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Woz, Wigginton videos surface in 1984 user group talk treasure trove
TUAW reader Vince Patton provided us with several links to videos that he's uploading to YouTube. Patton's father had saved a VHS tape of a talk made by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak to the Denver Apple Pi computer club at the Colorado School of Mines on October 4, 1984, which Vince uncovered and is digitizing, cleaning up and uploading to YouTube for posterity. Among the gems on Patton's YouTube channel is Woz leading the attendees in the "Pledge of Apple Allegiance," which you can watch below. Another fascinating bit shows Randy Wigginton, Apple employee No. 6 and a key member of the original Macintosh team, telling the story of how the Finder software couldn't even copy a disk just four hours before the deadline for shipping the initial Mac software. Many thanks to Patton for doing such an incredible job of preserving these wonderful pieces of Apple history.
Snow Leopard: Party like it's 1998
On October 17, 1998 Apple released Mac OS 8.5, the first operating system that ran solely on Macintoshes with PowerPC processors. As far as system software upgrades go, this was the end of the line for any Mac built before the Power Macintosh 6100, introduced in March 1994. Earlier Macs ran on some variation of 680x0 processors and were supported mostly via emulation in a PowerPC environment. Emulation works, but it also slows things down. By 1998, Apple decided it just couldn't support 680X0 emulation for a number of reasons, but chiefly among them was speed. What happened was just what you would expect. In user groups, USENET and the Internet (which was only starting to explode), apoplectic non-PowerPC Mac owners threatened class action lawsuits and the rending of garments. Of course, most Power Mac users loved the newfound speed introduced in Mac OS 8.5, thanks to code optimized for PowerPC processors and jettisoned emulation support. It took Apple only four years to introduce the PowerPC chip and make any Mac without it obsolete. Technology moved on. In September Apple will release Snow Leopard, which will only run on Intel based Macs, thus cutting off PowerPC support. This time it took eleven years from inception to extinction (well, three for the Intel transition), but even so I can hear the hue and cry machine cranking up. Once again, the major reason for dropping legacy support is speed. Technology has moved on. Whenever something like this happens there is a potential for a marketing meltdown, but this time Apple is doing something brilliant. It is going to sell Snow Leopard for $29. When I saw this on the video stream of the WWDC keynote address my jaw dropped, my eyes glazed and only later did it start making sense to me. Apple first introduced Mac OS X in 2001, and excluding the free update to Mac OS X 10.1 from Mac OS X 10.0, a new version of the OS has been released roughly every 18 months, always at a price of $129. The sales pitch is always the same: with each new version, OS X gets new features and an "enhanced computing experience" which largely depended upon how much you like the new features. Mac OS X 10.6 will be the fifth major release in eight years, and some users are complaining about feature overload. There will always be users who want four ways to do the same thing, but for others, feature-laden releases are overwhelming and the glimmer and excitement of a new OS X release has faded. What a perfect time to work under the hood, set up the core of the operating system for the future and stabilize what's already there! But of course you can't make everyone happy. I would expect a large group of users to not be mollified by a nicer QuickTime and an improvement to Stacks. In effect, where's the beef? The beef is under the hood this time.
Mac User Groups on the Wane
Australia's Sydney Morning Herald has an article today about the decline of Mac User Groups. Once the force that brought Apple enthusiasts together to share their interests and expertise, the social face-to-face in-person MUGs are dying out and being replaced by online resources. "People work longer hours, have less leisure time and are less inclined to join clubs for social reasons," the SMH quotes Noel Jackling. User groups are apparently getting smaller and grayer.
Announcement: User Group Roundup
Do you help run an Apple-themed User Group? Do you have any upcoming December 2006 meetings or special events? Please let us know via our Tips form by the end of next week to be included in the TUAW December User Group social calendar. Send complete details about your meetings or events, including locations and directions as well as contact information. Special-interests groups such as Final Cut Pro or Developers are welcome as are more general Mac- or iPod-themed get-togethers. Looking for an Apple User Group in your area? Visit Apple's User Group locator page to search by state, zip code or country.
Society Page: Washington Apple Pi presents Adding Music to iLife on 18 November
Going to be in the Washington DC area this Saturday? Washington user group Apple Pi is hosting Raul de Arriz of Absolute Mac who will give a talk on integrating iLife projects with music. Pat Fauquet, Apple Pi VP for Programs says, "Adding music to photo albums, videos, web photo albums or by adding podcast theme music takes your production a giant step closer to professional-quality products." The User Group session starts at 8:30 AM followed by special interest group meet-ups. de Arriz's presentation kicks off at 10AM. Microsoft Innovation & Technology Center, 12012 Sunset Hills Road, Reston, VA, 20190
