Anything associated with Steve Jobs and early Apple computers catches a high premium, so when everyone thought that the Aspen Time Tube, a.k.a the Steve Jobs time capsule was lost forever, tech enthusiasts freaked out. Luckily, the time capsule was rediscovered last year. Now, "Diggers" announced that Jobs' Lisa mouse has been found inside and it is unharmed.
Jobs used the Lisa mouse to show off his presentation about the future of technology to attendees of the Aspen International Design Conference in 1983. During the talk, Jobs outlined the future of computing, hinting at the possibility of the iPad, iPhone, App store and other great inventions. When he was finished, Jobs placed the Lisa mouse he had just used to navigate through his presentation into the time capsule.
Other attendees contributed objects like a rubix cube and a Moody Blues tape. Obviously, Jobs' Lisa mouse is one of the few objects that still holds value. When those responsible for digging up the Aspen Time Tube couldn't find where it was buried, they panicked. Luckily, the tube was eventually discovered. National Geographic's show "Diggers" helped excavation crews find the capsule. Everyone was on pins and needles as the digging began. Then, it was unearthed.
"We just freaked out," George Wyant, one of the two "Diggers" co-hosts, told CNET. "We went crazy. Because I'd had a pit in my stomach all day, so it was like instant relief."
Of course, they still had to open the tube to see if the Lisa mouse was inside and undamaged.
"When the end came off," "Diggers" co-host Tim Saylor said. "Literally things just poured out. There must be literally thousands of things in there."
They sorted through the objects and finally found the infamous Lisa mouse. It was very fortunate that someone had the foresight to encase the mouse in a plastic bag because the entire tube smelled of mold. "Diggers" will air the episode, in which the Lisa mouse was recovered on Feb. 25th at 10 p.m. EST. Although the capsule was uncovered in September, CNET's video of the excavation was just released on Wednesday.
In a sense, it's a nice coincidence that the capsule's contents will be unveiled shortly after Apple celebrated its 30-year anniversary of Mac products. It is unknown what will happen to Jobs' Lisa mouse, but it will probably end up in a museum.
