Barry Mieny Aug 27, 2023
John Gruber
This ad poster for the iMac is utterly perfect. Perfect photo, perfect slogan (the period at the end is key — “Yum” without the period wouldn’t quite play the same way), perfect relative scale and placement of the elements. Even the kerning is perfect — Apple Garamond never looked better or more timeless.
Aug 27, 2023 at 12:15amIvory for Mac
Show threadPeter MarksAug 27, 2023
@gruber But not “Think Differently”?
Show threadVictor VillasAug 27, 2023
@marxy @gruber That improves nothing
Show threadJohn GruberAug 27, 2023

@villasbc @marxy This was much-discussed at the time. “Think Different” is infinitely better as a slogan. "Think Different" is great; "Think Differently" would be dreadful.

Think Different both sounds better, and conveys both *what* to think and *how* to think.

Show threadPeter MarksAug 27, 2023
@gruber @villasbc National Lampoon cleared it up in their seminal piece titled “How to write good” I recall.
Show threadMagnus AhltorpAug 27, 2023
@gruber @villasbc @marxy Yes, apart from any discussions on “grammaticality”, slogans and headlines are not subject to the same rules as running text. Reading flow is not as important.
Show threadLGsMomAug 27, 2023
@villasbc @marxy @gruber Except the grammar.
Show threadVictor VillasAug 27, 2023
@LGsMom Can you provide a citation from a modern grammar to back that up?
Show threadNeil HargreavesAug 27, 2023
@villasbc @LGsMom @marxy @gruber No body says 'think bigly' well except a certain dickhead we'd rather forget about https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/think-big
think big

1. to have plans to be very successful or powerful: 2. to have plans to be…

Show threadVictor VillasAug 27, 2023

@glotcha Exactly. And we don't even need to play the "idiom" card, or argue that "correctness" here would be pedantic.

Grammarians agree that "think <adjective>" constructions are normative.

Show threadNeil HargreavesAug 27, 2023
@villasbc @LGsMom @marxy @gruber be a square peg in a round hole, don't be a sucker. a great slogan and a great sentiment behind it.
Show threadDelricAug 27, 2023
@villasbc @LGsMom You’ve never heard “Think ‘purple’” or the like? It’s used effectively all the time. Think “slogan”!
Show threadWalden Wilde Aug 27, 2023
@gruber
I REALLY miss Apple Garamond. Wish you could special-order it printed on your devices as an option. ^.^
Show threadNicolas Ward Aug 27, 2023
@gruber One of my favorite pin/button collection items!
Show threadDoran WetzelAug 27, 2023
@gruber Easily in the top ten best pieces of marketing Apple ever had.
Show threadRickAug 27, 2023
@gruber I’ve been having a discussion with some friends recently about how 80s ads had soooo much text, and ads today do not. Now ads tell you nothing about the product. But this ad, while still in the vein of 80s print ads, bridges the gap. Amazing how just putting “Apple” is worth a thousand words.
Show threadRiver BrandonAug 27, 2023
@gruber It looks like this might have been a single product photo, based on the lighting?
Show threadRobert Petersen Aug 27, 2023
@gruber
Show threadtnypxlAug 27, 2023
@gruber Yum is such a weird word to use in this context. It almost feels different only to be different and nothing else.
Show threadHywelAug 27, 2023
@tnypxl @gruber they’re the *candy* coloured iMacs.
Show threadtnypxlAug 27, 2023
@daycoder @gruber Ah. That makes sense. These were at a time where my family was too poor to own or uninterested in computers.
Show threadBrBr.PrimeAug 27, 2023
@tnypxl @daycoder @gruber those handles were important for being able to have something to grip to launch it into the e-cycle bin
Show threadIan MalcolmAug 27, 2023

@daycoder @tnypxl @gruber
Yeah the “Yum.” here worked on a couple of levels. While also known as the “candy coloured” iMacs, the five different colors of these models were officially named for fruits: lime (lime green), strawberry (pinkish-red), blueberry (royal blue), grape (purple), and tangerine (orange-yellow).

And it also ties into an apple being “yum”. A lot of meaning in one word.

Show threadSteve BarnesAug 27, 2023
Jobs commented about the OS X interface which arrived about concurrently, that one of the design goals was that you "want to lick it."
Show threadChris Gervais 🎸🥁💻Aug 27, 2023
@gruber it was perfect. You could almost pick them right off the page. Serif typography has lost its luster in our age but it is timeless and no company had owned a typeface like this since
Show threadJW 🕸Aug 27, 2023
@chrisgervais @gruber the u is a teency bit too close to the Y. 
Show threadChris Gervais 🎸🥁💻Aug 27, 2023
@jw @gruber Dare you question the hours spent in Quark Xpress and the numerous times Steve had his loupe out
Show threadJW 🕸Aug 27, 2023
@chrisgervais @gruber shift-option-command-bracket, if I remember correctly. :)
Show threadJohn GruberAug 27, 2023
@jw @chrisgervais Yup. Cmd-Shift-Brackets for big steps, add Option for small steps.
Show threadJW 🕸Aug 27, 2023
@gruber @chrisgervais In I logged a lot of miles on that program. We both quit print about the same time...
Show threadChris Gervais 🎸🥁💻Aug 27, 2023
@jw @gruber My college paper was hardcore PageMaker so I only got to use Xpress for fun
Show threadJW 🕸Aug 27, 2023
@chrisgervais @gruber I came up in the newspaper/print trade and Quark/Illustrator/Photoshop paid the bills. :)
Show threadrjbandicootAug 27, 2023

@jw @chrisgervais @gruber

I started out in a pre-press bureau… we had to know them all (& their diff. versions): Pagemaker, Quark, Illustrator, Freehand, Framemaker, & even Corel (God forbid. How I hated a job requiring I fire up a PC, & the guilt about postscript errors & wasted film!) Then there were your lesser knowns like Ready, Set, Go!

I developed a deep appreciation for fonts, but loathed ensuring I'd loaded the exact set a customer was using!

A great place to cut your teeth.

Show threadJW 🕸Aug 27, 2023
@rjbandicoot
That's where I learned the most. 2.5 years. 3rd shift, when the desperate designers came in to give us all their money.   
@chrisgervais @gruber
Show threadAlbert KinngAug 27, 2023
@jw @chrisgervais @gruber Yes! 🤣
Show threadFishOwl 🐟🦉Aug 27, 2023
@jw @chrisgervais @gruber Yup.
Show threadDan YorkAug 27, 2023
@gruber Oh, that brings back memories! I bought the purple one for my wife back in those days!
Show threadTheAnymouseProphetAug 27, 2023

@danyork
I bought the Ruby Red one for my mom.

Then I took her Bondi Blue, added a Newer Technology G4 (433 MHz if I recall) and ran OS X on it (I had the beta as part of ADC membership).
@gruber

Show threadFernandoAug 27, 2023
@gruber get a room
Show threadHunter HillegasAug 27, 2023
@gruber I was in college when this came out, got the bookstore to give this one to me after they were done. Classic.
Show threadGreg WhiteheadAug 27, 2023
@gruber Was that Chiat/Day? They were the best
Show threadJohn GruberAug 27, 2023
@grwster It was the Chiat/Day era but that slogan came from elsewhere and was approved, enthusiastically, by Jobs.
Show threadYossiAug 27, 2023
@gruber I’ll flip if Myriad Pro ever makes such a comeback. Since it’s the “missing font” placeholder in InDesign, I can’t take it seriously.
Show threaddeanasidneyAug 27, 2023
@gruber i always thought think different was brilliant too -- full of promise of a new world.
Show threadSon of a SailorAug 27, 2023
@gruber 10/10, no notes.
Show threadMatt BirchlerAug 27, 2023
@gruber Absolute perfection 👌
Show threadsteve crandallAug 27, 2023
@gruber I can’t see that without hearing ‘She’s a rainbow’ in my head.
Show threadraytracedAug 27, 2023
@stevecrandall @gruber i miss having colors like this in my life.
Show threadwaferbabyAug 27, 2023
@gruber I was interviewing back at Apple when this was in full swing (2000, I think, though I bet @integerpoet has a better memory than me), and they had actual iMacs in this layout in the store window on campus. It was great.
Show threadKevin Karhan Aug 27, 2023
@gruber Remind me to make a #tramsparent version of the #NUCbook...
Show threadSparky SantosAug 27, 2023
@gruber I’ve a blueberry mouse headed to an e-waste recycling center. I inherited this charmer of a classic Mac Pro 3,1
Show threadKevin Karhan Aug 27, 2023

@stsparky @gruber noice...

I'd definitely keep it and if not with #macOS or the original parts but as a #case to mod cool stuff in...

Show threadSparky SantosAug 27, 2023
@kkarhan @gruber my late friend left it to me. It’s running Yosemite
Show threadKevin Karhan Aug 27, 2023

@stsparky @gruber noice...

Not that I'd recommend it as daily driver but it's still gonna run some legacy apps and you can also just boot a usb drive with linux or sth...

Show threadewbaptistAug 27, 2023
@gruber I know someone who had to set up some common rooms at a public university after these iMacs had been out for awhile. He got a really good deal on the orange ones at the student bookstore.
Show threadDan CarlsonAug 27, 2023
@gruber That poster actually came in the box with my Blueberry iMac. It hung with pride on my dorm room wall for several years. It’s not in perfect condition any more— it shipped folded in the box so there’s creases, and the corners are distressed where younger-me just tacked it to the wall multiple times, but I still have it in my home office now!
Show threadLGsMomAug 27, 2023
@gruber Those were my favorite computers ever.
Show threadnshrubsAug 27, 2023
@gruber @lisamelton I still have this one in my classroom. Those were my favorite years teaching & using tech with my students. So much creativity! Now we're stuck with Chromebooks, which are more about productivity. Teaching with tech isn't as much fun as it used to be.
Show threadJoachim BondoAug 27, 2023
@gruber Delicious. Do you remember how Internet Explorer not only came pre-installed as the default web browser, but featured the color of the host iMac in its UI?
Show threadPeter LeeAug 27, 2023
@bondo @gruber I didn’t know that!
Although thinking about it, I had the grape iMac and IE did have purple accents in the UI.