After looking through all the files in the System Folder last episode, we couldn't help ourselves and had to open up some of them in ResEdit. We realized that a lot of classic "hacks" are now standard features…and we found a few Easter eggs along the way. Links for this episode: e31 – The System Folder Voodoo Mac [Amazon] MacAddict issue #5 Apple's official ResEdit Reference icon customization utilities IconDropper [WayBack] iControl [WayBack] Candybar ( now unsupported freeware ) Kaleidoscope '...
Feb 13, 2016•1 hr 15 min
This episode is all about the software that made the classic Mac tick. We take a full tour of the System Folder's contents and how they were meant to be manipulated by users…although maybe not with ResEdit. ¿Follow in? Susan Kare at Layers 2015 System fonts on Medium System Folder in System 1 option-F System Folder protection removed in Mac OS 9 System Folder contents Finder System suitcase Font/DA Mover MacTCP DNR ImageWriter driver Apple Menu Items Control Panels orignally Control Panel (singu...
Jan 30, 2016•1 hr 28 min
We celebrate the 10th anniversary of the first Intel-based Macs, which were released in January of 2006. Always on the quest for more performance per watt, we contemplate Apple's big hardware and software transitions of the past, present, and even the future! Followup Panic's boxed software: MacMP3 512 Pixels: iLife and iWork boxes keyboard followup: Palm OS AlphaSmart Dana Earlier transitions 68K to PPC Motorola 68000 series processors PowerPC plans to introduce PowerPC on the Mac's 10th birthd...
Jan 16, 2016•1 hr 8 min
It's a Boxing Day special all about when software came in boxes (or cans, sometimes). We cover everything from staid operating system packaging to odd un-stackable shapes to wild, fictional shareware box art. Followup Prince of Persia original for Apple II iOS port terrible movie [ The Flop House podcast ] Kid Pix - The Early Years Super Solvers: Gizmos & Gadgets! download from Macintosh Garden Apple Software MacWrite MacPaint cf. Illustrator – Birth of Venus PC Exchange Sistine Chapel – Cre...
Dec 26, 2015•1 hr 10 min
We review some of the best software for kids on the Apple II and the Classic Mac, most of which we grew up with. Along the way we die of dysentery (not really), pursue a sticky-fingered filcher, and put "something on that I don't like!" Followup Momoko Kikuchi aka "Japanese Ellen Feiss" the Simplicity Shootout guy reveals himself MECC The MECC Software Repository the Trails Oregon Trail play online [Internet Archive] Oregon Trail II (CD-ROM) – download what survives on iOS Yukon Trail – download...
Dec 12, 2015•1 hr 18 min
In this episode we cover 20+ years of Mac and iPod advertising, from Big Brother's grey dystopia to Jony Ive's white room and beyond. Links for this episode: Apple's YouTube channel the beginning: 1984 Chiat/Day Big Brother 1985: Lemmings the interregnum (1985–1997) Mac OS 8 multitasking ad Mission Impossible Sony's current Bond tie-in MI: The Web Adventure [WayBack] "The Business Macintosh" Ive and Jobs take over 30 years of Mac ads in 60 seconds Ive talks about the TAM Think Different Rob Silt...
Nov 28, 2015•1 hr 26 min
To celebrate our first anniversary, we're joined by Stephen Hackett of relay.fm and 512 Pixels. We talk about the different ways we came to the Mac, some of the weirder things in our Apple collections, and the importance of archiving technology for the future. Also part of our anniversary celebrations, Simple Beep t-shirts are available! Stephen Hackett relay.fm 512pixels.net @ismh Links for this episode David Pogue Power Macintosh G3 All-in-one Quark Xpress dongle version 4 version 5 OS X Serve...
Nov 14, 2015•1 hr 18 min
This episode is all about "the best-loved application for the Mac", ClarisWorks. We remember a simpler age of word processing, not understanding how the "New document" command or pixels worked, and some difficult transitions in our productivity workflows. Links for this episode: Easter eggs followup Bruce the Wonder Yak Flickr secret about box Swarm badge vault Claris MacDraw , MacPaint , MacWrite Claris Em@ailer Claris Home Page HyperCard ( versions 2.0–2.2 ) HyperCard Player v2.1 ("magic" tric...
Oct 24, 2015•1 hr 36 min
In this episode we go on a hunt for some of the hidden "features" of classic Macs. It's a menagerie of iguanas, gerbils, pigs, dogcows, tiny swords, and more! Easter eggs Adventure - one of the first easter eggs Current / recent "Here's to the crazy ones…" Blue Screen of Death icons Speech Siri: 0 ÷ 0 In hardware original Macintosh signatures Macintosh SE team photo Excalibur on the G3 chip In system software About the Finder Silicon valley --> Clarus animation OS 8.5 pre-release credits ResE...
Oct 10, 2015•48 min
This episode we explore the emergence of whole industries to create accessories for the original iMac and early iPods, including everything from floppy drives to FM radio transmitters to really ugly blue plastic and other dumb ideas. Links for this episode: iMac accessories Bondi Blue and other flavors Imation SuperDisk Apple SuperDrives iMac mouse iCatch High Tech Transparent GameBoy MacALLY iProducts [WayBack] Griffin iMate Apple Desktop Bus AEK II to iPad gPort ugly blue plastic Epson Stylus ...
Sep 26, 2015•58 min
In this episode we talk about all kinds of widgets, gadgets, and little software thingamabobs. We discuss what qualifies as an app, how to hack together a Konfabulator widget, and hardware accelerated ripples. Links for this episode: followup YoruFukorou means "night owl" etymology of "widget" (OED) 1937 E. Lyons Assignment in Utopia (1938) iii. iii. 299 Every time the percentage of widgets turned out by her factory rose her features shone. window widgets desk accessories Chooser Font/DA Mover M...
Sep 13, 2015•1 hr 8 min
We're joined by visual artist and icon/emoji creator Brian Brasher, perhaps better known as Etherbrian. We talk about making vectors and pixels of all sorts, getting $2 in the mail from strangers, the genius of bell peppers, and various objects worn as hats. Brian Brasher portfolio @etherbrian Links for this episode: Simple Beep e18 – Icon Mania! Etherknot [WayBack] Ikthusian Performa 600CD iMac Bondi blue Aldus Freehand MacAddict CD archive Macworld Mac Secrets eBoy members.aol.com/etherbrian [...
Aug 29, 2015•50 min
This episode we explore the history of Adium, the venerable open-source messaging app for OS X. We trace the evolution of the duck, get Ed's obscure feature requests implemented, and eventually move all our chat needs to iOS. followup theories about the new iTunes icon 32-bit icon editors Icon Machine Iconographer Icon Builder Eyeballs.js Adium instant messaging application for OS X is it [ eɪdiəm ] or [ ædiəm ]? AOL Instant Messenger for classic Mac OS bad reviews for OS X version iChat extreme...
Aug 15, 2015•1 hr 3 min
This episode we talk with Erin McKean, founder of online dictionary Wordnik, about her history of processing and analyzing words with NeXT boxes, OS/2, and the Mac. We discuss self-identifying as a programmer, HyperCard qualifying as math, and hardcoded Danish comments. Links for this episode: Erin McKean Wordnik Adopt-a-Word @emckean erinmckean.com Erin's talks: TED , XOXO , The Linguistics of JavaScript on The Setup Pascal NeXT computers Scott Foresman publishing OS/2 CompuServe HyperCard iOS ...
Aug 01, 2015•1 hr 7 min
This episode we cover 30 years of icon design, from black and white pixel art all the way to today's gorgeous, full-screen, retina eye candy. Along the way we encounter some FatBits, creatures that go "Moof!", and deep levels of icon-ception. Links for this episode: Followup new iTunes icon! Icon history Susan Kare MacPaint toolbox System 1 control panel FatBits "Pixel perfect: The golden age of icons was 32x32" Ed's Copland folder variations [ download ] clip2icns "Hard Drive Icons Through the ...
Jul 18, 2015•1 hr 31 min
Brian and Ed share their top ten picks of fun "utilities" for the classic Mac. Ranging from useful to totally impractical, we cover flying toasters, beloved muppets, butchers of song, and more. Links for this episode: followup realMyst Masterpiece Edition [ MAS ] [ Steam ] Eyeballs color version: MyEyes OS X versions Eyeballs 3.3 Eyes [MAS] Javascript version: eyeballs Insanity Zipple original documentation Gravité asciiMac winner of MacHack 1998 official homepage After Dark CSS version (include...
Jun 20, 2015•1 hr
This episode we link back to Myst Island, scene of one of the all-time classic games to be developed and premiere on the Mac. We discuss our impressions of Myst's gameplay and greater mythology, have an Accidental Incomparable episode about The Myst Reader , and forget which one is Atrus and which one is Aitrus. Links for this episode: Myst Wikipedia official site development Making of Myst video HyperCard Color Tools Quadra Stratavision 3D Macromedia MacroModel Photoshop 1.0 25 years of Photosh...
Jun 06, 2015•1 hr 30 min
This episode we talk with Jonathan Zufi, creator of Shrine of Apple and Iconic: A Photographic Tribute to Apple Innovation . He tells us about his Apple II clone from down under, coming back to the Mac after a long hiatus, and — of course — how he tracked down and photographed some of the most elusive Apple hardware on the planet. Links for this episode: Jonathan Zufi Iconic [ website ] [ Amazon ] Shrine of Apple @shrineofapple Shrine of Apple on Facebook early experiences with Apple Wombat clon...
May 23, 2015•1 hr 13 min
Our history of iTunes continues, picking up with major updates introduced in version 4 and making it all the way to the present day. We discuss awkward definitions of podcasting, ill-fated products and features, and serious controversy in icon design. Audio note: We're sorry that Ed's audio for this episode was improperly recorded and is of lower quality than usual. We'd like to thank the following people for helping us clean up the recording so we could still release this episode. Jason Snell ,...
May 09, 2015•2 hr 3 min
We chronicle the launch and early history of iTunes, from the acquisition of SoundJam up through version 3.0. Along the way we unearth bizarre Apple web services, people go crazy over burn folders, and Steve Jobs slips up. Links for this episode: The "i-" prefix iMac – 1998 iCEO – 2000 iMovie and the iMac DV HomePage movie sharing features iTools press release iReview [WayBack Machine] iTunes 1.0 Macworld Expo San Francisco 2001 keynote MacLife: "The Complete iTunes History" Power Mac G4 "digita...
Apr 25, 2015•1 hr 38 min
Before streaming, we listened to music on our Macs from CDs and low-quality MP3s found in shady corners of the Internet. This episode, Ed and Brian tell the Audion story, declare themselves children of the filesystem generation, and struggle to pronounce the word "earbuds". Links for this episode: followup Apple ID password reset Connected 1 on the history of the iPod aborted home folder on iPod feature pre-iPod music players Brian's CD player: Panasonic SL-S360 Brian's wall of CD covers jukebox...
Apr 11, 2015•1 hr 39 min
We conclude our coverage of Triumph of the Nerds, finally reaching the famous "sugar water" quote. Come learn how Microsoft did everything right, Apple permanently lost its soul, and Oracle wound up dominating the internet…or not. Links for this episode: previously on Simple Beep: part 1 and part 2 watch part 3 online: [ YouTube ] [ archive.org ] Windows 95 launch event Xerox PARC history Xerox Alto Jason Snell's print preview demo Steve Jobs' Reality Distortion Field PARC innovations borrowed b...
Mar 29, 2015•1 hr 1 min
This is the episode when we don't talk about Apple much. (Sorry!) We cover Triumph of the Nerds part 2, including IBM's reactions to the success of the Apple II, Steve Ballmer gesticulating wildly, and Microsoft trying to be nimble. Links for this episode: frog dot gif Triumph of the Nerds official site watch episode 2 online [ YouTube ] [ archive.org ] the IBM song book David Pogue ( @pogue ) tech-themed song spoofs PBS NOVA: Making Stuff series sequel: Making More Stuff Digital Research CP/M o...
Mar 21, 2015•42 min
We embark on watching the classic PBS documentary mini-series Triumph of the Nerds. We learn a little we didn't know about the early history of Apple, get excited with Woz, and facepalm with Jobs over the many offensive things that got said and done in the computer industry 20+ years ago (and, sadly, still today). Links for this episode: EV followup Naev Starsector SpaceSimCentral shoutouts to other Apple history podcasts Welcome to Macintosh RetroMacCast Robert X. Cringely aka Mark Stephens Inf...
Mar 14, 2015•59 min
We go on a galactic adventure with one of our favorite Mac shareware games, Escape Velocity by Ambrosia Software. We encounter delightful pop culture references, everyone's favorite parrot space pirate, and — of course — the most destructive forklift in the universe. Links for this episode: Escape Velocity official site Ambrosia Software pre-EV releases Maelstrom ( Asteroids clone) Chiral (original) Apeiron ( Centipede clone) Swoop ( Galaxian clone) Barrack ( JezzBall clone) utilities: Snapz Pro...
Feb 28, 2015•1 hr 20 min
We remember how we first got on the internet on the Mac in the early 90s (hint: it came on a floppy disk in the mail). Then we recall the rise and fall of eWorld, getting Sherlocked, and other classic Mac OS internet essentials. Links for this episode: Feedback on keyboards @petebocken's wall-mounted keyboard collection The curious case of the disappearing Polish S S-video and ADB are both mini-DIN connectors eMate keyboard AlphaSmart America Online version timeline our screen names Brian: bds b...
Feb 14, 2015•1 hr 29 min
Our first foray into Macintosh hardware, we examine a part of the Mac we often take for granted: the keyboard. We wind back the clock all the way to the Apple II to uncover all sorts of oddities including the BELL key, "open Apple", buckling springs, and chiclets galore. apple ][ keyboard Macintosh Keyboard (M0110) Apple Standard Keyboard Apple Standard Keyboard II Apple Extended Keyboard II AppleDesign Keyboard Apple USB Keyboard (iMac) Lombard bronze keyboard iBook keyboard Apple Pro Keyboard ...
Jan 31, 2015•1 hr 26 min
We revisit At Ease, the multiple user management system in System 7. Our discussion of its interface leads us on a historical journey through Apple's 22-year quest to perfect a grid of buttons. Links for this episode: At Ease Wikipedia Apple wikia info and screenshots BeOS pegman System 7.1P Extensions Manager At Ease FAQ Students are holding down the space bar at startup to open the Extensions Manager. Then they disable (deselect. At Ease Startup. The next time the computer restarts, it goes st...
Jan 17, 2015•53 min
In a stocking-stuffer-sized holiday special we remember Merryxmas and other HyperCard viruses. Happy holidays! Links for this episode: HyperCard "HyperCard was introduced by Apple in 1987. It shipped for free on all Macs. HyperCard was difficult to explain then, and -- to some degree -- remains so today." from Apple's Lost Decade on ZDNet Myst (made with HyperCard) wiki entry official site (iOS and Steam ports available!) Riven (the epic 5CD or 1 DVD sequel) HyperTalk scripting language XCMDs (e...
Dec 24, 2014•25 min
Ed tells the story of his efforts to make System 7 look like Yosemite by creating his own Kaleidoscope scheme. In the process, he remembers just how painful it was to work in a fragile, crashy, data-loss-prone OS. Links for this episode: Last episode: intro to Kaleidoscope ResEdit the large cicn hack clip2cicn waferbaby's pixhell cartoons software and tools for editing schemes University of Michigan software archive Emaculation K official site "tools and goodies" includes Pink Elephants, Scheme ...
Dec 13, 2014•53 min
