Mac Folklore Radio

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 could not figure out how to do anything, not even exit the game. Flailing at the keyboard, I went from zero to takeoff because I accidentally hit Delete which fired up the afterburners. That was pretty cool.

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 1993.

Spindler introduction clip from the Power Macintosh Reseller Training video.

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 battery life at 2-3 hours.

Original text from Macworld Magazine, June 1994.

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 promotional video heard in this episode. Watch the full VHS video on YouTube.

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 panel discussion.

Steve Jobs’ “Super Secret Apple Rumours” podcast from the MWSF 2006 GarageBand demo.

Alleged insider comments on the damage Apple’s internal secrecy has done to Mac OS X at Michael Tsai’s blog, one of the few Macintosh news sources worth reading these days.