At first glance, the Apple Mac mouse hasn’t changed much over the years, but if you asked anyone to give up the current Magic Mouse and go back a model, they’d say no – although I do know someone who still uses the previous model!
Why did I take the picture?
I didn’t take the picture because I’m a keen Apple Mac historian. I took the picture because I’m a graphic designer and photographer and I wanted an image that represented my years of experience in the industry.
It seemed like a good idea at the time; now I’m not sure. The older I get the more I wonder whether you can have too much experience. When you start out (whatever job you might have) you can’t wait to say you have a few years experience. You may even lie, but you do it for good reasons, hopefully a better role with more money.
Too much or too little experience?
Before you know it you start to think all those years of experience could be working against you, especially in a creative industry where you’re supposed to have your finger on the pulse of what’s cool. Using the word ‘cool’ probably makes me sound old, I should probably say ‘on-trend’ or something. Either way, is design and creativity a young person’s game?
On the other hand, when I go to the doctors (once in a blue moon and it’s normally just an ear infection before you ask) I prefer them to be silver-haired and looking at me over a pair of glasses. Not so young I could be their parent.
Of course these prejudices are ridiculous, to steal a line from a James Bond film, “Age is no guarantee of efficiency” …and “Youth is no guarantee of innovation”.
So where does this leave my visual metaphor?
When it comes down to it, it’s not the amount of experience you have, it’s where you gained it, and what you did with it. I guess that means my mouse photo doesn’t work, but if I was my client, I’d tell me I was overthinking it!
For those interested, the Apple Mac mice are (left to right): 1986 – Apple Desktop Mouse, 1992 – Apple Desktop Mouse II, 2000 – Apple Pro Mouse, 2005 – The Mighty Mouse, 2009 – The Magic Mouse. I should say I’m not that old I actually used the 1986 model at work. There was a Mac Classic with that mouse in the studio at Art Collage, but it was ancient even then.