Guide to the Jim Armstrong collection of Apple material
Finding aid prepared by Bo Doub, Kim Hayden, and Sara Chabino Lott.
Processing of this collection was made possible through generous funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, administered
through the Council on Library and Information Resources' Cataloging Hidden Special Collections and Archives grant.
Computer History Museum
1401 N. Shoreline Blvd.
Mountain View, CA, 94043
(650) 810-1010
research@computerhistory.org
August 2015
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-
Processing Information
Collection processed by Bo Doub and Kim Hayden, August 2015.
Access Restrictions
The collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
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.
Preferred Citation
[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.
Biographical/Historical Note
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.
Arrangement
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
Separated Material
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
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Apple II (Computer)
Apple III (Computer)
Apple Computer, Inc.
Armstrong, Jim, 1948-
Lisa computer
Macintosh (Computer)
Manuals, Series 1,
1976-1996
Language of Material:
English
Series Scope and Content
This series, the largest in the collection, is made up almost entirely of Apple manuals from 1976 to 1996. Included are manuals
for the Apple II, Lisa, Apple III, and Macintosh lines of computers and their compatible software, programming languages,
and components. Also included are service guides for Macintosh support technicians. There is a very small number of manuals
for products and companies other than Apple, such as Videx, Mostek, Zilog, PCMCIA, MIDI, and the Lolly personal computer.
This series is arranged alphabetically by title.
102734310
Apple II
1978-1991
102734313
Apple III
1980-1983
102734317
Macintosh
1984-1995
102734307
Non-Apple products
1976-1993
102734309
Software and components compatible across Apple lines
1982-1996
Apple administrative records, Series 2,
1979-1995
Language of Material:
English
Series Scope and Content
This series contains correspondence, memoranda, annual reports, and resources used internally at Apple. The largest part of
this series relates to Apple product development and management. These product-related materials are often proposals for future
Apple products, drafts of manuals and product descriptions, or correspondence between Apple employees about product pricing,
release issues, and product testing. Apple products addressed in these records include the Apple II and III, the 1984 Macintosh,
Lisa, HyperCard, and LaserWriter. Another significant portion of this series is comprised of sales resources, such as product
descriptions and price lists, written for Apple employees and resellers of Apple products. This series also contains reference
information for Apple developers, personnel records, policy manuals and employee handbooks, annual and quarterly reports,
internal periodicals and newsletters, records relating to Apple events, and market research and analyses -- with which Armstrong
was directly involved. One highlight of this series is a group of records about a public relations project, titled Project
Peoria, designed to exploit an "old town adopts new technology" perspective. The project was to choose a small town, which
ended up being Jacksonville, Oregon, then to launch small business marketing activities, generate awareness and interest among
small businesses for Apple's new products, and position new product benefits to small business customers. This series is arranged
alphabetically by folder title.
102734311
Annual and quarterly reports
1983-1989
102734315
Apple Developer Group
1989-1994
102734316
Events
1984-1994
102734319
Internal periodicals and newsletters
1982-1995
102734314
Market research and analyses
1983-1994
102734320
Personnel
1983-1987
102734280
Policies, reference guides, and training materials
1983-1993
102734327
Product development and management
1980-1998
102734312
Project Peoria
1990
102734318
Sales resources
1979-1995
Books, periodicals, and reports, Series 3,
1978-1995
Language of Material:
English
Series Scope and Content
This series is made up of books, magazines, journals, newsletters, clippings of articles, and reports from 1978 to 1995. The
books in this series are on topics such as digital computers, computer networking, local network technology, Apple II, ProDOS,
and PostScript. The magazines, journals, and newsletters focus on computer technology, with several that are specific to Apple,
including the magazines Macworld and MacUser and newsletters AppleDirect and Apple Exchange. Reports include Apple technical
reports, Macintosh technical notes, and papers on information delivery and work styles. This series is arranged alphabetically
by title.
102709888
Beneath Apple ProDOS
1984
102734321
Clippings
1985-1993
102734330
Lazy person's guide to better nutrition, The
1984
102709597
Local network handbook, The
1982
102734323
Magazines and journals
1980-1995
102734322
Newsletters
1981-1989
102676492
PostScript language tutorial and cookbook
1985
102734328
Reports
1985-1993
102734324
Understanding computer networks
1989
102734329
Understanding digital computers
1978
102709857
Understanding the Apple II
1983
Conference and workshop material, Series 4,
1983-1997
Series Scope and Content
This series contains program materials, conference proceedings, presentation material, and records from various workshops
and events. About half of the material in this series relates to events held by Apple and the other half are from non-Apple
conferences. The Apple events include various years of the Macworld Exposition and Apple developers conferences, the 1987
Apple Worldwide Sales Conference, presentation material for a 1988 Interactive Multimedia Conference, the 1995 Apple New Media
Forum, and course material from the 1984 Apple Service Datacomm Workshop. The non-Apple events reflected in this series include
COMDEX (Computer Dealers' Exhibition), National Computer Conference (NCC), CeBIT, National Association of Music Merchants
(NAMM), Seybold, and the West Coast Computer Faire. This series is arranged alphabetically by folder title.
102734343
Apple conferences and workshops
1984-1995
102734344
Apple developers' conferences
1986-1997
102734342
COMDEX (Computer Dealers' Exhibition)
1985-1994
102734335
Computer conferences and expositions
1983-1997
102734333
Macworld Exposition
1987-1988
102734339
National Computer Conference (NCC) material
1984
Catalogs and directories, Series 5,
1976-1995
Series Scope and Content
This series contains catalogs, directories, price lists, and product lists and overviews published from 1976 to 1995 by Apple
and other companies in the computer industry such as IBM, Oracle, Adobe, Cromemco, Texas Instruments, Mostek, Claris, and
many others. Apple materials make up the bulk of this series. The catalogs feature hardware, software, and computer accessories,
as well as two catalogs featuring Apple-branded merchandise like clothing, office supplies, and other gifts and accessories.
The directories contain lists of products and the contact information for the companies that make or sell them. Price lists
show the price of various computer products; the bulk of these are for Apple and IBM products. Product lists and overviews
provide detailed specifications and information about computer products, providing information on how to order them. This
series is arranged alphabetically by folder title.
102734332
Apple catalogs
1979-1995
102734334
Apple directories
1988-1994
102734331
Apple price lists
1979-1984
102734336
Apple product overviews and specifications
1981-1995
102734337
Non-Apple catalogs
1976-1995
102734340
Non-Apple directories
1983-1994
102734338
Non-Apple price lists
1977-1985
102734341
Non-Apple product overviews and specifications
1977-1995
Promotional material, Series 6,
1976-1997
Series Scope and Content
This series contains promotional materials from 1976 to 1997 that advertise products by Apple and other companies in the computer
industry, such as Symantec and Adobe. The majority of items are brochures and booklets, but there are also press releases,
press kits, oversized fold-out advertisements, and an Apple table display. This series is arranged alphabetically by folder
title.
102734305
Apple promotional material
1981-1997
102734306
Non-Apple promotional material
1976-1995
