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John Carmack: Working with Apple not always easy
Folklore.org is a tremendous repository of Apple history and lore. Check it out if you haven't; you'll find some entertaining and incredible stories. I'm reminded of Folklore whenever a story emerges describing Apple from behind the scenes, like this interview with id Software's co-founder John Carmack. Speaking with Kotaku, John describes the ups and downs of working with Apple: "I'll be invited up on stage for a keynote one month and then I'll say something they don't like and I can be blacklisted for six months." We suspect such a public revelation won't get you back on stage anytime soon, John. Or maybe not, as he's now got "a man on the inside." Former id coworker Graeme Devine now works at Apple's iPhone Game Technologies division. However, the most interesting part of this interview confirms, in a small way, what I've always suspected: Apple begrudgingly promotes the iPod touch and iPhone as gaming platforms. "At the highest level of Apple, in their heart of hearts," Carmack said, "they're not proud of the iPhone being a game machine, they wish it was something else." I have no way of backing this up, but I've long suspected that Steve Jobs in particular has no interest in the world of gaming. They're certainly pushing the iPod touch as a gaming device, but I'm sure it's through tightly-clenched teeth.
Steve Jobs, the moral high ground, and the return to Apple
Adam Lashinsky's CEO of the Decade cover story at Fortune this week pointed out a fascinating "what if" in Apple history. What if Steve Jobs had tried a hostile takeover of Apple? According to the story, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison and his friend Steve Jobs were on a beach in Hawaii in '97 when Ellison, under the influence of a few margaritas, floated the idea of buying Apple to bring Jobs back into power at the company he had co-founded with Steve Wozniak. Jobs declined, although Ellison had funding all lined up to allow The Steve to make a hostile takeover of the company. He told Ellison that a takeover would make people think he was greedy, just wanting to make money out of Apple. Ellison later stated that "He (Jobs) explained to me that with the moral high ground, he thought he could make decisions more easily and more gracefully." Over at Gizmodo, Jesus Diaz surmises that it was more than decision-making that went into Steve's refusal to push his way back into power; it was love. As Diaz notes, "Steve wanted to be wanted. He knew he was loved by the public and the press. After all, everyone likes the story of a legend coming back-to see him succeed or, better yet for Hollywood drama, fail. More importantly, the company was his company. He didn't have to buy it! That was absolutely preposterous, he probably thought at the time. He knew he was going to return as King once again, acclaimed by his troops and his people, so why spend any money?" Since his return to Apple, Steve Jobs has, of course, brought the company from the brink of extinction into profitability and recognition. Whether or not he would have been equally successful as a result of a hostile takeover is a great plot for an alternative universe sci-fi novel, but it adds a lot to the legend of Steve Jobs to know that he was able to regain control of the company through a combination of connections, persuasion, and his love for his company. The rest is history. As Ellison stated in his Fortune interview, "The difference between me and Steve is that I'm willing to live with the best the world can provide-with Steve that's not always good enough." That difference explains why Apple continues to amaze us with their products, why Steve Jobs is so important to the company, and why Jobs was the hands-down choice for Fortune's CEO of the Decade. [via Digg & Gizmodo] Post edited to properly credit Fortune.
Found Photos: Rarely seen Steve Jobs
As Dave Caolo told TUAW readers a few days ago, Fortune named Apple CEO Steve Jobs "CEO of the Decade" for his phenomenal leadership at Apple and how he has remade four industries (music, movies, mobile telephones, and computing) in the past ten years. Part of the Fortune article was a collection of rarely seen photographs of Steve Jobs. From the early days with Steve Wozniak, to his recent battles with pancreatic cancer, the photos chronicle the life of the iconic CEO. Two of my personal favorites in the gallery are a photo taken in 1982 of Jobs and the Mac team having a working lunch as they hammer out the design of the first-generation Mac, and another of a barefoot Jobs meeting with Bill Gates at the Jobs home in Palo Alto to talk about the future of computing for Fortune. The entire set of posts, along with the photos and video, are a fascinating look into the many successes and few failures of the engimatic Mr. Jobs. If you have a chance, take a look at it this weekend.
The growing list of unsupported Macs
Out with the old, in with the new. This week's hardware releases were met with new additions to Apple's vintage and obsolete hardware lists. The following have been added, and I'm sad to say that I'm still using the Dual Ethernet Airport Base Station: iBook G4 (Early 2004) iBook G4 (14" Early 2004) eMac (USB 2.0) Apple Cinema Display ADC Apple Studio Display 15" ADC Apple Studio Display 17" LCD Apple Studio Display 17" ADC Power Mac G4 (QuickSilver 2002) Macintosh Server G4 (QuickSilver 2002) PowerBook G4 (DVI) iBook (14.1 LCD 16 VRAM) iBook (16 VRAM) AirPort Base Station (Dual Ethernet) I've also got a 20" G4 iMac and my wife uses at 14" iBook, both of which were previously added to the list. Supported or not, they're still useful -- check out this Macintosh Classic being used as a window display. Back in 1994 my employer had several SE/30's connected via LocalTalk, and we thought that was the baddest thing on the planet. Not to mention late-night games of Maelstrom and Glider Pro. Oh, memories. [Via HardMac]
Dissecting the top 5 Apple myths
One of my favorite podcasts is Stuff You Should Know [iTunes link]. Hosts Josh and Chuck (call him "Chuckers") are smart, funny and professional.* There's an article on the show's companion site this week that explores 5 myths about Apple. I encourage you to go and read it, but here are some highlights. "Apple is going out of business." If we had a dollar, nay, a penny for every time we heard that, we'd all be eating caviar in the South of France. While the funeral dirge may have been warranted in the '90s when Gil was building beige boxes, things have been going swimmingly since Steve returned with the iMac in tow. That doesn't stop pundits from making claims of Apple's demise, however. But they're greatly exaggerated. Myth number four on their list is that Apple can't survive without Steve Jobs. This has been a hot topic since Steve took medical leave and opinions are as numerous as stars in the galaxy. Our take in a nutshell: Apple will be just fine without Steve. We won't spoil the rest of the list for you, so go ahead and check it out. *Maybe I'll get a shout-out on an upcoming show for this post. What do you say, guys?
Here's your chance to own Gene Roddenberry's Mac
Update: OK, we have to hand it to all of you -- you have successfully pointed out that this Mac's model number isn't consistent with a Mac Plus, but instead with a 128K original Mac. We took that key fact back to the auction house that is listing this machine, and they did their own due diligence to come up with the following explanation: We've gotten several inquires about this by the fantastically loyal and knowledgeable Mac community. After further investigating the item, here's the information: Firstly, this Macintosh was, indeed, presented to Gene Roddenberry by Apple. There is no doubt about this. The conflict between the photo and the serial number is as follows. This computer, given by Apple to Mr. Roddenberry, is an early production Macintosh 128 (#776), which was then upgraded by Apple for Gene to a Macintosh Plus-thus the model number / serial number / panel that "belongs to" a Macintosh Plus. The 0001 led us to mistakenly believe that it was the first one off the line. Again, the provenance of the item is perfect and it did belong to Mr. Roddenberry. I apologize for any confusion. So, that's the story as we understand it. The headline has been adjusted to match the new information, and in turn we apologize for the error. ---- How would you like to own the first Macintosh Plus computer? By first, I mean the one with serial number F4200NUM0001, the Mac that was given by Apple to Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry. As you'll remember, a Mac Plus (presumably not this one) was used by Scotty in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Profiles in History, an auction house with a storied history of selling amazing Hollywood memorabilia, will be auctioning off the Mac Plus at their October 8-9 auction. While most of the attention will probably be focused on the Michael Jackson glove from the 1984 Victory Tour, Apple aficionados are invited to put in bids on this piece of Apple history. Here's the description of the Mac Plus from Profiles in History: This is the very first Macintosh Plus 1Mb personal computer to come off the assembly line at Apple Computer in Fresno, California. It was presented to Gene Roddenberry as a gift by Apple Computer, Inc. and bears the serial number F4200NUM0001. The Macintosh Plus was a revelation among personal computers when it came on the market in 1986. With 1 Mb RAM (upgradeable to 4Mb), it supported the double-sided floppy disk format and was the first Mac with a SCSI port for fast data transfer to and from an external hard drive. The Macintosh was the first mass produced computer to utilize the mouse and the Macintosh Plus was the longest-lived Macintosh with production until 1990. It features the beige-colored case with 9 in. display, 3.5 in. floppy drive and includes the short keyboard, external floppy drive, mouse and Apple logo deluxe padded carrying case. An incredible artifact with a wonderful association between the visionary computer designer/manufacturer and legendary Star Trek creator. Accompanied by a signed letter of provenance from Gene Roddenberry's son, Rod. The Mac Plus is expected to sell for $1000 - $1200, less than half of its original purchase price. A closeup photo of the computer showed definite signs of use, including the lovely sludge that tends to build up on keyboards and mice after years of handling. For a view of the Mac Plus in all of its beige (Pantone 453) glory, read on.
Interview with Apple logo designer Rob Janoff
There's a great interview at CreativeBits today with Rob Janoff, designer of the Apple logo. That simple Apple with the chunk bitten out is as iconic as the company and products it represents. The logo has undergone several tweaks over the years, from the original rainbow to the aqua version that accompanied the original iMacs to the glassy version we see today. Fanatics will remember that the logo was introduced with the Apple II in 1977. Rob talks about this and other insights into the design's history, like the fact that he originally presented only two versions of the logo to the Steves (Jobs and Wozniak): One with and one without the "bite." Other tidbits include why the original design had stripes and what the bite really represents. It's an interview worth reading. Rob has been interviewed many times before, naturally -- see these past conversations for more insight.
From a parallel universe: The Apple Cafe
If things had turned out just a bit differently in the late 1990's, we might not be visiting Apple Stores. Instead, we'd be talking about the food we ate and the movies we watched at the Apple Cafe.TUAW reader and Guifx Director of Operations Morgan Strauss told us about his post on the Guifx blog recalling a retail concept that Apple announced on November 12, 1996. No, they weren't planning on selling Macs, iPhones, iPods, and the occasional Apple TV -- instead, Apple announced that they were going to open a chain of Apple Cafes throughout the world.The Apple Cafe was to be a high-tech cybercafe where you could order healthy food while videoconferencing with people at nearby tables, surfing the Web, and pulling up movies or TV shows on a small kiosk screen at your table. Strauss owns two architectural paintings (below) that were produced by artists for Landmark Entertainment Group, which was partnering with Apple and a company called Mega Bytes International in the proposed venture. The paintings show the proposed 15,000 square foot Los Angeles location, which was to be the flagship of the chain. The concept was quietly scrapped before it ever got off the ground, which is probably fortunate considering the dwindling popularity of other theme restaurants. Be sure to visit the Guifx Blog to see the paintings in detail.
Newton among "Biggest Cults in Tech"
I'm proud to count myself among InfoWorld's Tech cult No. 7: The Tao of Newton. I'll confess that my 2100 has seen less action since I bought my iPhone, but it'll never be relegated to my basement wasteland where various Palms, Visors and even a 3Com Audrey dream of more useful days.Newton ownership is definitely not for everyone. it's big and takes some doing to get it to cooperate with contemporary hardware and software. But for the faithful it's a terrific piece of hardware. For more Newton information, check out The NewtonTalk mailing list. People either have the love or they don't. You can have mine when you pull it from my cold, dead hands.
TUAW 1986
Luxo Jr. gets Academy Award nominationEven though Steve Jobs is no longer with Apple, we're still interested in what he's doing. You'll remember that he bought a computer graphics company from director George Lucas last year (for a rumored $10 million), which he named "Pixar."We don't know how many units of the $135,000 Pixar Image Computer they've sold, but Pixar animator John Lasseter has put it to good use. The short film he produced, "Luxo, Jr." has been nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Animated Short Film category. Good luck, Pixar!Lisa gets the axeAfter several revisions and price cuts, the Lisa has been officially discontinued by Apple Computer. When it was released three years ago with an astounding price tag of $9,995 (Heck, the Tandy 600 is only $1599!) we were blown away. Not only by the cost, but by the machine itself. The mouse, the icons on the screen, that awesome trash can!Sales have declined over the past 12 months, and even a re-branding as the Macintosh XL last January didn't help. The Macintosh has been selling like hotcakes since its introduction two years ago, even though it lacks many of the Lisa's features, like protected memory, expansion slots and support for an impressive 2 megabytes of RAM.Goodbye, Lisa! We'll remember you.The AppleColor RGB Monitor is totally awesome at $499There are now several monitors available from Apple, and the granddaddy of them all is the AppleColor RGB Monitor at $499. This 12" analog monitor was designed for the Apple IIgs, and supports a resolution of 640x480 (Nice!). Those of you with a Macintosh II can also use this monitor, provided that you have the Apple High Resolution Display Video Card. The Apple Monochrome Monitor was introduced earlier this year for $129. The Macintosh Plus rocksFinally, we've got to talk about the Macintosh Plus. With a 8MHz Motorola 68000 processor and 1 megabyte of RAM (expandable to 4 megabytes), we're excited about this machine. Of course, the big news is the SCSI (or "Small Computer System Interface") peripheral bus and the new 3.5 inch double-sided 800 KB floppy drive.The SCSI port will allow for a nice collection of new ad-ons, like hard disks and tape drives. Of course, the double-sided floppies have twice the storage capacity as their predecessors while the drive itself is backwards compatible with older disks. Customers will find the software programs MacPaint and MacWrite bundled with their Macintosh Plus, which is great! You can pick up your very own for $2,599.
Remembering the TAM
Our friend Hadley Stern at Apple Matters reminds us that that on this day in 1997 the Twentieth Anniversary Mac (or TAM) was offered for sale to a mystified public. Originally slated to sell for about U.S. $9,000 it was reduced at introduction to U.S. $7499.00. It was delivered and set up by a concierge, and at the time it was pretty radical, at least in looks. It was a thin, upright design, with an 800x600 LCD screen, a TV Tuner, and a Bose Audio system with a sub-woofer and power supply that sat under your desk.Only 12,000 were made, but many remained unsold. The price soon dropped to $3500.00 and in March of 1998 it was closed out at $1999.00. That outraged original owners, and Apple responded by giving them a new Apple laptop.I was able to grab one of the TAMs at $1600.00 and at that price I thought at least it would make a nice music system and second computer. Unfortunately, the system developed a nasty audio buzz. I wasn't alone, and many of the units had to be returned for a fix.Performance specs weren't too great. It was limited to 128 MB of RAM. Most of the internals were similar to the components of the then current PowerMac 5500 and 6500, although the TAM had a custom motherboard. I added a processor upgrade sold by Newer Technology, which kicked the speed from 250 to 400 MHz. That helped, but the upgrade required a new back for the TAM that didn't enhance the slim profile. Of course the TAM was a statement computer, not a howling fast desktop. Here is a link to the specs. Although Steve Jobs was said to have hated the TAM (he was in exile from Apple at the time) you can see some of the early evolution of the iMac in the design.There are still quite a few of the TAMs out in the world, and there are some web sites dedicated to keeping the flame alive. You can't run OS X on them, so you had to max out at OS 8 or 9.Jerry Seinfeld had one, and it could be seen on the set of his TV show in the final season. I parted with mine long ago, but it was always a good conversation piece when people dropped by, and the 90's ultra-modern design doesn't look out of place at all today.Thanks to Apple Matters for reminding us about the TAM.
WWNC '09 official announcements and the 2010 bug
Each year, a crew of Newton users, developers and devotees gathers to celebrate the little green device, discuss projects, share resources and generally have fun. As a Newton owner myself, I've wanted to attend one of these for years.This summer's event features sessions by Grant Hutchinson, Ryan Vetter and (tentatively) Paul Guyot, who will discuss NPDS, modern uses of the Newton and the Einstein Project, respectively. You can get a full list of presentation topics here.One topic that I'm sure will be on everyone's mind is the 2010 bug. Briefly, the Newton's clock has a 17-year life, which was born in 1993 and ends in 2010. January 5, 2010 to be exact. Some users have reported erratic behavior when they've tried to schedule calendar events after that date, sometimes requiring a hard reset to escape. This seems to be limited to Newton OS 2.1 devices only.Eckhart Köppen is working on a fix, but it won't be easy, as a system patch will be required. Former Newton team engineer John Arkley had this to say in 1999:"...Building and testing a System Update is complex and expensive process and no single engineer could do it. The Newton OS only supports ONE system patch, so ALL the existing 'fixes' and any new ones have to be combined together to combined to create the 'next' System Update."Still, Eckhart feels it can be done. From what I know of him through the NewtonTalk mailing list, I'm inclined to believe him. In the meantime, check out the "Ramp Up Clip" to get yourself in the mood. WWNC '09 will take place from July 31st - August 2nd in Vancouver, BC, Canada.
On this day in 1985...
Sure, the Mac made a big splash back in January of 1984, but that didn't make it a popular desktop computer for the enterprise. Most companies looked at the Mac the same way they do now; as an overpriced toy that wasn't compatible with the IBM PCs of the day.What started sneaking Macs into corporations wasn't the color Mac II or the original Microsoft Excel. No, it was the Apple LaserWriter, which was introduced on March 3, 1985 at the everyday low price of $6,995. For the first time, companies and individuals could get high-quality black and white printouts of their documents from a fast, 300 dpi printer. The LaserWriter also introduced Adobe Postscript to a wider audience, as it was embedded in the raster image processor for the printer. The LaserWriter was the first printer to feature the AppleTalk Personal Network, so the expensive 8 page per minute printer could be shared with a workgroup.When you use your little sub-$100 black and white laser printer today, remember those hardy pioneers of the Mac world who sacrificed their wallets to eventually bring you low-cost laser printing.Thanks to Hadley for the tip![via Apple Matters]
"Chief Scientist" is an apt title for Woz
Apple co-founder, Segway polo player, date to the stars and über-nerd Steve Wozniak has accepted a position at Fusion-io. Specifically, he'll be the company's Chief Scientist.Fusion-io uses densely-packed clusters of flash memory chips in servers to enable them to find data very quickly. Woz has been serving on the board at Fusion-io, and recently asked for a larger role. "In this case, I like the people and the product, and said I would like some greater involvement," he told The New York Times. This will be Steve's first full-time job since he shut down Wheels of Zeus in 2006.Good luck, Steve! We're looking forward to seeing what's next.[Via Ars]
2009 World Wide Newton Conference announced
It's almost time for the annual tech event we all know and love. Not Macworld Expo, the World Wide Newton Conference! Started in 2004, the WWNC is a gathering of the most vocal and prolific members of the Newton Community. Projects that have come out of the WWNC include Einstein, a Newton OS emulator for Linux-based PDAs, and Newton WaveLAN drivers. For now, the website has launched and a call for participants has been issued. If you're interested in attending or presenting, you can contact the folks in charge at the official website. WWNC '09 will take place from July 31st - August 2nd in Vancouver, BC, Canada. If you attend, please let us know. Have fun!
Found footage: Remembering Lisa
Alfred DiBlasi is at it again. A few months ago, he impressed us with the Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh he found on ebay. What's impressive about that? It was still factory sealed. Never opened, never booted, never used. That's the kind of find that makes my beige, vintage heart flutter.This time around, he's playing with a vintage Lisa in an exhaustive demonstration video. Before booting it up, he takes it apart and discusses the innards, piece by piece.Next is the money shot as the computer boots up, and Alfred moves through the UI. It's a pretty cool demonstration of a nice piece of Apple history.Thanks for sharing, Alfred. What's next?
Flickr Find: Mac OS 10.0 UI
Reader and Flickr user ismh has posted a series of screenshots of Mac OS 10.0 to our Flickr pool. It was just seven years ago -- March of 2001 -- that Mac OS 10.0 was released to the waiting masses. I distinctly remember driving to my local authorized retailer to buy a copy, and then quickly rushing home to install it on my 333mhz G3 iMac.What I apparently fogot was how different the UI was. Remember the pinstripes? How about Sherlock? And don't miss the list of supported hardware, including the iBook, the PowerBook G3, The Power Macintosh G3 and the good 'ol Power Mac G4.I also remember slower-than-molasses performance and aqua lozenge buttons everywhere. Oh, Mac OS X. How you've changed.
Mystery Apple box
TUAW reader Gabriel Moore runs an Apple Certified Sales and Service store called Computer Evolution in Davenport, IA. He sent us a short note and link to a MobileMe Web Gallery with several pictures of a strange, Apple-labeled wooden box (picture above).Gabriel writes "One of our customers noticed that we have a small collection of Old Macs in my service department and thought That he would give me something to add to the collection... Problem is I have no idea what it is or why it has the Apple name. Is this an after market fan boy box or a real product from Apple Computer? Any help from the readers or you would be awesome."It looks like the 1980's Apple logotype, but I don't remember seeing a box like this anywhere. It's small enough that it could only contain something like an Apple IIc. Do any of you wonderful TUAW readers know what this box was used for? Let us know by leaving a comment below.Thanks to Gabriel for today's stumper!
Found footage: 20th Anniversary Mac intro video
Earlier this week, we pointed out an unboxing video of a pristine 20th Anniversary Mac. Of course, they're underpowered by today's standards, but many Apple collectors love them. To find one still sealed in its original factory box is a rare indeed.During the video, we got a look at the obnoxious introductory QuickTime that shipped with these things, which begins, "There are some things in life which capture one's soul." Capture my soul? You mean the TAM is a ghost trap? Check out the fancy CG graphics, self-important narration and the glinting TAM itself. Many thanks to propstoyou22 for sending us the video.
The 10th anniversary of the Newton's death
It was ten years ago today, February 27, 1998, that the Apple Newton was officially killed. During the five years that the Newt was in production it garnered nearly as many detractors as admirers, was the butt of jokes and set the ground work for Palm, Handspring and the like.There's still an active community of Newton users out there, and they've made some incredible accomplishments in those ten years, like: iTunes synchronization Web server Native sync with Mac OS X Blogging software WiFi support Phone It beat the Windows UMPC in CNet's head-to-head battle, and there's even been a successful port of the Newton OS to other handheld devices. The Newt is gone, but not really. Long live the green PDA!
