There have been hints in recent days, even from Lee Clow himself, that Apple would be doing something special around the 30th anniversary of Macintosh, and of the infamous Super Bowl spot that launched it.
On Friday, the birthday party began, as Apple rolled out a three-minute video and exhaustive online history of the famed personal computer, showing its evolution on human creativity of all kinds, from art and science to education and fashion.
More cerebral than emotional in its study of a revolution in computing, the video stars all sorts of creators, who tell in their own words how the Mac changed their work and their lives. They include musician Moby, surgeon Maki Sugimoto, designer April Greiman, artist and programmer Daito Manabe, film composer Hans Zimmer, Nike designer Tinker Hatfield, fashion designer Iris van Herpen, graphic designer John Maeda, educator Noemi Trainor, photographer Nick Knight and science author Theodore Gray.
Happy Birthday Mac! My life is infinitely better because we met. Today we salute everything you stand for. http://t.co/seLULo2cQ6
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) January 24, 2014The accompanying timeline at apple.com/30-years is simply incredible, with all sorts of amazing vintage photos, quotes and stories about the machine that changed the world. There's also a section where you're encouraged to share the story of your first Mac.
There's no explicit mention of "1984." But of course, there's a football game coming up that might allow Apple to say a little something about advertising as well.