Mac Folklore Radio

Early Macintosh developer documentation had a bit of a rocky start. Caroline Rose also did some technical documentation work for NeXT . Caroline’s website is hosted by Andy Hertzfeld/differnet.com. Outro clip from Joanna Hoffman’s delightful interview with the Computer History Museum which you should at least read through, if only for the story of her sneaking into and out of Russia without offici...

Apple’s marketing poets meet Mercedes-Benz, Latin, and Sylvester Stallone. Original text from Macworld Magazine, August 1993 .

Which Mac is the current bestseller? Is Apple giving up on industrial design? Why did you screw Quadra 900 customers by introducing the 950 just five months after the 900? Editor-in-Chief of Macworld Jerry Borrell sits down for some questions and answers with Eric Harslem, Apple’s Vice President of Desktop Computers in 1992. Simpler times: an Apple VP discussing future product plans and openly adm...

Guy boils down your Macintosh purchase decision to three choices from Apple’s bloated 1993 product lineup. Apple has arguably suffered from The Ginza Syndrome(tm) since the days of the Apple II. :-) Original text from Macworld Magazine, June 1993 .

This is not Macintosh-related whatsoever but it’s Guy Kawasaki, it was in Macworld, and he had some fun flying in an F-15 fighter jet. Original text from Macworld Magazine, July 1993 . Get your own copy of The Macintosh Way at used booksellers. Watch a Let’s Play of F/A-18 Hornet in an emulator or play it on your iOS device . I had a copy back in the day. I knew nothing about flight simulators and...

It’s late 1993, Apple is sinking, PowerPC Macs haven’t arrived yet, the Macintosh system software is showing its age, and John Sculley is out. Incoming CEO Michael Spindler to the rescue! Guy Kawasaki’s advice for Apple’s then-new leader. If you’re having trouble falling asleep, Sculley and Spindler talking about Apple’s plan for the 1990s should help. Original text from Macworld Magazine, October...

Listener request from Charkes (not a typo): more Guy Kawasaki! Here’s Guy on the pros and cons of working from home. Who the heck is Guy Kawasaki? Remember that in 1994, there was no way any MIS/IT manager would be caught dead letting Macintoshes in the door and onto their corporate network, there was not one but 20 major online electronic mail services worldwide, and Apple quoted PowerBook batter...

Steven Levy on why Macintosh developers aren’t scared of Claris, the software company backed by Apple Computer. Original text from Macworld Magazine, June 1992 . ClarisWorks and other seemingly Macintosh-only products did indeed ship on Windows . Claris’ first product on Windows: Hollywood . Press coverage . A big thank you to Blake Patterson of The Byte Cellar for preserving the Claris promotiona...

Andy Hertzfeld’s first task as an employee of Apple Computer. Original text from folklore.org .

The story of how “the best-loved application for the Mac” took on Microsoft Works as told by programmer [Bob Hearn in 2003][bob]. Read Macworld’s roundup of integrated packages to see how ClarisWorks 1.0 stacked up against its competition . Watch Symantec GreatWorks in action courtesy of hirudov2d on YouTube: Version 1.0.1 , 2.0.1 Watch Bob Hearn talking about AlphaGo starting at 4m50s.

Steve Jobs temporarily forbid the Macintosh team from working with Sony. Original text from folklore.org . Bill Gates Twiggy drive clip from All Things D5, 2007 , 3m54s. Alternate source .

The FBI’s attempted investigation of the nuPrometheus League. I wish there was a dramatic conclusion to this 1990 editorial, but we’ve heard nothing from the nuPrometheus League since their first and only dispatch. Original text from Macworld Magazine, September 1990 .

The early days of Apple’s culture of secrecy. If you had people digging through the garbage bins outside your corporate headquarters, you would be paranoid too! Original text from Macworld Magazine, November 1989 . Introductory news clip from The Computer Chronicles with bonus crazy background saxophone for some reason. Hugo Fiennes quote from the Computer History Museum’s iPhone development team...

Steven Levy on a little-known Macintosh clone project from 1989. Original text from Macworld Magazine, April 1989 . Our sponsor for April 1st: The Mac Zone !

Is it too late for Apple’s lightweight laptops? Steven Levy’s summary of the awkward PowerBook Duo situation. Original text from Macworld Magazine, December 1993 . PowerBook Duo commercials courtesy of the RetroMacCast on YouTube ( 1 , 2 ). Watch the Duo and Dock in action ( insert , eject ). PowerBook Duo commercial in Swedish Titanium PowerBook G4 introduction at Macworld San Francisco 2001 12-i...

David Pogue reviews the PowerBook Duo 210/230 and the companion Duo Dock. NuBus and SCSI weren’t hot pluggable, meaning you had to shut down the machine every time you docked or undocked! Original text from Macworld Magazine, March 1993 . PowerBook Duo Dock sounds courtesy of the RetroMacCast on YouTube ( insert , eject ).

Happy Birthday, Macintosh! Andy Hertzfeld and company rush to complete the first release of the Macintosh system software, then cobble together a demo before launch day. Original text at folklore.org: Real Artists Ship , It Sure Is Great To Get Out of That Bag , and The Times They Are A-Changin’ Make your own four-voice 256-byte wavetable music, sine wavey or otherwise, with ConcertWare or MusicWo...

Two interviews with StuffIt creator Raymond Lau, conducted during Apple’s darkest days ( Maclopedia 1996 , AppleWizards 1998 ). StuffIt Deluxe 2.0 review . Yes, people were already complaining about software bloat in 1991. Raymond’s personal website Raymond’s palmpilotfiles/palmcentral.com Raymond’s PhD Dissertation: “ Subword Lexical Modelling for Speech Recognition ” Today, Leonard Rosenthol is...

The story behind Apple’s big RISC. Written by Steven Levy, The Iconoclast, Macworld, May / June 1994. Watch a special Christmas message from MFR . The Alberta Goat Breeders Association ( and the reason for linking to them ) Half-Moon Bay Review article on Jack McHenry Apple’s extremely terrible internal marketing video for the Power Mac The Digital Antiquarian’s take on the PowerPC transition Gary...

A shakeup in Apple II engineering frees up Andy Hertzfeld to work on the Macintosh. Original text from folklore.org . Jef Raskin and Andy Hertzfeld audio excerpts from “The Macintosh at 20” panel hosted at Macworld Boston 2004 . Highly recommended!

The Newton MessagePad soap opera from product launch to cancellation, and all that could have been. Check out “ Love Notes to Newton ” for even more history, interviews, and a great soundtrack. The director, Noah Leon, was interviewed on embedded.fm #262 and the RetroMacCast #440 . Steve Jobs quotes: WWDC 1997 , EDUCAUSE 1998 , Borg-like compliance and audience hissing at Internet Explorer at MWNY...

The very first image displayed on the very first prototype Macintosh, an Apple II expansion card with a Motorola 6809E. Original text at folklore.org . Audio excerpts from Andy Hertzfeld’s keynote speech at the O’Reilly Open Source Convention (OSCON) 2000. Listen to the full keynote , preserved in 2004 by yours truly from a long-gone RealAudio streaming server.

“Mask ROM” means something a little different in 2020. E-mail your article and topic suggestions to derek at macfolkloreradio.com.

Surf the Web, deal with e-mail, crunch spreadsheets, write real documents, and keep your life together with this 1.4-pound wonder. Written by Jeff Pittelkau, MacUser June 1997 .

Of Newton and Magic Link, Marco and Envoy. The Newton and its competition continue to make progress… sort of. Written by Steven Levy, The Iconoclast, Macworld April 1995 .