Manny’s: Think Different: Apple, the Counterculture, and Digital Culture, 1976-2026

Join us for this talk on the counterculture’s significant influence on Apple’s origin story as the company turns 50 on April 1st.

As we approach the 50th anniversary of Apple Inc. on April 1, 2026, the counterculture’s influence on the company’s origins and brand continues to draw significant attention. This program will look at the founding of Apple through the lens of the counterculture movement that, by the mid-1970s, was shaping Silicon Valley as well as mainstream culture. What role did hippie values play in Apple’s early days? How did these values fare as the company became a tech giant? What does Apple’s story tell us about the tech industry’s history and profile today?

Three leading experts on counterculture and technology will discuss these questions and others. John Markoff is a former New York Times technology reporter and the author of two critically acclaimed books on the counterculture and its impact on technology and society: Whole Earth: The Many Lives of Stewart Brand (2022) and What The Dormouse Said: How the Sixties Counterculture Shaped the Personal Computing Industry (2005). Steven Levy is Editor at Large, Wired Magazine; he has written eight books, including most recently on Facebook, and has covered technology for more than 30 years. Markoff and Levy will be in conversation with Peter Richardson, who has written critically acclaimed books about the Bay Area counterculture. His latest book, Brand New Beat: The Wild Rise of Rolling Stone Magazine, will appear in April.