5typos.net
PowerMac G4 as Munition
Louis Anslow, on Pessimists Archive Newsletter:
In a classic example of Apple’s marketing genius the munition classification was used in its marketing, it dubbed the G4 a ‘Personal Supercomputer’ and ran a TV ad featuring tanks surrounding the device. Steve Jobs would say at its unveiling that they got the idea after being informed of the restrictions by the US Government government officials.
Love this ad and overall Apple era. Also good point on this, as we look back and laugh on the exponential growth of compute power, and how the present will look in 25 years:
This intriguing chapter in computing history is pertinent today, particularly as calls to regulate AI and once again treat the computing power used to train them as munitions, grows louder.