Samsung, in particular, managed to do it most elegantly in order to turn its brand toward a higher purpose. But, though there may no longer be so many lines of the faithful and mindless outside Apple stores on iPhone launch days, unreasonable Cupertinian devotion still exists. I judge this from the most delightfully deranged, wonderfully composed, and realistically uplifting (for some) idea concocted by Relay FM co-founder Stephen Hackett. On his new Kickstarter site, he freely confesses: “I’ve got a collection of over 150 Macs, and that’s not counting the iPods, iPhones, iPads, and other weird products the company has launched over the years.” Some people have wine cellars. Perhaps Hackett has a Mac cellar. Or perhaps a Mac re-cellar. (You’re entirely welcome.) His new creation, though, is deeply exalted. It’s a 2022 calendar.
In his launch video, Hackett explains that despite synching all his events to every device imaginable, “I’ve really learned over the years the best way to keep my entire household on the same page is a good, old-fashioned wall calendar.” You’re still not moved? What if I tell you that it’s a 2022 wall calendar that “each month highlights some of Apple’s hardware announcements over the years.” Please imagine the sheer joy of a true Apple devotee rolling into their office and seeing that, on this day, the iMac G4 was revealed. Or the 12- and 17-inch PowerBooks were launched. Yes, both happened on the same day but in different years. And what about February 22? That was the day, in 2001, that the Blue Dalmatian and Flower Power Macs were introduced.
Don’t think for a moment, though, that this calendar is an abjectly humorless veneration of all things Apple. Why on one of the pages Hackett has displayed there is February 9 and these words: “2018: HomePod (finally) shipped.” It’s likely, then, that many people cannot live without this calendar and wonder why Apple itself has never thought to create it.
Hackett had an especially modest Kickstarter goal of $5000. At the time of writing, he’s already amassed over $28,000. What could he possibly do with that extra money? Print the calendars on silk? That’s surely what Jony Ive would do.