Contemporary Fairy Tales
THE APPLE OF NEWTON AND TURING
When Steve uttered the name ‘Apple’, Ronald laughed and said,
“It’s a computer company, not a fruit store.”
“But I like apples and love to eat them..”
So the name was created for the computer company. Apple was the idea of bringing simplicity to the people, in the most sophisticated way and nothing else. But what about their logo?
Steve always admired Sir Isaac Newton, the great English physicist and mathematician. During his studies he was fascinated by his book Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, first published in 1687. So Steve really wanted to incorporate Newton in his company. The designer, Ronald Wayne, agreed and the first logo showed Sir Isaac Newton, sitting beneath the very tree from which an apple had fallen on his head as he revolutionized the laws of gravity. If you look carefully, the phrase on the outside border reads,
After 22 years, it was time for some change, a modern change. Steve hired Rob Janoff with the task to designer a new logo. Little did he know that the logo he planned to design would become the most iconic logo in corporate history. It was inspired by the death of Alan Turing, the ground-breaking mathematician and computer scientist, who committed suicide by eating a cyanide-laced apple in 1954. When his body was discovered, an apple lay half-eaten beside his bed, and the apple was tested for cyanide. He committed suicide because he couldn’t live any longer as a gay man in that time, which was punishable up until 1967 in England. Steve could relate to Alan and therefor, the iconic logo was created. The logo in a form of a Apple with a bite out of it, and again with a personal touch as a underlying thought. But that was a secret.
When Steve was asked why he named the company ‘Apple’, his answer was simply..
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BOWS AND THE CLOUD
I set my bow in the clouds — The rainbow, it is likely was seen in the clouds before, but was never a seal of the network till now. This seal is fixed with repeated assurances of the truth of that promise, which it was designed to be the ratification of; I do set my bow in the cloud to connect to other clouds. It shall be seen in the cloud, and it shall be a token of the network. The rainbow appears when the clouds are most wet. When we have most reason to fear the rain prevailing, God shows this seal of the promise that the rainbow shall not prevail. The rainbow appears when one part of the sky is clear. When the time is right, and the clouds are hemmed. As it were, with the rainbow, that they may not overspread the heavens; for the bow is coloured rain, or the edges of a cloud gilded. As God looks upon the bow that he may remember the network, so should we, that we also may be ever mindful of the network with faith and thankfulness.
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BLUE TEETH
A great king of a land far away, in the East of Denmark who was named Harald Blåtand Gormsson held a great feast to celebrate the harvest of the blueberries. He invited everyone to come to his castle and eat the newest and finest blueberries of his land, which the king is extremely fond of. He even helps the farmers of his land to harvest, because the king finds his blueberries so special. Each year, the feast is bigger and grander, it has become a national holiday for Denmark.
On the 20th anniversary, king Harald wanted something extra special at his feast. He asked everyone to help with the harvest, so the feast can start as quickly as possible. Finished the harvest, they collected all the blueberries around the castle for the feast. Once back from the land, the king couldn’t stop smiling from happiness, but the villagers noticed something about the king. His teeth were blue!
King Harald didn’t only start his feast meal with his beloved blueberries, but after 20 years consuming the blueberries so regularly and in such volume, they stained his teeth blue forever. The king excepted it, and he wasn’t going to stop eating his lovely blueberries. Only the king had a new nickname that is still remembered today: Bluetooth, the 10th century king of Denmark.