In January 1984, photographer Norman Seeff found himself at Apple's offices, not knowing what to expect. He only had the information from a Rolling Stone editor that Apple was a "weird company" full of hippies who made computers. Seeff, along with reporter Steven Levy, covered these "prodigies" as they prepared to launch their latest product - a new machine called the Macintosh.
The atmosphere inside the office was a world away from the suits and perms that characterized 1980s corporate America. An expensive Bӧsendorfer grand piano sat in the lobby, which employees often played during breaks. Nearby was a first generation Sony CD player connected to a giant pair of speakers. There were scooters. Pets. Babies. Everyone wore jeans. Some even had bare feet.
"It looked like a commune," says Seeff. "It was so alive."
The staff had good reason to feel exuberant. The Macintosh was intended to be the first mass-market personal computer that was truly user-friendly. From seeds planted by others, including former Apple CEO Jeff Raskin and researchers at Xerox PARC and the Stanford Research Institute, this young team worked around the clock to create a computer that was both simple and sophisticated, designed to encourage creativity as well as enhancing productivity. The launch was now just days away.
Among the group's hundred employees, Seeff saw the small software team joking in front of designer Susan Kare's colorful booth. He grabbed his Nikon camera and started shooting quickly. The group played together and then—hands on shoulders and knees on backs—gathered into a human pyramid.
"I'm the lightest, so I ended up on top," says Rony Sebok, who had joined Macintosh the previous summer as a software engineer. "It wasn't a children's team: this was a team of mature people, even though we were young. But it was playful."
Seeff walked away abruptly.
Eleven members of the Macintosh software team (and a baby) arranged in a human pyramid, 1984. Photo by Norman Seff. Top to bottom , from left: Rony Sebok, Susan Kare, Andy Hertzfeld, Bill Atkinson, Owen Densmore, Jerome Coonen, Bruce Horn, Steve Capps, Larry Kenyon, Donn Denman, Tracie Kenyon and Patti Kenyon.
At the top of the human pyramid, next to Sebok, was Kare, dressed in a gray sweatshirt and jeans. He had designed the fonts and system icons, and the smiling Mac logo he created made the machine feel almost human. In the center of the pyramid was Bill Atkinson, in his striped sweater, glasses and mustache. Its graphics software was the key to making the Macintosh so easy to use. Next to him, in a bright red T-shirt, was Andy Herzfeld, the primary architect of the brave new operating system. The pyramid seemed like a perfect encapsulation of the larger Macintosh team: talented people coming together to build something stronger than any one of them could build alone.
The group continued to banter until the pyramid collapsed, with everyone laughing.
Steve Jobs, who had led the Macintosh team since 1981, watched the shoot throughout. As the group fell to the ground, he saw his chance and reached the end of the tangle.
Seeff continued to shoot.
From left: Randy Wigginton, Jerome Coonen, Donn Denman, Rony Sebok, Andy Hertzfeld, Bruce Horn, Bill Atkinson, Susan Kare, Owen Densmore, Steve Capps, Larry Kenyon, Patti Kenyon, Tracie Kenyon, and Steve Jobs.
Steve Jobs knew that the best work conveys the ideas and intentions of the people who created it. And he deeply believed that this group of engineers, designers and programmers, who were also sculptors, photographers and musicians - a group that incorporated technology and the liberal arts - could create a machine for everyday people, "a computer for the rest of us ."
At a time when computers were complicated and difficult to use, it was a radical goal. To get there, Steve encouraged the team and protected them. he pushed them hard and shared his reviews. He asked them to sign their work as artists, even as he reminded them that they were making a tool for others to use. "We'll walk into a classroom or an office or a home five years from now," he promised, "and someone will be using a Macintosh for something we never dreamed possible."
Shortly after these photos were taken, the Macintosh was announced to the world. The road ahead would not be simple — not for the product, not for the team that built it, not for Steve himself. But one realization was clear even in January 1984: new things were now possible.
“I remember the week before we launched the Mac,” Steve recalled in 2007. “We all got together and said, 'Every computer is going to work this way. You can't argue with that anymore. You can argue about how long it will take, but you can't argue with it anymore."
source: Steve Jobs Foundation
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