ComputerHistoryMuseum
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Apple's original graphical OS will be available for free in 2018
If you've ever wanted to try Apple's graphical interface on the Lisa, the computer that preceded the Mac, you've been relegated to either using an emulator or (if you're lucky) tracking down one of the rare, expensive machines. Thankfully, it's about to get much easier. The Computer History Museum's Al Kossow has revealed that the source code for the Lisa's operating system and programs will be published for free sometime in 2018. And this isn't some unofficial effort -- Apple is reviewing the code itself.
One of the world's first personal computers is up for sale
Many people don't know the history of the Kenbak-1 Digital Computer, but it's considered to be the world's first commercially available personal computer -- and one is going up for sale in just a few minutes. John Blankenbaker introduced the $750 machine in 1971 -- years ahead of the more well known Altair 8800 and Apple I, but after the Datapoint 2200 -- hoping to sell it to schools as a way to introduce people to computer programming. It didn't have a microprocessor at all, and contained only 256 bytes (you read that correctly) of RAM. No more than 50 units were ever made, although a few have been popping up for sale in the last few years. One recently sold for about $31k, and another model is going on sale via German auctioneer Breker within the hour. It's certainly a piece of history, but if that's a little too rich for your blood, then hide your credit card details and just read our Time Machines article to catch up on the history of this groundbreaking device.
These guys created the PlayStation 4 and here's how they did it (video)
Earlier this month we were in the audience to see two gaming legends talk at length about the history of PlayStation, but if you want to watch PlayStation's head of Worldwide Studios and the PS4's lead designer have a lengthy chat for yourself, a video of the conversation is now available. Over the course of roughly 90 minutes, Shuhei Yoshida and Mark Cerney cover everything from the former getting banned from Nintendo's Miiverse (twice), how the PS Move controller signaled a new era of design teamwork at Sony and what it was like working under SCEA's legendarily hard-nosed chief, Ken Kutaragi. This type of insight typically isn't seen much outside of the annual Game Developer's Conference, so fire up the Chromecast, pour a frosty beverage and enjoy.
Photoshop 1.0 source code now available from the Computer History Museum
The Computer History Museum in Mountain View, Calif. (home of Google, and just a few miles from Apple's HQ in Cupertino) has a new display up, featuring none other than the source code to Photoshop 1.0, the very first version of Adobe's powerhouse photo-editing software. The exhibit features 128,000 lines of code, which make up the initial release of Photoshop, for Mac computers back in ye old early computer days of 1989. Photoshop represents one of the very first, and most successful graphical interfaces, which of course the Mac platform is known for innovating. You can not only see the exhibit at the Computer History Museum itself, but you can also download the source code on your own over the Internet -- as long as you agree to a 1,400-word license. At any rate, it's nice to have this little piece of GUI history archived and remembered in this way.
Daily Update for February 15, 2013
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
Photoshop v1.0.1 released free to everyone, including Australians
Our Antipodean chums might be getting a raw deal on modern versions of Photoshop, but at least they can try 1989's vintage without paying. The Computer History Museum, with Adobe's permission, has released the source code to version 1.0.1 free to citizens of the world, just as it did with MacPaint back in 2010. It's just a shame that current CEO Shantanu Narayen isn't feeling so generous to those on the southern hemisphere.
Online museum offers Steve Jobs exhibit
If you crave even more info about Steve Jobs, the Computer History Museum has just posted an online exhibit called "Steve Jobs...First NeXT, One more thing...". The exhibit has lots of information, some archival photos and a smattering of videos, some donated by friends of Steve that haven't been publicly seen. While not a comprehensive biography, I had no trouble finding things I didn't know. I also appreciated the links to other videos and websites that further illuminate one of America's most prolific marketers and inventors. The Computer History Museum is physically located in San Jose and has thousands of artifacts and exhibits that highlight the invention of computers, the legacy of the personal computer, and features a speaker series, tours, and other online exhibitions. [via MacRumors]
Visualized: the iPad that never was, complete with camera and wireless
If you're an Apple lover, you've probably heard of the Newton PDA, and there are probably even PenLite enthusiasts among the hardcore, but this is a tablet we've never seen: the Apple Vademecum. Marcin Wichary of the Computer History Museum (and Google Pac-Man fame) somehow got a hold of two piecemeal prototypes to take some fantastic shots, showing off their transparent construction, ribbon cables, and in this case an ancient webcam and integrated Ricochet wireless modem. Wichary claims the project was started in 1994 at Apple's Advanced Technology Group with touchscreen -- not pen-based -- computing in mind, and would have used a special MacOS designed for tablets rather than an extension of Newton. May it rest in piece. [Thanks, Nikolai]
Computer History Museum makes original MacPaint source code available to public
With all the tricky Photoshoppery we do 'round these parts, it's easy to forget that once the only way to get Justin Bieber into a shot with Steve Jobs and Bill Atkinson involved an X-Acto knife and rubber cement. For a peek into that dark and distant time (the 1980s) check out the Computer History Museum website, which has recently posted the source code for both MacPaint 1.3 and the QuickDraw graphics library. It's pretty amazing to consider that software this cutting edge consisted of a single, 5,822 line Apple Pascal file (in conjunction with another whopping 3,583 lines of code in assembly language). If poring over twenty-six year old code isn't your bag, the museum's website also contains an oral history of the development of MacPaint and more. Hit the source link to check it out.
Computer History Museum unboxes a Babbage difference engine
Not too many people go to science museums and place orders, but former Microsoft CTO Nathan Myhrvold was apparently so impressed with the London Science Museum's replica of Charles Babbage's difference engine he commissioned a $1M duplicate, which was just recently delivered to California's Computer History Museum for a six-month stay. The nine-foot-tall machine has nearly 8,000 parts, many of which were hand-filed, and suffered months of delays while under construction due to the tight tolerances required to make it work -- but it's here now, and it's ready to start cranking out polynomials at the rate of one per six seconds. Bring it on, IBM. Check the read link for way more pics of the unboxing, which took hours and ended in applause.
