Around the Institute

National Geographic Channel Features Time Capsule Found at Aspen Meadows

February 25, 2014  • Institute Contributor

Above, watch the preview for the National Geographic Channel TV show “Diggers,” featuring the Aspen Meadows campus. The episode will air on Feb. 25th at 10pm EST.

The Aspen Institute Aspen Meadows campus is home to many a legacy, but few are buried underground. Here’s one exception: a time capsule buried in 1983, known as the “Aspen Time Tube,” was unearthed in September 2013, located by expert excavators and stars of the hit National Geographic Channel TV show “Diggers.” Harry Teague, a local architect who was pivotal in the original burial of the Time Tube, also aided in the excavation.

The capsule later also became known as the “Steve Jobs Time Capsule” because among other finds, it contains the mouse from Jobs’ greatest commercial failures — the Apple Lisa PC. Jobs used the Apple Lisa PC to navigate through a presentation that hinted at the future of tablet computers at the 1983 Aspen International Design Conference, which coincided with the burying of the Time Tube.

The capsule was unusually difficult to find due to the changing landscaping and architecture of the Aspen Meadows and the neighboring Aspen Center for Psychics and Aspen Music Festival and School campuses. Catch this special episode of “Diggers” Tuesday, Feb. 25th at 10pm EST on the National Geographic Channel.

Listen to Steve Jobs speaking at the 1983 Aspen International Design Conference, below. For more about the conference and Jobs’ devotion to design, read the 2012 “Smithsonian” magazine cover story by Aspen Institute President and CEO and Jobs’ biographer Walter Isaacson.