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Guide to the Jim Armstrong collection of Apple material
X2768.2004
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Title: Jim Armstrong collection of Apple material
Identifier/Call Number: X2768.2004
Contributing Institution:
Computer History Museum
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
12.92 Linear feet,
10 record cartons and 1 manuscript box
Date (bulk): Bulk, 1983-1997
Date (inclusive): 1976-1997
Abstract: The Jim Armstrong collection of Apple materials is made up of items Armstrong collected related to Apple Computer, Inc., where
he worked in a variety of roles from 1983 to 1997. Included are manuals, internal Apple documents, periodicals and books,
materials related to conferences, technical notes and reports, promotional items, product catalogs, directories, price lists,
and specifications, all dating from 1976 to 1997. While the majority of items in the collection are related to Apple, a small
amount of material from other companies can be found throughout the collection.
creator:
Armstrong, Jim, 1948-
Collection processed by Bo Doub and Kim Hayden, August 2015.
The collection is open for research.
The Computer History Museum (CHM) can only claim physical ownership of the collection. Users are responsible for satisfying
any claims of the copyright holder. Requests for copying and permission to publish, quote, or reproduce any portion of the
Computer History Museum's collection must be obtained jointly from both the copyright holder (if applicable) and the Computer
History Museum.
[Identification of Item], [Date], Jim Armstrong collection of Apple material, Lot X2768.2004, Box [#], Folder [#], Catalog
[#], Computer History Museum.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Jim Armstrong, 2003.
Jim Armstrong was born December 14, 1948 in Jacksonville, Florida. He attended college at Madison Area Technical College and
received a BS in physics in 1968. After graduating, Armstrong worked for various companies, including Aurora Systems, Inc.
as Vice President of sales. Starting in 1983, Armstrong started working for Apple as a Sales Support Engineer. In 1984 he
was promoted to Competitive Analyst, and then in 1986 to Technology Evangelist. Finally, in 1994 Armstrong began his last
position at Apple as Senior Support Engineer, which continued until 1997. Since leaving Apple, Armstrong has worked at Cisco
Systems, Inc., Redstone Software, CompUSA, and the VA Palo Alto Health Care System in different sales and information technology-related
roles.
Apple Inc., formerly Apple Computer, Inc., was founded by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne on April 1, 1976. Apple
is now a multinational technology company that has designed, developed, and sold highly popular consumer electronics products,
including the Macintosh line of computers, iPod media player, iPhone, and iPad tablet computer. Apple has also developed online
services and consumer software, which include iCloud, the iTunes Store, Safari web browser, and OS X and iOS operating systems.
In 2014, Apple became the first U.S. company to be valued at over $700 billion.
Scope and Content of the Collection
The Jim Armstrong collection of Apple materials consists of records relating to Apple Computer, Inc. from 1976 to 1997, with
the bulk of the collection being from 1983 to 1997 when Armstrong was an employee of Apple. The collection contains manuals,
Apple administrative records, publications, conference proceedings, and promotional material that document Apple's early products
and reception by the public. The Apple II, Lisa, Apple III, and the original 1984 Macintosh are all featured in the collection
in various versions and stages of development. Armstrong worked for Apple primarily in sales and marketing and the collection
reflects these roles.
The collection is arranged into 6 series:
Series 1, Manuals, 1978-1996
Series 2, Apple administrative records, 1979-1995
Series 3, Books, periodicals, and reports, 1978-1995
Series 4, Conference and workshop material, 1983-1997
Series 5, Catalogs and directories, 1976-1995
Series 6, Promotional material, 1976-1997
Hardware, software, ephemera, and media items were separated from the main collection. The hardware includes a PhoneNET Connector
model PN-209, Apple model A9M0050 mouse, Apple Macintosh board with MacMEGABYTES memory card, Apple Talk interface, and Apple
MIDI adaptor. The software includes Apple-related packaged items and close to 400 loose CD-ROMs, 3.5” disks, and 5.25” disks.
The ephemera and media include Apple calendars, buttons, ticket stubs, invitations, stickers, business cards, notepads, zipper
pouches, trivia cards, and an abacus. The media includes 16 instructional and informational audiotapes related to Apple and
general computing, 7 audiotapes of the spring 1986 COMDEX conference, and close to 200 videotapes related to Apple and general
computing. To view catalog records for the separated items please search CHM's online catalog at
www.computerhistory.org/collections/search.
Related Collections at Other Repositories
Apple corporate history collections, Stanford University,
library.stanford.edu/areas/apple-computer-collections/apple-corporate-history-collections.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Apple II (Computer)
Apple III (Computer)
Apple Computer, Inc.
Armstrong, Jim, 1948-
Lisa computer
Macintosh (Computer)