Tag: 1997

Posted on

Watch, www.apple.com (c. 1997)

This rare boxed watch was offered by Apple as a marketing piece, likely for Apple’s System 7.5 operating system that was released in 1997. The watch body is made from a matte-finished silver metal and has a black leather band. The watch face is white with red dots in the 12, 3, 6, and 9 positions; has red hour and minute hands; and is printed across the top with www.apple.com with the six-color logo printed at the bottom. Instead of a second hand, the watch has a transparent disc printed with eight color icons. The icons resemble System 7.5 color icons, but they do not match.

The icons are are printed top-to-bottom so the disc is only aligned at 0º once per minute—as opposed to having the icons printed at angles so the topmost icon is aligned to the 12 position. The icons resemble the following System 7.5 icons:

  • Puzzle (Application)—located under the Apple Menu
  • Dogcow—icon located on the Print screen to indicate the layout of the printed page
  • Color—Control Panel
  • Trash
  • Map—Control Panel
  • Users & Groups—Control Panel
  • Alarm Clock (Application)—located under the Apple Menu
  • Globe—similar to the Map Control panel

The watch measures 9 3/8 inches long from tip of the black leather band to the metal buckle. The metal watch case is 1 5/8 inches tall by 1 1/4 inches wide.

Another design inconsistency is that the www.apple.com URL printed in black on the watch face is not in Apple Garamond, Apple’s corporate font of the time. Rather, the font used appears to be a version of Times.

The original box shares many of the design quirks of the watch itself. The box measures 3 7/8 inches wide x 5 7/8 inches tall x 1 1/8 inches deep. Its base is glossy black, and it opens like a jewel box along the short edge.

The top exterior of the box has the six-color Apple logo printed in the center, and it is surrounded by a slightly different version of the eight icons shown on the watch. Although the box icons are slightly more realistic than the smaller watch versions, they also do not match the System 7.5 icons.

When opened, the interior of the box is primarily glossy black and uses a pop-up cardboard effect (similar to a “pop-up book”). The pop-up is a stylized globe in bright blue and bright green that is oriented upside-down (with the northern and southern hemispheres rotated and drawn in a manner inconsistent with an actual globe). The URL www.apple.com is printed in white in a quarter-rounded path around the globe in the same font as the watch face.

The box-bottom repeats the URL www.apple.com in bright blue across the top. A slot near the bottom and six-color Apple logo tab near the top are used to secure the watch at an angle on an in insert inside the box.

A Cult of Mac article was still available online at the time of this writing that featured this “Apple Watch” as the world waited for the release of the Apple Watch—referred to in the article as the “iWatch.” At the time, Cult of Mac (and other news sources) were incorrectly assuming Apple’s rumored smart watch would be called “iWatch.” The headline reads, “Forget The iWatch, Here Are 11 Apple Watches You Can Buy Right Now.” The article reads, in part:

“When rumors of the iWatch first surfaced, most insiders pegged its launch date for somewhere around the end of 2013 and everyone got super excited that our wrists are going to get blinged out by Apple really soon. However, lately we’ve been hearing that that might not be the case, and we won’t be able to slap Apple’s magical wrist watch on until 2014.”

I consider myself privileged to have this unusual and classic watch in my collection.

Sources: CultOfMac, GUIdebook (Graphical User Interface Gallery), Wikipedia

Posted on

Out of the Box and Onto the Net booklet (1997)

This Apple Education Series booklet, titled Out of the Box and Onto the ’Net: The Internet, Teaching, and Mac OS 8 was written to explain to educators how to use Internet in school with the Mac OS 8 operating system.

The Table of Contents included the following sections:

  • Welcome
  • The Internet in Education
  • The Internet: an introduction
  • How the Internet is transforming education
  • Uses of the Internet in education
  • Communication and collaboration
  • Conducting research
  • Publishing on the World Wide Web
  • Getting ready to go online
  • Preparing students to go online
  • Learning activities and teacher resources
  • Mac OS 8 Internet Features
  • Mac OS 8 overview
  • Setting up your computer to access the Internet
  • Registering with an ISP
  • Adding or changing LAN or ISP settings
  • Creating and importing settings information
  • Connecting to and disconnecting from the Internet
  • Disconnecting from the Internet
  • Using the Connect To command
  • Sending e-mail with Mac OS 8
  • Personal Web Sharing
  • Mac OS Runtime for Java
  • Using the PointCast Network
  • Using the Mac OS Info Center

The book measures 8.5 x 11 inches with a full-color cover. The interior is printed in black.

Source: Apple

Posted on

Why Macintosh? complete box set (1997)

One of my Apple collection entries includes a set of books I titled the “Macintosh Advantage Collection (1996)” that contains the following materials:

  • 50 Macintosh Advantages book (1996)
  • Why do People Prefer Macintosh? brochure (1996)
  • Why Macintosh? brochure (1996)

I recently acquired a brown cardboard shipping box measuring 11.5 x 8.75 x 6.5 inches, complete with its original shipping label to its original recipient—a former Apple sales rep. Apparently, the three items I cataloged above are a part of a larger collection for potential Apple customers that was used in late 1990s.

The shipping label refers to this box as Apple part 52241, and based upon the part numbers that follow, this box contains all its original contents. I have listed the part numbers below and matched them to their items. At the end of each part number an asterisk is followed by a number, likely indicating the quantity of each item (all quantities are “1” in this box, except for the 5 Apple logo window clings).

Curiously, two of the VHS video tapes in the box include both the NTSC and PAL formats—an odd choice since, generally, only NTSC was used in the United States.

Part number list and box contents:

  • 52241—Part number for entire box
  • L02206A—6-color Apple logo sticker set
  • L02270A—Apple’s Operating System Strategy, March 1997, VHS tape (NTSC format) L02270APAL—Apple’s Operating System Strategy, March 1997, VHS tape (PAL format)
  • L02222A—Apple and NeXT: Combining unparalleled ease of use with industrial-strength performance, Information About Apple’s OS Strategy, January 1997, 8.5 x 11-inch whitepaper, 4 pages
  • L02181A—Apple Technology Update—Mac OS 7.6, January 1997 VHS tape (NTSC format)
  • L02177A—The 1997 Apple MacAdvocate CD-ROM. (Spring 1997)
  • L01760A—Macintosh or Windows? Spring 1996 VHS tape (NTSC format)
  • L01760APAL—Macintosh or Windows? Spring 1996 VHS tape (PAL format)
  • L01856A—Personal Computer Satisfaction: An Independent Study of People Who use Both Macintosh and Windows 95 Computers (Evans Research Associates) (1996)
  • L01973B—Go figure: A Quick Look at Some Important Apple Facts, 1.97 10-panel, full-color brochure (1997)
  • L01970A—Apple logo window clings (quantity 5)
  • L01667A—Why Macintosh? booklet (1996)
  • L00440C—50 Macintosh Advantages, Why Macintosh computers are better than PCs running Windows 95. 1996, 8.5 x 11-inch booklet
  • L01749A—Why do People Prefer Macintosh? (Why people think Macintosh computers are better than PCs running Windows, in their own words.) April 1996, 8.5 x 11-inch booklet
  • Not listed on box, likely sent with Mac OS 7.6 VHS tape: L02182A—Mac OS 7.6 At a glance tri-fold brochure (2-color)

While the above books are detailed in my previous post, a fascinating new addition to my collection is the seemingly innocuous Apple and NeXT whitepaper. The 4-page document is the first printed source I have seen that describes Apple’s plan to proceed after their acquisition of NeXT. The whitepaper describes the “Rhapsody” project—the operating system that eventually becomes Mac OS X—the basis for the macOS we use today, over 25 years later. The whitepaper includes this description:

“Rhapsody is the code name of the first system software effort planned from the prospective union of Apple and NeXT. Its intent is to extend the existing strengths of both companies to provide a computing environment that is both stronger and more flexible—and, ultimately, better able to meet the needs of our customers.”

This Why Macintosh? complete box set is a fascinating glimpse into Apple’s pre-Internet communications plan with customers at a pivotal time in their history—just after Steve Jobs returned to the company.

Source: Apple

Posted on

Getting Started With the Apple Web Page Construction Kit booklet and CD-ROM set (1997)

This booklet and set of CD-ROMs included software and how-to guides to teach a user to create the elements of a web page at a time when the Internet was still considered new and unknown by many. In true Apple style, the set provided easy-to-use tools and directions “that can help you build creative and engaging Web pages of your own—without any complicated programming.”

In 1997 the “World Wide Web” was defined as “the fastest growing part of the Internet.” The guide provided a handy definition of a Web page:

“Using Web browser software, you can view color images, animation, and video, and even hear sound on the Web. The documents that you view on the Web are known as Web pages, and can contain links to other pages so that when you click a word or image that has been designated as a link, your browser will automatically display the contents of the linked page.”

The three CD-ROMs included in the kit were an Apple Web Page Construction Kit CD (containing Kaboom! Special Edition and Web Explosion Special Edition from Nova Development Corporation and WwwART from Microfrontier. Inc.), Claris Home Page 2.0, and WebPainter.

The kit was comprised of a 7.5 x 9.25-inch booklet and a single frosted vinyl CD packet containing 3 CDs. This kit was shipped in a cardboard box that I do not have in my collection.

Source: Apple

Posted on

Mac OS 8 Demo Tour CD (1997)

This Mac OS 8 Demo Tour CD is in its original cardboard envelope packaging. It contains a single CD that touts Mac OS 8’s “Performance, Ease of use, Internet, Multimedia, Compatibility, Information, Personalization, and Dependability.”

This CD Contains all the files and applications to deliver a Mac OS 8 Demo experience. Upon inserting the CD-ROM, the user is presented with a Mac OS 8 graphic and three icons:
Mac OS 8 Demo
Read me
QuickTime 2.5

Double-clicking the Mac OS 8 Demo icon would launch the demo file. Double-clicking “Read me” would open the SimpleText application and provide directions on how to use the Demo application and list the system requirements of the Demo. The QuickTime 2.5 folder contained an installer for QuickTime 2.5, in case the Macintosh had an earlier version installed. Created in 1991, QuickTime is the multimedia framework developed by Apple to handle various formats of digital video, picture, sound, panoramic images, and interactivity.

Sources: Apple, Internet Archive, Wikipedia

Posted on

The Apple eMate 300 in education. brochure (1997)

This brochure is titled “The Apple eMate 300 in education.” and is printed on matte, textured paper.

Introduced in 1997, the eMate 300 was a personal digital assistant (PDA) designed specifically for the education market as a low-cost, laptop-like device that ran the Newton operating system. The eMate 300 was the only Newton that had a built-in keyboard, and like all other Newton devices, used a stylus and had a touch screen.

This brochure is a comprehensive description of Apple’s vision for the eMate 300 in education. It included the following sections: introduction; what is the eMate 300?; learning beyond the classroom anytime, anywhere; today’s learning environment; why introduce the eMate into teaching and learning; what comes with the eMate 300; incorporating the eMate in teaching and learning; and lesson ideas for writing and communication, math and analysis, and science and critical thinking.

The introduction begins with the statement, “Apple introduces a product designed with the belief that, given the right tools, students can accomplish extraordinary things.”

The design of this brochure uses pastel colors and a decidedly late-1990s design aesthetic. While the majority of the brochure uses the Gill Sans font, the same font used for the Newton brand identity, Apple Garamond is also used as a contrasting design element throughout the brochure.

This brochure is stapled, measures 8.5 x 11 inches, and has 20 pages.

Source: Wikipedia

Posted on

eMate 300 Pen (unopened, 1997)

This eMate 300 Pen is a replacement stylus for the Newton eMate 300 device. The accessory is model number H0222Z/A and is unopened in the original packaging.

The eMate 300 was marketed to education as a low-cost laptop-like device, and was the only Newton with a built-in keyboard.

Source: Wikipedia

Posted on

QuickTime VR Authoring Studio box (1997)

This QuickTime VR Authoring Studio retail software box from 1997 provided a CD and manual for Apple’s QuickTime VR Authoring Studio software.

According to Apple, “Apple® QuickTime® VR Authoring Studio software lets you create interactive virtual-reality scenes with point-and-click simplicity. It takes full advantage of the intuitive Mac® OS interface to help you easily turn photos and computer renderings into attention-getting 360-degree views. QuickTime VR Authoring Studio is a powerful one-stop solution for producing all kinds of QuickTime VR content.”

In addition, “QuickTime VR supports 360-degree views called panoramic movies, as well as object movies that allow users to view an object from all sides. Both objects and panoramas can be fully interactive, with zooming, animation, and hot spots linked to other multimedia objects.”

The software was very intuitive to use and allowed easy creation of Virtual Reality content as early as 1997.

Source: Macintosh Garden

Posted on

MacAdvocate CD-ROM (1997)

The 1997 Apple MacAdvocate CD-ROM is a marketing CD from Apple designed to allow Macintosh fans to convince other computer users to consider buying a Macintosh.

The inside of the CD explains the purpose of the CD:

Are you a MacAdvocate?

Do you plan your winter and fall vacations around the San Francisco and Boston MacWorld shows? Do you find yourself looking at Windows PC users and asking, “Why would they buy one of those without looking at a Mac?”
If you answered yes you probably are a MacAdvocate.
Welcome to the club.
As a fellow MacAdvocate, we want to provide you with the materials you need to win others over to the Macintosh—and the freedom it represents. That’s why we created this CD.
The 1997 MacAdvocate CD features all kinds of tools—such as product sheets, technology showcases, research studies, interactive demos, and system updates—you need to dazzle your friends and help you make the case that Macintosh is, simply put, the best personal computer you can buy. We’ve also included a couple of surprises, just to keep things interesting. So pop this CD into your local Macintosh and have a look. And feel free to give it to any of your Windows friends (yes, it runs on PCs too).
Because, after all, if we don’t show them, who will?

The CD part number is shown as L02177A.

Posted on

Apple CD and DVD media (1997)

My collection of Apple CD and DVD media includes operating systems, applications, software collections that shipped with devices, promotional media, diagnostic tools, and educational content. In general, Apple-branded CD or DVD examples in original packaging have been presented separately, while single discs or collections of discs are presented chronologically.

Apple CDs and DVDs from 1997 include:

  • eMate 300 Connectivity CD, Newtown (Version 1.1, 691-1630-A, 1997)
  • Disney/Pixar A Bug’s Life DVD (video, original packaging, 1997)
  • ClarisWorks 4.0 for Windows (1991–1997)
  • Power Pack CD Power of 10 (templates for Ad Pad materials, 1997)
  • Mac OS 8 (Version 8.0, 691-1773-A, U97073-049B, 1997)
  • Mac OS 7.6.1 (Version 7.6.1 V1.0.2, Z691-2046-A, 1997)
  • Drive Setup 1.3.1 (691-1796-A, U97073-131A, 1997)
  • Apple QuickTake 200 Software For Mac OS (Version 1.0, 691-1338-A, 1997)
  • The Apple Printer Software Collection for the Color StyleWriter 4500 (Version 1.0, 691-1415-A, 1997)
  • The Apple Printer Software Collection for the Apple LaserWriter Series (original packaging, Version 1.1, 691-1522-B, 1997)
  • Apple Macintosh CD, Power Macintosh G3 (SSW Version 8.0, CD Version 2-1.0, 691-1826-A, 1997)
  • Apple Macintosh CD, Power Macintosh 5400, 5500, and 6500 series (SSW Version 7.6.1, CD Version 1.0, 691-1559-A, 1997)
  • Apple Macintosh CD, Power Macintosh 9600 and 8600 series (SSW Version 7.6.1, CD Version 1.0, 691-1623-A, 1997)
  • AppleVision Software (Version 1.2, 691-1462-A, 1997)
  • AppleVision Software (Version 1.3, 691-1665-A, 1997)
  • AppleShare IP 5.0 CD (bundle, 1997)
  • AppleShare IP 5.0 (Version 5.0.2, Z97073-108A, 1997)
  • AppleShare IP 5.0 Companion CD (Version 5.0, Z96073-104A, 1997)
  • AppleShare IP 5.0 CD (bundle, 1997)
  • Mac OS 7.6 (Version 7.6, Z97073-038A, 1997)
  • AppleShare IP 5.0 (Version 5.0.1, Z96073-103B, 1997)
  • Apple Network Administrator Toolkit 2.0 (U96073-026B, 1997)
  • Mac OS 8 Tour (Mac OS 8 Demo Tour)
  • Mac OS 8, What a difference 8 makes. Version 8.0, Not for resale

In 1997 Macintosh computer system software was able to fit on a single CD. For Macintosh computers, Apple used a standard white CD envelope with a white cloth-like back and a clear plastic front. Since Macintosh servers required several CDs, Apple used a clear plastic CD book with space for a thin, square book at the front and pages with white backs and clear plastic covers. Each page held a single CD. The design of Apple CDs began to change in 1997 from the older black and silver design (with red accents) to a design with a single background color, black or white text, and with some CDs using few additional accent colors.