Thinking Different: Changes You and the World
October 23 – December 11
Main Gallery, CCM 2nd Floor
Reception: Friday, October 23, 3:30pm – 5:30pm
In 1997, Apple launched a campaign that changed how a generation of Americans saw themselves and the technology around them. The Think Different campaign celebrated the rebels, the misfits, and the dreamers who pushed the world forward.
Nearly 30 years later, its message is more relevant than ever. This exhibit tells the story of Apple from the 1980s-2010s through the experience of Professor Brian Hall as an Apple user. Artifacts from his personal collection show the colorful rise of Apple and why the slogan of Think Different tapped into the psyche of those ready to rise to the challenge.
Being an Apple user in the 90’s was not “cool” nor popular. In high school, only myself and one friend owned Apple computers. We were outcasts that constantly debated with other nerds about OS design, processor speeds, and games. In the mid-90’s, Apple was dying while Wintel was thriving. Things changed in 1997. Apple re-emerged as a powerhouse of computing and design congruent with the growth of the Internet and the Web. I worked at a scientific computing company meaningfully connected to Apple called Wolfram Research from 2005-2010, and oh the stories.
Included in the exhibit are artifacts such as my first computer (1991), eBay purchase (1998), laptop (1998), iPod (2006), iPhone (2007), and marketing materials of the era that spoke to me as a computer enthusiast. The displays are a visual journey of how I learned to program, hacker lore from the early days of the Internet, what made Apple devices so cool, and why I love hardware. Everything was so different, and I loved it.
Let the nostalgia begin.