We recently wrote about the arrival of a new Apple Museum in Kiev and there is also a well-known Apple Museum in Prague. But if you prefer to look closer to home, you can go to Utrecht at the beginning of 2022. Ed Bindels, the founder and owner of Amac, opens his own Apple museum in The Wall shopping center. His personal collection is supplemented by part of the collection of the Apple Museum Netherlands Foundation, which had to close the location in Westerbork.
Amac opens Apple Museum in Utrecht
The Apple Museum in Westerbork is one of the better known in the Netherlands. The museum opened in 2012 and in 2018 the museum moved from Orvelte van Westerbork, partly because the location became too small. After the move, this museum attracted more visitors. But due to corona and a shortage of volunteers, the museum had to decide this week to close its doors for good. As a result, part of the collection of the Apple Museum Netherlands Foundation will end up in the hands of Ed Bindels, who will open a new museum with it.
The new 1,600-square-foot museum will have more than 5,000 objects, consisting of almost all Apple products that have appeared since 1977. In addition, they say that there are also some special copies that were only released in the US. The museum will be one floor below the already established Amac store in The Wall. That store opened its doors in December 2018.
Ed Bindels' collection has grown considerably in recent years through various acquisitions. For example, Amac took over iCentre and ivizi in Limburg. During the corona closure of the Amac stores, Bindels focused more on expanding the collection. He then came into contact with the Apple Museum Netherlands Foundation. That foundation had one goal, according to owner Izaäk Buwalda:
Keeping the collection together so that as many people as possible can take note of it. It is sad that the museum has to disappear from Drenthe, but the collection will now be given a beautiful new destination where this goal can continue to be guaranteed.
The new museum in Utrecht should become a beautiful exhibition of the collection in which the storylines and anecdotes are also central. The comparison with competing products from that time will also play a role in the museum. This better reflects what Bindels believes made Apple unique.
Collection is being restored
The collection is also being restored to a large extent, so that the computers are also can. Bindels therefore hopes that visitors will be able to work on a 1984 Macintosh or an Apple II. Although the collection is becoming quite large, a few classics are also missing. For example, the original Apple I is not present and the original Apple Lisa 1, the NeXT Cube and Macintosh TV are also missing.
View Amac's press release.
Amac director builds Europe's largest Apple Museum
Collection Apple Museum Westerbork fills gaps in collectionUtrecht, June 16, 2021– At the beginning of next year, Europe's largest Apple museum of 1600 square meters will open its doors in The Wall Utrecht. The museum is an initiative of Ed Bindels, founder and owner of Apple reseller Amac. This week, his extensive Apple collection was supplemented by thousands more, when the board of the Apple Museum Netherlands Foundation in Westerbork put its entire collection under management.
The new museum's collection of more than 5,000 objects contains almost all Apple products, from 1977 to the present, including several special examples that were only released in the United States. The Wall, the red shopping center along the A2, also houses the flagship store of the Apple Premium Reseller and Bindels’ new catering concept Liemès. The museum will be one floor lower.
Collect
Bindels: “Apple is a common thread through my professional life and my collecting urge started early. For example, before Amac's founding in 2005, when I was still working for another computer store, I already had a Macintosh portable in the attic. That ‘portable’ was relative, it is a whopper of a device that is very heavy due to the lead battery. It's great to see them next to the current MacBooks.”Over the years, Bindels has expanded his collection. During the various acquisitions of other Apple Premium Resellers, he bought collections with the rest of the estate. “During corona, when our 50 stores were closed for part of the time, I started to seriously focus on completing the collection.” This is how Bindels became acquainted with the board of Apple Museum Netherlands in Westerbork.
Apple Museum Netherlands
Finding good volunteers and the forced closure due to the corona crisis in combination with the high rent of the building, made the foundation board decide to put the collection under management at Bindels' new Apple museum. Chairman of the board Izaäk Buwalda: “As a foundation, we had one goal: to keep the collection together, so that as many people as possible can take note of it. It is sad that the museum has to disappear from Drenthe, but the collection is now getting a beautiful new destination where this goal can continue to be guaranteed.”
The Apple Museum was created in 2012 from a collection belonging to a family that could no longer house it. Over the years, the collection was expanded with donations. The museum collection includes not only Apple equipment, but also a complete library of manuals, rare posters and virtually every software Apple has ever released. Before corona, there were between 3000 and 5000 visitors per year. Bindels: “In almost 10 years many volunteers have worked hard to build this beautiful collection. The collection will therefore be housed in a new foundation that will take care of maintaining the collection and making it accessible to a wide public. Several volunteers from Westerbork have already signed up.”
The world before and after Apple
The Apple entrepreneur is going to approach it in a museum manner. “I don't want a stack of pallets with old computers, but a beautifully displayed collection in a skillfully designed space with storylines, because there are more than enough. Like NeXT, which was founded by Steve Jobs after he left Apple in 1985 and which has been a major influence and indispensable to Apple's story.” The objects will soon be placed in the time frame. For example, what made the first iPhone so popular? Bindels: “You could explain that by showing what mobile telephony was on the market between 2000 and 2007, before the introduction of the first iPhone.” The same goes for computers and other equipment. “Only then will you be able to see what Apple has accomplished. More than once, Apple broke with everything that was ever made.”
A large part of the objects will be restored in the coming period. Bindels: “Not everything has to be on, but of course it would be great if visitors could work on a 1984 Macintosh or an Apple II.” There are a few gems missing from the collection: such as the original Apple I, which is known for only 60 copies and which is now on sale for 1.5 million dollars. A replica of this is also on display. Also missing are the original Apple Lisa 1 (almost all of which have been converted to Lisa 2/Macintosh XL), the NeXT Cube and a Macintosh TV.