 4y ago
All of those ads also show a vague bar graph or a line chart... I wonder if anyone EVER actually used any software that rendered those charts in their home :)

pleb_nz 4y ago

Seems they new macs were a type of PC in the early days

Gigachad 4y ago
They always have been.
- boomboomsubban 4y ago
  While yes, Apple claiming they are different helped launch John Hodgman's career.
  - cmiller1 4y ago
    Blame IBM, PC doesn't mean Personal Computer, it means IBM PC Compatible

amelius 4y ago

I chuckled at "What kind of man owns his own computer?"