Apple 1997: Scully’s Sometimes Funny Vision Of Apple’s Future

Although John Sculley gets much deserved grief, Apple did a lot of things right during his tenure — the PowerBook, Quadra, QuickTime, PowerPC and HyperCard. However, the Apple 1997 (below the fold) informercial Sculley et al created in 1987 isn’t one of them — it’s a testament to the failed CEO’s hubris.

“No question about it,” Sculley enthused in the opening sequence. “The 1990s have really been the Apple decade.”

Thankfully, neither the Vista Mac (image above) nor under the counter Mac actually came to pass. Which brings up an important point — clearly Apple 1997 was supposed to be funny and not meant to be taken (entirely) seriously.

For better and worse, things didn’t quite work out the way Sculley imagined. In fact, by 1993, he had been given the boot, though the company continued to decline until, you guessed it, 1997 when Apple co-founder Steve Jobs returned.

There is a lot of unintentional irony baked into Apple 1997, which makes it all the more delicious…

What’s your take?