Museum | Journey through Apple history

(Warsaw) Telling the story of consumer computing via “the successes and failures” of Apple, such is the objective of the creator of the museum of products with bitten apple which has just opened its doors in Warsaw.

“It’s the largest and most complete Apple collection in the world,” says Jacek Lupina, a 56-year-old professional architect and graphic designer who is passionate about Apple products.

Located in Fabryka Norblina, an old red brick factory from the early 19th century^e century, redeveloped into a shopping and leisure center in the heart of the Polish capital, Apple Museum of Poland exhibits more than 1,600 products related to the famous Californian company, gathered by searching auctions around the world.

Near the entrance, with its mahogany wooden case, stands a replica of Apple 1, the first personal computer marketed in 1976 by the brand’s founders, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.

Originally produced in approximately 200 copies, Apple 1 was sold at 666.66 dollars, partially in kit form. To put it together, the user had to add a case, a power supply, a keyboard and a display.

“My ambition was that visitors to this museum could see what the beginnings looked like, how primitive it was, very simple: the case of Apple 1 was made of wood!, nothing to do with what we knows today, ”explains Mr. Lupina to AFP.

To collect his copy, the collector turned to other specialists and used period components. It took him almost three years of effort.

The motherboard was signed by Steve Wozniak himself, during his visit to Poland in 2018.

An overwhelming passion

“He analyzed all the welds, the components, he really appreciated the realization. He also showed me the places he and Steve Jobs wanted to change, but they didn’t have time,” he says.

Further in the large room, dozens of computers, such as Apple II, Lisa, Imac, Powermac, Macbook, Mac Pro, or even iPhones, Ipods, Ipads, user manuals, software and other products from the Apple universe are on display.

On the walls, original posters, including those of the famous “Think different” advertising campaign, from 1997, with Bob Dylan, Pablo Picasso, Mohamed Ali, and Albert Einstein.

Video screens and interactive terminals or an audio guide allow visitors to dive into the Apple universe.

“The first two years were for amateurs, a few machines for the pleasure of looking at them, to own something that I couldn’t afford before because it was too expensive for someone living in post-communist Europe” , recalls Jacek Lupina.

After a while, objects began to invade his home in the suburbs of Warsaw, first his office and then his living room.

“I sold all the furniture in the living room, the table, the chairs, I only left sofas,” he says, laughing. In 2017, he opened a museum at his home, to be visited by appointment.

He spends all his free time there, sometimes entire nights, watching auctions in different time zones. “The fight is sometimes hard, I recently lost an imac against a collector from the Netherlands”, he says.

Today, his passion is also costing him all his money. “I have no savings, I have no pension, just my collection”.