1984 Apple's Macintosh Commercial (HD)
Why Hacker News recommends it
HN mostly references it as a cultural touchstone, either praised as one of the most powerful ads ever or used ironically to criticize Apple's later behavior.
What it is
The famous 1984 Super Bowl commercial introducing the Apple Macintosh, directed by Ridley Scott and based on Orwell's novel.
Recommended by 0 HN commenters across 0 different months, 2016 to 2025.
What Hacker News said
Cites citizensixteen · 2016-02 · on “Apple’s FBI battle is just the beginning of a reality check for the tech sector”
This is a battle humans/technologists have been facing since the advent of paper and pencil. Just for fun, the old Apple advertisement. 1984 Apple's Macintosh Commercial (HD) Video [this video]
Cites pjc50 · 2019-05 · on “Google's Civil War”
The whole point of somewhere like Google is that they don't want people who will do what they're told, because such people are only capable of doing what they're told. You can't order someone to innovate unless they have no other choice. Silicon Valley has spent years setting itself up as an inheritor of the counterculture, a place where it's possible to "think different". Employees are given a share of the business (via a complicated tax shelter of options). Startups want "contributors", people who buy into the idea that they're engaged in a positive-sum contribution to the world rather than just bringing home a paycheck. They provide all sorts of office features to encourage people to "bri
Cites eindiran · 2020-08 · on “Epic Games releases "Nineteen Eighty-Fortnite" ad”
In case you haven't seen it (like I hadn't), this ad is a parody of the 1984 Apple Macintosh ad: [this video]
Cites open-source-ux · 2020-08 · on “Epic has published an in-game Macintosh commercial spoof in response to Apple”
This is the original Apple "1984" commercial (directed by Ridley Scott) that is spoofed by Epic: [this video] In the Apple commercial, "Big Brother" is represented by a domineering IBM. It's rather ironic that Apple has been more closed, guarded and controlling than the PC platform has ever been.
Cites jasomill · 2020-12 · on “Comic Mono”
Adobe used Myriad as a corporate identity face for nearly a decade before Apple. Garamond has a rather more extensive history, but, suffice it to say that, in terms of typography at least, 1984[1] was not entirely unlike Nineteen Eighty-Four [2]. [1] [this video] [2] [LINK]
Cites busymom0 · 2021-01 · on “Apple has threatened to ban Parler from the App Store”
Enough people need to put pressure on these companies to stop censorship. These companies still care a bit about emails and customer reviews. This is why cancel culture gets away with it because they mass email them to take down and de-platform people. Here's an email template. You can modify it as needed and send it. I sent it to these two emails WHICH ARE PUBLICLY AVAILABLE ON THEIR SITE so I am not doxxing: product-security@apple.com tcook@apple.com ----------- TEMPLATE: I wasn't able to find a specific place to send this feedback so using this email. Please forward to the relevant department. I am a brown immigrant to Canada. I usually don't mention my race but it seems relevant in this
Cites DonHopkins · 2022-01 · on “Novak Djokovic's Visa Cancelled by Australian Minister for Immigration”
Don't you hate it when you're an evil big-brother dictator giving a frenzied political rally, with your menacing visage projected onto a gigantic monochromatic screen towering above the audience, in a dystopian, industrial setting in blue and grayish tones, with a line of people of ambiguous gender marching in unison through a long tunnel monitored by a string of television screens, and a full-color nameless running female competitive track and field athlete wearing an athletic "uniform" with red athletic shorts, running shoes, a white tank top with a cubist picture of Apple's Macintosh computer, a white sweat band on her left wrist, and a red one on her right, runs in carrying a large brass
Cites somenameforme · 2022-04 · on “A downtick is coming for online advertising”
- The following is based on traditional (television/film/etc) advertising; I am assuming it holds true for internet based advertising. There's some [literal] marketing 101 stuff most people aren't aware of. For large companies the value in marketing isn't really about directly selling you products, but about instilling a positive subconscious perception of a product in your mind. Coke is the classic example. Dominant marketshare, defacto monopoly in many regions, and a loyal customer base. Yet they advertise endlessly and at great cost. The reason is so when you look at a bottle of Coke you don't think 'sugar, heart disease, obese people drink this' but instead 'crisp, cool, refreshing, athl