News | February 20, 2014

National Geographic’s “Diggers” Uncovers Steve Jobs’ Mouse, Aspen Time Tube

News | February 20, 2014

By Christine Benedetti

During the 1983 International Design Conference in Aspen, participants dropped items into a time capsule to be unearthed decades later. Among those attendees was Apple founder Steve Jobs. He buried a Lisa mouse and gave a recently discovered talk about the future of computers at the same conference, essentially predicting tablets.

Last September, a TV crew from National Geographic’s “Diggers” show followed up on the story and unearthed the Aspen time capsule on the grounds of the Aspen Music Festival. Among the hundreds of objects inside–Rubik’s cube, Twinkies, a Pocket Simon and a Moody Blues eight-track–was the Steve Jobs mouse. Surprisingly, many of the items last through the three decades, and are now part of the Aspen Historical Society archives. The dig is documented on the show, which airs nationally Feb. 25 on the National Geographic channel.