Apple Announces 50th Anniversary Celebration

Apple announced today that it will spend the coming weeks celebrating its 50th anniversary. The company also published a letter from CEO Tim Cook in which he shares what the anniversary means to him.

Apple’s not known for looking back, as the announcement post acknowledges, but 50 years is a big deal and a good time to reflect on the impact the company has had on so many people around the world. As Cook put it:

At Apple, we’re more focused on building tomorrow than remembering yesterday. But we couldn’t let this milestone pass without thanking the millions of people who make Apple what it is today — our incredible teams around the world, our developer community, and every customer who has joined us on this journey. Your ideas inspire our work. Your trust drives us to do better. Your stories remind us of all we can accomplish when we think different.

Apple hasn’t said what the anniversary celebrations will include, but I’m looking forward to what they have in store. I’m also pleased to see that the celebration is framed as 50 Years of Thinking Different. The Think Different ad campaign and Steve Jobs’ monologues about the intersection of Technology and the Liberal Arts have always resonated with me the most. And, at a time of turmoil in the world and uncertainty about Apple’s path into the future, Think Different is a good North Star to celebrate and refocus on.