A photo history of Frog, the company that designed the original Mac

<i>Frog designed AT&amp;T’s digital answering machine in 1990, the model 1337.</i><p>I remember that answering machine quite well. It was one of the first digital answering machines, and very well made. Beautiful, compared with other answering machines of the day.<p>I bought one for myself, and my girlfriend broke up with me because I hadn&#x27;t bought anything for her in a very long time. I wasn&#x27;t a very good person back then.

This is mostly great, and I wish I could visit the exhibit.<p>But the headline is just wrong. Frog Design did not design the original Mac. Jerry Manock did. Frog Design created the Snow White design language first used on the Mac with the Mac II and Mac SE.

I find virtually all of these, and especially the original Mac design [1], pleasing even now. Do they look hilarious to younger generations? I’m guessing yes...<p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;oldcomputers.net&#x2F;macintosh.html" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;oldcomputers.net&#x2F;macintosh.html</a>

More early protos in the same spirit:<p>1) A proto Mac LC from IDEO - <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.bonhams.com&#x2F;auctions&#x2F;21652&#x2F;lot&#x2F;188&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.bonhams.com&#x2F;auctions&#x2F;21652&#x2F;lot&#x2F;188&#x2F;</a><p>2) Several other unused protos from Hartmut Esslinger @ FROG - <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.engadget.com&#x2F;2014&#x2F;05&#x2F;28&#x2F;an-apple-flip-phone-from-1984-and-a-tablet-from-1979&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.engadget.com&#x2F;2014&#x2F;05&#x2F;28&#x2F;an-apple-flip-phone-from...</a>

We went to frog to design some of our interfaces. Their closest office was in Shanghai - I was surprised at the quality and depth of the team there.<p>They were very process driven but also very creative - the first time I&#x27;ve actually seen both of those work well together.

Interesting to note that Frog got a new owner yesterday - they are now part of CapGemini, through the acquisition of Altran.

Wikipedia link: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;bit.ly&#x2F;2ZJLGPi" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;bit.ly&#x2F;2ZJLGPi</a> (because HN isn&#x27;t dealing with a period at the end of the URL)

The article is full of examples of making the product worse to boost sales. Not a fan of this race-to-the-bottom engineering, no matter how &#x27;iconic&#x27;.

We&#x27;ve got those turrets at work! I would never have guessed they were by the same company as the early Macs!

Somewhat fitting then, that Frog also led the redesign of DisneyWorld.com in 2010

That foam model is just gorgeous!

intriguing to suggest that Steve Jobs&#x2F;Apple considered themselves a fairy tale &quot;Wicked Queen&quot; who sat in a throne and had the power to apply judgment to others.<p>i don&#x27;t know if that was actually true about Apple, but some other large corporations seem to view themselves in exactly that way. they treat their potential business partners and vendors as if they were beastly suitors of infinite patience invested with nothing but a powerful lust for a signed contract.