In case you didn’t know, Apple turns 40 today. To celebrate, the company is giving a wink to longtime fans with a cheeky nod to its past.
A pirate flag flying outside Apple’s campus at 1 Infinite Loop is a reference to the “Jolly Roger” pirate flag flown by the original Macintosh team when it was developing Apple’s (arguably) most iconic computer back in the heady days of the early ’80s.
A better angle. For those who don’t know: it’s Apples 40th anniversary on April 1st. pic.twitter.com/6qlvuHe6Sn
— Mohammed Jisrawi (@mjisrawi) April 1, 2016
The original Apple pirate flag was painted by graphic designer Susan Kare, who also designed the icons for the first Mac. The flag was flown over Apple’s Bandley 3 office.
Today, Apple is no longer an underdog in the same way it was decades ago, but it’s nice to see the company reference its past for this significant birthday.
Under Tim Cook’s leadership, Apple has seemed way happier to do tributes like this. Steve Jobs made a point of not being sentimental about Apple’s past. Shortly after Jobs returned to Apple in 1997, he gave away the company’s entire historical archive — comprising records dating back to the mid-1980s — for exactly that reason.
In recent years, however, Apple has done far more of this kind of thing. Another example is the celebrations for the Macintosh’s 30th birthday back in 2014.
I think it’s a pretty neat touch. What do you think? Leave your comments below. And happy birthday, Apple!
Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.
6 responses to “Yo ho ho! Apple flies pirate flag to celebrate its 40th birthday”
It’s better to be a pirate than join the navy…..
Now they are pirates sailing the seven seas and looting what they can from whoever they can.
Troll. Go back and fiddle with your korean shitphone.
Grow up, you silly, immature fanboi.
Good Jimmy Buffet reference too..
This isn’t meant to be a knock on Tim Cook so, I hope no-one takes it as such. Anyway, the reason Apple is more emotive these days is because, people like Tim are more emotive. Jobs was not a sentimental guy and
as a straight man, far less prone to display emotions outside of anger anyway. Tim Cook and several other higher ups at Apple these days are openly gay and wear their sentimentality as a badge of honor. Add to this, the whole touchy-feely nature of our society today and it makes a lot more sense.As a similar personality, I can understand Jobs disposing of the historical archives. Focus too much on the past, you lose sight of the future.