We're celebrating another major milestone in Apple history: the 20th anniversary of the announcement of the iPod. We cover its incredibly rapid development, its worldwide popularity, and the fact that we still carry widescreen iPods with touch controls today. Development The History of iTunes, part 1 and part 2 development timeline tweet Tony Fadell interview at Computer History Museum physical design styrofoam model BeoCom 6000 phone Braun T3 pocket radio technology Toshiba 1.8" hard drives Fir...
Oct 22, 2021•1 hr 25 min•Ep. 90
We're back with a special episode to mark the 20th anniversary of Mac OS X. We remember what it was like to enter the lickable world of Aqua, leave behind our Classic apps, and grow with macOS over two decades. If you want to keep listening to Brian and Ed, check out their current podcast, One More Thing ! Pre-release e81 – The NeXT Transition Mac OS X Server Developer Preview 1 Developer Preview 3 the infamous menu Apple the also infamous single-application mode Public Beta Music Player Audion ...
Mar 24, 2021•1 hr 44 min•Ep. 89
In our final regular episode, we celebrate a great milestone: the 10th anniversary of the introduction of the iPad. Follow Up General Magic site still live (thanks, @cabel !) breaking news being desktop-published Fetch Before the iPad Multi-touch our iPhone at 10 episode Apple v. Samsung Steve's "design brief" Debug 41: Nitin Ganatra episode III: iPhone to iPad The Keynote videos on Apple Archive never mind on YouTube Stephen Hackett watches the keynote "Last time there was this much excitement ...
Jan 27, 2020•2 hr•Ep. 88
This episode we cover the desktop publishing revolution, the Apple-led trifecta that kicked it off in the late '80s, and how it's evolved over three decades. For a holiday bonus, Ed talks about how he used a Mac to design and lay out his family's Christmas cards in the '90s. And finally, we wrap up the year with an announcement. Follow Up Icras DataRover 840 ran Magic Cap engadget product page user manual PDF As the Apple Turns — in reruns! early version of "40 in 40" Wonderful Tools (2019) Desk...
Dec 14, 2019•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 87
A team of ex-Apple engineers in the early 90s made a product that flopped worse than the Newton but might be the reason we have iPhones today. We look at the little-known history of General Magic and the newly released documentary about the company. Follow Up "Bungie's Humble Beginnings" video General Magic the documentary iTunes link early Macworld writeup Flint Center 2019 announcement of demolition The Aspen Institute folklore.org room metaphor Glider KidDesk Microsoft Bob first use of cloud ...
Nov 02, 2019•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 86
Apple hardly ever gives away information about upcoming products…unless you believe that there are secret clues in hidden places. We look at what Apple may (or may not) have signaled in event invitations and product codenames over the years. Follow Up QuickTake photos in 2019 RIP Ambrosia Software final WayBack capture ambrosia-archive EV Override rewrite Kremlinology event invitations roundups at The Verge and Oak Innovations iPod – "Hint: It's not a Mac" iPod nano – change pocket iPod video – ...
Sep 28, 2019•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 85
Apple's online presence has evolved significantly since the days of the early web. From rainbow imagemaps to WebObjects to epic scrolljacking, we tour the technology and content of Apple dot com. Follow Up Easter eggs James Thompson's talk Spitfire discovery… …and caveat the final word on ProDOS more mods G5 tower desk G5-style Cube optical drive in a Disk II Ed's Apple history quiz apple.com Version Museum gallery Kevin Fox's screenshot HTML <map> tag flat redesign QuickTime 4 host of Sta...
Aug 24, 2019•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 84
Brian made a summer project of putting a Mac Mini in a Macintosh Classic and it got us thinking about all kinds of mods people have done with old Apple hardware. Besides the "Classic Mini", we cover Macquariums, unexpected iLamps, weight-bearing cheese graters, and more. Follow Up ProDOS Mac OS 9 code names Moonlight Sonata Mac OS 8 color pickers Destiny corrections (thanks @siracusa!) Mac Mods Brian's Classic Mini Raspberry Pi in a Classic 8-inch LCD panel 3D printing to the rescue retr0bright ...
Jul 13, 2019•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 83
The announcement of the 2019 Mac Pro got us thinking about what Apple has called "Pro" in the past. That includes incredibly expensive hard drives, printers with RAM slots, an OS patch release, and even its employees! Follow Up Taligent screenshots General Magic preorder Voice Control ( e38 ) new New York ( e71 ) old New York on our shirts Ed's Mac Pro pricing article Pro Hardware ProFile hard drive LaserWriter Pro and StyleWriter Pro Pro. Go. Whoa. Pro Speakers , Mouse , and Keyboard MacBook Pr...
Jun 15, 2019•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 82
Follow Up Dashboard going away in macOS 10.15 Dashboard widget gallery documentaries General Magic screenings Before Macintosh kickstarter Taligent, Copland, and Mac OS 8 Aqua and Bondi book Blue and Pink Blue Meanies Taligent Copland delays Aaron Copland Aaron extension NeXT NeXTSTEP also considered: BeOS Steve Jobs demos NeXTSTEP 3 NeXTSTEP v. Mac OS X screenshot megathread Dock DragThing Fitt's Law Services Quick Actions in macOS Mojave Grab Chess Interface Builder Becoming Mac OS X Apple cod...
May 18, 2019•1 hr 29 min•Ep. 81
As Apple turns its attention to TV and movies, so do we! In this episode we pick our favorite appearances by Macs and other Apple products on the big and small screens. Follow Up Mighty Mouse speaker Halo Universal Binary upgrade HaloMD Draft Sources Starring the Computer Macs in Movies Draft Picks Performa 600 from Blank Check Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh from Seinfeld Macintosh Portable from Salute Your Shorts Apple II from LOST with Apple III monitor EXECUTE key Quadra 700 from Jurassic Pa...
Apr 06, 2019•53 min•Ep. 80
This episode is all about the venerable game developer Bungie and how they got their start on the Classic Mac. We cover all their titles, including a trio of Marathons, terrible code names, and the coolest game Steve Jobs had ever seen. Follow Up Talking Moose is coming back scary moose Bungie Alex Seropian and Jason Jones Operation Desert Storm the game the military campaign Minotaur: The Labyrinths of Crete 7 Steps to World Domination Pathways Into Darkness Mac App Store port Marathon creative...
Feb 23, 2019•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 79
Apple has been building computers — and standalone products — with sound capabilities for over 40 years. We discuss 1-bit audio, incredible hardware hacks, usable and unusable old speakers, a CD drive with a horrible logo, and even the HomePod. News and Follow Up Macintosh Garden main site mirror on Internet Archive classic Word on The Talk Show history of AppleLink (from Eric Schwarz) confusing MacWrite version numbers Speakers Apple II's 1-bit speaker Macintosh 128K's 8-bit speaker sound as vi...
Jan 19, 2019•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 78
This episode, we trace the evolution of Mac word processing from MacWrite to the present. Along the way we find a secret moose, complain about Microsoft, and learn that some apps have true staying power. Evelyn Berezin, inventor of the first word processor TeachText readme files Stickies Antler Notes OS X application Dashboard widget SimpleText TextEdit source code Cocoa standard text controls vertical text MacWrite 5 versions Claris e25 – The Works "MacWorks" name internet archive emulator page...
Dec 15, 2018•1 hr 39 min•Ep. 77
For our 4th anniversary episode, we return to our roots of discussing classic Mac sound design. We cover the tragic backstory of the Wild Eep, the immortal Sosumi, the poorly named "ChuToy", and much more. Follow Up Shirts coming back! Alert Sounds original Control Panel the Simple Beep tone HyperCard and other sound formats Quack and Sosumi origins Duck application Sosumi CSS Wild Eep's sad story "The Natural Eep" Kaboom Apple's SimpleSound utility "Wish List: New Mac Alert Sounds" Moof...
Nov 17, 2018•56 min•Ep. 76
This episode we revisit MacAddict magazine and its freakin' awesome coverage of the Apple world in the late '90s. Follow Up 25th anniversary Myst playthrough Part 1 Part 2 New receipt and luggage emoji easter eggs Wi-Fi adopts version numbers Rumor mill follow-up "Asteroid" honeypot rumor "Super Secret Apple Rumors" GarageBand demo MacAddict Magazine Archives Issues 1–112 on the Internet Archive Issues 113–125 on Kiwidget Mac|Life early issues official website Attitude. "Hey look it's a PC!" " T...
Oct 20, 2018•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 75
A quick announcement: We'll be doing our first live event on Twitch, on Monday September 24 at 8:30 PM Eastern time. We'll be streaming Myst on its 25th birthday! Follow Ed's Twitch account for broadcast notifications or watch on our new Live page . Catch up on our previous Myst coverage: e16 – Myst e63 – Mysterium...
Sep 23, 2018•51 sec
With an iPhone event right around the corner, the Apple rumor mill is operating at full capacity. We examine how this important part of the Apple world got to where it is today, from wild speculations, to Apple lawsuits, to outright hoaxes. Follow Up Where in North Dakota is Carmen Sandiego? Airport 2 on iPod Hi-Fi Love Notes to Newton Rumor Sites Mac OS Rumors As the Apple Turns Wired – "MIA: Jack Miller" short-lived relaunch AppleInsider Think Secret Nick "DePlume" Ciarelli Mac mini rumor MacR...
Sep 08, 2018•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 74
We celebrate the 20th anniversary of the release of the original iMac, tracing how the revolutionary Bondi gumdrop evolved into flagship desktop Mac of today. Follow Up Steve Jobs App Store interview Love Notes to Newton now available History of the iMac line iMac G3 Simple Beep e39 Stephen Hackett's iMacs at the Ford Museum Simple Beep e23 Not quite. iMac G4 leaked in TIME magazine design introduction at Macworld SF 2002 "tongue" ad Pixar's Luxo Jr. Apple Pro Speakers iSub and SoundSticks iMac ...
Aug 11, 2018•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 73
We celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the App Store launching on July 10, 2008. After a brief history of the store itself, we pick some of our favorite, most influential early iOS apps. Follow up: Apple Causal Ink The Sweet Solution Steve's announcement Gruber's take Phil Schiller's reaction [🤬 audio] PastryKit App Store launch There's an App for That Timeline of App Store changes Our app picks Pandora Ed's Pandora setup PandoraJam Facebook Springboard-like interface Joe Hewitt 's Three20 "Fa...
Jul 14, 2018•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 72
👕 Buy a shirt! 👕 Great typography has been part of Apple products since the original Macintosh. From 1-bit wonders to Thinking Different in Garamond to SF Mono, we examine decades of Apple's fonts on screen and in print. Follow Up QuickTime getting deprecated QuickTime 7 vs. X Vox Plus twitter bot Typography "Hidden Sheep and Typography Archaeology" specimens on GitHub font files on GitHub Early Macintosh Fonts suitcase list of original Mac fonts Susan Kare at Layers 2015 Where in the World is...
Jun 16, 2018•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 71
Apple has officially discontinued its AirPort line of wireless products after nearly 20 years(!) We examine how our Wi-Fi has evolved from the original iBook until today. Follow Up hire Ed! Douglas Adams’s DragThing feature request e42 Frontier coverage on Daring Fireball Cancel/OK sticky notes Apple Glyph a Day AirPort Apple Abandons Development of Wireless Routers – Bloomberg final cancellation 802.11 standards Wi-Fi Alliance AirPort intro at MacWorld NY 1999 iBook G3 Phil Schiller’s death dro...
May 12, 2018•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 70
Apple's March 2018 event highlighted how they've been working in the education space for over 40 years. We pick some of our favorite products and programs they've developed for schools, students, and teachers. Follow Up The Secret History of Mac Gaming ambrosiasw.com not dead! Hardware Macintosh LC family At Ease All-in-one Power Macintosh 5200 LC eMate our Newton episode AlphaSmart Stephen Hackett's AlphaSmart video G3 all-in-one "Molar Mac" eMac laptop charging carts iBook cart on Low End Mac ...
Mar 31, 2018•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 69
The transition from Classic Mac OS to OS X was difficult for many users who felt like OS X removed their favorite features. Enter a little company named Unsanity, who solved those problems and created new ones. Follow Up Ed interviewed in 512 Pixels member newsletter BASIS 108 at Apple Muzeum Polska Unsanity and Haxies Interview with founder Slava Karpenko music players Karpenko worked on MacAMP and MacAMP Lite Unsanity Echo Unsanity Mint Audio early Haxies WindowShade (original) WindowShade X A...
Feb 17, 2018•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 68
To start 2018 off right, we run through our wish lists of what we'd like to see from Apple — in years past. What will System 7 bring? What will the iPod Phone look like? And will Apple ever make a TV set? Follow Up 1st gen iPod nano recall MacBook Pro "Staingate" Kaleidoscope scheme Twitter bot Wish Lists1991 68040 processor Quadras System 7 no more MultiFinder or Switcher Publish and Subscribe QuickTime 1.0 was great PowerBook 100 , 140 , 170 1994 PowerPC 601 processor NuBus PC compatibility ca...
Jan 13, 2018•1 hr 52 min•Ep. 67
We love Apple products, but not all of them have been perfect. We remember some of the worst, including exploding batteries, corrupt data, crumbling plastics, and more. Follow Up The Origin of HyperCard in the Breakdown of the Bicycle of the Mind video of talk article format WhatTheFont updated Macintosh XL's demise XProtect Hardware Failures Apple /// "100% hardware failure" Woz quote Dan Kottke's "fix" Macintosh II ROM not 32-bit clean Rev A ROM now rare Powerbook 5300 🔋💥 NiMH replacements G...
Dec 02, 2017•1 hr 5 min
On iPhone X release day, we cover Apple's many uses — and pronunciations — of the Roman numeral. Follow Up 32 bit apps Ford Remote Access (now 64-bit) Cabel Sasser's 32-bit list App management back in iTunes 12.6.3 five total Mac architectures MODE32 licensing X hardware Macintosh XL MacWorks XL [YouTube] Macintosh IIx , IIcx , IIvx , IIfx Mac SE/30 (not SEx) Xserve Xsan X software Mac OS X System 1…skip a few…6, 7, 8and9 X box art related software BootX Xgrid X11 Xcode current version original ...
Nov 03, 2017•1 hr 2 min
It's our 64th episode and big 64-bit changes are coming to iOS as we record, so there's no better time discuss Apple's architecture changes over the years (and to begin talking about "classic iOS apps"). Way of the future. Apple embraces the past iOS 11 rainbow wallpapers rainbow Apple Park shirts Face ID logo = Happy Mac 32-bit Macs Motorola 68000 32-bit era of video games the "Megahertz Myth" [YouTube] 32-bit Addressing on Older Macs "32-bit clean" 32-bit QuickDraw 64-bit transition G5 was "th...
Sep 16, 2017•57 min
Brian went to Mysterium, the annual Myst fan convention, and brings back stories of Cyan's history, their latest game, and a huge fan project. And in a mega follow up segment, we cover many more emoji easter eggs. Follow Up The Emoji Movie is terrible Ellen Feiss keynote cold open Big City vs. SimCity HyperCard on the Internet Archive blog post Phil Schiller tweet submit your own stacks More Emoji Easter Eggs Gruber notices Swift on 🏎 Johnny Appleseed Karl the Fog F Market & Wharves streetc...
Aug 19, 2017•1 hr 6 min
Inspired by World Emoji Day, we take a look at various bits of history that Apple has hidden in its emoji artwork. It's the reason for the season. Follow Up What Apple Thought the iPhone Might Look Like in 1995 original MacWorld article Vintage Apple Macintosh Software Archive World Emoji Day Emojipedia iCal introduction early emoji (DoCoMo etc.) Infinite Loop 2 Cupertino bus routes [PDF] Half Dome Why Apple Watch shows 10:09 "Here's to the crazy ones…" Johnny Appleseed "emoji everywhere" proven...
Jul 29, 2017•44 min
