Tag: gift

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Apple employee challenge cards (2023)

Apple challenge cards are sent to Apple employees who participate in company-sponsored events, usually with a gift to celebrate the accomplishment of successfully completing the challenge.

These challenge cards include:

Close Your Rings Challenge (2023)—Hat’s off to you! Congrats! You finished strong. We hope you’re moved to keep on moving—and finding motivation even beyond this Challenge. Your exclusive Apple-branded hat will be an ongoing reminder to keep your body active and your head in the game. You deserve it.

[Editorial note: I wonder how many Apple employees looked at the grossly misspelled headline “Hat’s off to you!”—with the completely unnecessary apostrophe—before thousands of them were printed in metallic gold. Someone’s head was not in the game!]

Mindful Minute Challenge (2023)—One sip at a time. Cheers to you for completing the Mindful Minute Challenge. Enjoy this mug to help remind you to pause and practice mindfulness with something as simple as a sip. Or create your own mindful practice by slowly tracing the logo while taking a few breaths to find your own inner comfort.

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Apple employee challenge cards (2022)

Apple challenge cards are sent to Apple employees who participate in company-sponsored events, usually with a gift to celebrate the accomplishment of successfully completing the challenge.

These challenge cards include:

Close Your Rings Challenge (2022)—Hooray! You did it. Congrats on finishing the Close Your Rings Challenge with flying colors. We hope this journey has inspired you to keep the momentum going (and your body moving). Wear this Apple-branded pullover shirt as a reminder to keep on closing those rings—you’ve earned it.
Mindful Minute Challenge (2022)—Your presence is a gift. Relax, reflect, and remember your practice can be flexible (and comfortable). Use this cozy pillow-blanket combo to rest your head, take a seat, or elevate your mindful practice any way, or anywhere, you wish. Be present and keep going. You’ve got this.

Sources: MacRumors

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Apple employee challenge cards (2019–2021)

Apple challenge cards are sent to Apple employees who participate in company-sponsored events, usually with a gift to celebrate the accomplishment of successfully completing the challenge.

From left to right, the challenge cards include:

  • Let the good times roll.—Apple’s fifth Close Your Rings Challenge shipped with a set of black embroidered towels. (The black card measures 2.75 x 5 inches and is printed on light textured cardboard.)
  • Ready to tumble.—Apple’s Eat Well Challenge shipped with an Apple-branded tumbler. (The card measures 3 x 6 inches and is printed on light textured cardboard.)
  • Celebrate—shipped with a t-shirt. (The card measures 3 x 5 inches and is printed on light textured cardboard.)
  • Take comfort.—Apple’s Mindful Minute Challenge shipped with a limited-edition T-shirt. (The card measures 3 x 5 inches and is printed on light textured cardboard.)
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System 7.5 Apple Watch (1995)

The Apple Watch was released in 2015, right? Not exactly.

Twenty years before the (smart) Apple Watch, Apple offered a product they referred to as an Apple Watch as a “FREE gift” for customers who updated their operating system to System 7.5. From May 1 to July 31, 1995, Apple allowed customers who paid $134.99 for System 7.5 to select between two gifts, the software application Conflict Catcher 3 (by Norton to resolve Mac system extension problems) or this Apple Watch. An article written in 1994 that is (surprisingly) still available online (as of February 2020) outlined all the methods to upgrade to System 7.5.

The Apple Watch (1995) was not a smart watch, but it was high-style for the mid-1990s. The watch followed the “Memphis” design aesthetic that originated in Milan, Italy. In an article presenting ten iconic examples of Memphis design, the origin of the style is reported as, “The Memphis Group…a collaborative design group founded by Italian designer Ettore Sottsass” (Creative Bloq). This Apple Watch is included among ten designs in the article. The style itself is “characterized by ephemeral design featuring colorful and abstract decoration as well as asymmetrical shapes, sometimes arbitrarily alluding to exotic or earlier styles” (Wikipedia).

The Memphis Design group is still represented online at www.memphis-milano.com. Even a cursory look at the designs on the site reveals an unmistakable connection to the look of the 1995 Apple Watch.

As an Apple collector, I have been searching for this Apple Watch for many years. I was able to acquire an example from a friend of mine from Minnesota.

If you wish to see the original print advertisement for this Apple Watch offer, I found a version published in the June 1995 MacWorld magazine. The vintageapple.org website has digitized past MacWorld issues and a PDF is available here. Please see magazine page 82 for the full-page ad.

Sources: Cult of Mac, Creative Bloq, Wikipedia, TidBITS