November 11, 1996. Apple unveils its ambitious new plan: a chain of cybercafés. London, Paris, New York, Tokyo and Sydney, among other cities, will host these exclusive and futuristic Apple Cafés. Nothing will be missing: users will be able to “surf the high-speed internet, play games and design web pages alongside the offerings of a full-service cafe“.
The brand is teaming up with Landmark Entertainment Group, Mega Bytes International and Artists Rights Foundation to announce the megaton. “A little Disney”, they say. Behind these companies are some of the most luxurious hotels and industrial resorts in the world, such as Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Universal Studios’ Jurassic Park theme park and many other themed resorts. And just at the last moment, a sensible decision is made: go back and freeze the project.
Apple wanted its own Starbucks
In 1996, cybercafés were something in the making. On one side, the Hard Rock Cafe or Planet Hollywood, two popular culture icons that languish year after year. Starbucks, for its part, has been serving coffee at bargain prices since 1971, but offers a stable WiFi connection that millions of students celebrate every year. Novels and film scripts have been written in the intimate comfort of this chain’s armchairs.
Steve Jobs himself helped design these cafes. He was, with Tony Christopher —founder of Disney Imagineer—, responsible for developing this idea. They chose the best. There was no lack of ambition. Menus would be evaluated by a committee to provide the highest quality healthy foods. The screens would show movies and music videos on demand through their own platform – yes, we’re talking about iTunes before iTunes. You could host your own video conference and you could even work on it for hours.
The interior design was very high-tech and we worked on it for about six months. I think we were trying to create a kind of modern but futuristic look, different from the immersive things we do in theme parks: castles and dinosaurs. I remember the designers we put on it were high-tech, forward-thinking guys. We understood that we were dealing with a computer, that it was future technology, not historical technology, and Apple Cafe needed to reflect that.
However, things went wrong. These were difficult years for the brand. Michael Spindler resigned as CEO in 1996, and Gil Amelio left WWDC that year knowing he would never work with the company again, just as Steve Jobs boasted about NeXT, his successful new project. The company would eventually hire Jobs again to work on the Mac operating system and himself would take care of dismissing Amelio.
Twenty years later, Apple press reps were approached by MacRumors and they went so far as to say they would even be happy to consider it. Today, of course, that seems too remote a possibility. It would have been interesting to see how these cafes would work, that’s for sure, and knowing Apple’s standards in its own Apple Pack, a place where every detail is cared for to the millimeter.
The idea is never quite dead: today’s App Stores retain that theme park halo, of a sacred temple where the hours pass and you don’t even realize. It doesn’t matter what time you leave: the friendly treatment and the neat environment are a hallmark of the house. It is obvious that the current minimalist and white aesthetic has nothing to do with the concept images that we see throughout the article, with a decoration between Art Deco and Rococo. But This central idea of connecting with users and potential customers remains unchanged..
Today, Starbucks has recovered from its worst numbers and is in good financial shape. Maybe Apple Cafes would have worked better than we imagined. The Hard Rock Cafe – founded the same year as Starbucks – has also been resurrected after its worst post-pandemic days. Maybe it’s time for the iCafe.
