Here, you can find our archival artifacts, analyses, and overall next steps!
retroTECH: retroTECH is an archive maintained by the Georgia Tech Library that has a collection of past technologies that the visitors may interact with. From within retroTECH, four past Apple computers were chosen as artifacts for our archival research: Apple II (1977), Performa 550 (1993), Power Macintosh 8500/120 (1997), and iMac (1998).
This selection of artifacts from retroTECH will help us further our understanding of the evolution of user experience of Apple Computers by providing an opportunity for direct interaction with its user interface.
Click Here to access images and videos showing our interaction with the Apple computers in retroTECH.
Gale Academic Onefile: From the web archive Gale Academic Onefile, fifteen articles that were published under the title of “Apple talk: the Macintosh column” in the Australian computer magazine PC User within the period of 1990.02.28 and 1990.12.05 were selected as our artifacts. The main author of these articles is Rob Beattie, a freelance writer who has run several computer-related magazines such as IBM Helpware, Computer Life, PC User since 1994, and published articles in newspapers such as The Daily Express, The Guardian, and The Daily Telegraph.
These articles focus mostly on Apple computers, and the authors appear to be relatively more biased towards the Apple computers, extensively exploring the functions of Apple devices while neglecting those of other PCs. However, the authors are not hesitant to expose faulty aspects of Apple devices.
This collection of artifacts holds value in that it shows the development, function, and the consumer perception of the Apple computers in the 1990s in comparison with the other PCs in the eyes of someone who has deep interest in the industry, but is not an expert.
Click Here to access the articles on Gale Academic Onefile.