Talks to Watch

4K Restoration: 1984 Super Bowl APPLE MACINTOSH Ad by Ridley Scott

2.7M views · Feb 12, 2023 · 1:01 · 0 HN recommenders · 4 mentions · discussed 2024–2026

A 4K upscaled restoration of Apple's 1984 Macintosh Super Bowl ad directed by Ridley Scott. The restoration combines various sources and an AI upscaler.

Why Hacker News points people here: Not recommended as a watch; HN cites the ad as shorthand for orderly conformity and as an example of an ad that has aged badly.

What Hacker News said 4

Cites itPaulHouleMay 2025

“When things are orderly they feel like they are in the Apple '1984' video”

Uses Apple's 1984 ad as an image of orderly conformity

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I think the first people to use that phrase were advocates for it. You have to remember that a lot of people in the industry have ass-backwards values. A lot of people squee when they see chaos and the more chaos the better. When things are orderly they feel like they are in the Apple '1984' video this video It's got a lot to do with why Docker is so popular. Instead of deciding that you're going to use a certain version of libc and a certain version of Java and a certain version of MUI widgets, they take joy in having many different partitions of the system slightly different from others in ways that will cause all sort of problem large and small. If you standardized things you could run multiple tenants with 1/10 the resources you'll waste with Docker, in a just world it would mean you crush the Docker-using competition but unfortunately the Docker-users are often backed by VC which can be irrational longer than you can stay solvent.

in “Ask HN: Is "Vibe Coding" a term people are using with pride?” · view on HN
CriticalgowldFeb 2026

“Apple's ad had a woman dressed like a Hooter's waitress to represent themselves.”

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Apple's ad had a woman dressed like a Hooter's waitress to represent themselves. That makes themselves the focus of attention. this video

CriticaljoriJordanFeb 2026

“Apple's 1984 commercial didn't age well”

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Wild. Growing up through Reagan, I saw the world only act like this. Apple's 1984 commercial didn't age well: this video Everyone ran towards this Brave New World based on media fueled populism. To me religion isn't Christianity or Islam. It's following orders of arbitrary leaders who give themselves titles via narrative. Priest, Minister, CEO, General... just words. Provenance such as "this is what I want to do with my life" are poor justification for enabling it.

in “CIA suddenly stops publishing, removes archives of The World Factbook” · view on HN
JokepimlottcJul 2024
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> Imagine a smart watch, but from 1984. That sounds like something straight out of a scifi film since the 80s is not exactly known for great advances in personal computing. Now that's a ridiculous statement, especially when you're specifically talking about the year 1984... this video

in “Seiko Originals: The UC-2000, A Smartwatch from 1984” · view on HN