DOCSLIB.ORG

Twiggy Lives! Resurrecting the Oldest Mac in the World

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Twiggy Lives! Resurrecting the Oldest Mac in the World Twiggy Lives! Resurrecting the Oldest Mac in the World [caption align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="Working 128k Macintosh with 5.25" Twiggy floppy disk drive"] [/caption] On January 24, 1984, Apple Computer introduced Macintosh. A revolutionary all-in-one computer with a 9" screen, an electronic rodent called a mouse, and a 3.5" floppy disk drive. This was the very first Macintosh, and many survive to this day. But before this Mac was another, slightly different design. One that used the 5.25" Twiggy floppy disk drive, the same that was used in the Apple Lisa. These drives were notoriously unreliable and were soon replaced by the Sony 3.5" disk. Only a few Twiggy Mac prototypes were made, and until recently it was thought that none survived. Then in 2012, a Twiggy Mac resurfaced. It was found, privately sold, made a few appearances on eBay, then again dropped out of the sight. Since then a second Twiggy Mac was located, and their owners embarked on an all out effort to resurrect these long lost pieces of Macintosh history. Now in 2013, with the premiere of the film Jobs, two Twiggy Macs return to life in full working glory. They are - without a doubt - The Oldest Macs in the World. Here is the story of their resurrection. The Twiggy Was Doomed, the Mac Was Not The Apple Lisa began shipping to customers in June 1983, even though there were major reliability problems with its two 5.25" Twiggy disk drives. Many of the drives didn't work and manufacturing yields were low. These problems nearly derailed the Lisa program, and the Twiggy was only viable because the Lisa also shipped with an external hard drive. The Mac was also supposed to use the Twiggy drive, but panic began to set in when everyone realized they just weren't going to be reliable enough. The Mac didn't have a hard drive to fall back on. After many tortuous rounds, even Steve Jobs finally acknowledged reality and gave up on the Twiggy drive. Apple had recently gotten a demo of a 3.5" disk drive from Sony. It worked at the same data rate as the Twiggy, and disks had a nice hard plastic shell. When Steve saw the drive he loved it and immediately wanted to adapt it for the Mac. Of course that too was a tortuous process - see the Folklore.org story Hide Under This Desk for the entertaining details - but in the end things worked out and the Mac shipped with the familiar 3.5" disk drive we all know and love. In true Jobsian fashion, all Twiggy prototypes at Apple were ordered destroyed, and the Twiggy Mac was consigned to the dustbin of history. But as this unretouched lost photo from Steve Jobs' 1984 Rolling Stone interview shows, the Twiggy Mac did indeed exist! [caption align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="Steve Jobs with prototype Twiggy Mac (upper right)"] [/caption] A Twiggy Mac Resurfaces The story ended there for nearly three decades. Then in January 2012 a Twiggy Mac resurfaced. Photos of the rare prototype were posted online at applefritter and quickly started generating buzz. How did this Mac survive? Was this the only one? Here's how that owner (posting as "mactwiggy") said he acquired the system at the time: MACTWIGGY: I bought it through an online ad. The elderly gentleman I purchased it off of is a retired engraver. The company he worked for was hired to make some award medallions for a ceremony at Apple. It would have been some point in 1983 I personally think, but he really couldn't recall. They sent over this Mac to use as a model for him to work off of. When the job was done, they tried to make arrangements to send it back. Apparently after several attempts, Apple just told them to keep it. He knew what he had, and knew the price he was asking was low, but didn't want to deal with trying to market it. He was really just happy it was going to someone who knew what it was and would appreciate it. What a find! Truly a Mac collector's dream. The interwebs were atwitter. Enter Adam Goolevitch. Adam happens to be a vintage Mac collector and eBay seller based in British Columbia, Canada. We've previously interviewed him on Cult of Mac. He had had already worked with and restored many Twiggy-based Lisas, and this prototype Mac proved irrestible. Adam and his colleague Gabreal Franklin sent their stories to Cult of Mac: ADAM: In late February 2012, my friend Paul called me up to tell me that he had just seen a fabled 'Twiggy' prototype macintosh posted on applefritter's web site. We have known each other since grade 8 and are both avid Apple and Macintosh fans. Througout the past 15 years we have heard stories of and researched the fabled 'Twiggy Macintosh' computer. It was a thing of myth and legend... like a unicorn. It was a thing of myth and legend... like a unicorn. Recognizing how rare a find this was, Adam contacted the owner and after some negotiating he purchased the system. He cleaned things up cosmetically and the system powered on, but there was no Twiggy Mac software around to boot or run the computer. With Apple 1 systems selling for several hundred thousand dollars, he decided to try his luck on eBay and listed the system for $100k: [caption align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="Prototype Twiggy Mac (left), final Mac 128k (right)"] [/caption] ADAM: I listed the prototype Twiggy Macintosh 128k computer on eBay. To my surprise, there was an overwhelming amount of media attention. Cult of Mac picked up the listing initially, stating that 'it looks like Woz is cleaning out his closet'. Several media outlets then contacting me for interviews and stories for their sites, including Mashable, Engadget, Ubergizmo, BBC6, The Huffington Post, The Daily Mail, NBC Los Angeles & Bay Area, The Daily News, MacTrast, TheVerge, Mac4ever, and Electronista - just to name some! To my dismay, the computer did not sell. I can understand though - with such a high price tag ($99,995 USD), and the fact that it did not boot up. After 2 or 3 re-lists I decided to simply focus on attempting to resurrect this computer and no longer offered the computer for sale. I was determined on finding some way to get it to boot. News of the Twiggy Mac's existence percolated worldwide, and eventually reached a former Mac software developer named Gabreal Franklin. Gabreal was the former president of Encore Systems, the original developers of what became MacWrite. Unbeknownst to Adam, a second Twiggy Mac existed: GABREAL: In April 2012, I was filming in Asia. When I checked my email after returning from some treks in the jungles, I had several emails from old friends from Apple. “Is this you?” was the most common thread, and each of them had sent a link to an item posted for sale on eBay. The item was a Macintosh prototype with a 5.25" Twiggy disk drive from 1983. I emailed a few of these people back to let them know that I was in fact on location in India and Asia, and would someone contact the seller and find out what his story is. As far as I knew, my old prototype Twiggy Mac was still somewhere in storage. This seemed to be another one, just like mine. [caption align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="Twiggy Mac and Apple Macintosh case patent"] And how did Gabreal wind up as the owner of this rare Apple item? GABREAL: As Encore was closing, we each took turns picking from a huge pile of hardware. My selection of the Twiggy and a "Qbert" Arcade game were not hot items of interest for any of us at this time. These were two of the items that I selected during the turns we took – although a Macintosh SE and a Macintosh II computer were much higher on the list. I forget who got the NeXT Cube... Two Twiggy Mac prototypes were left in the hands of developers! Clearly the Apple of 1984 did not have the same fastidious level of paranoid secrecy as the Apple of today. Nevertheless the seed had been planted for a Twiggy reunion. Gabreal contacted Adam when he returned to the States, and the two quickly decided to collaborate on getting these old Macs working. Resurrecting the Twiggy ADAM: After a few messages back and forth, I was in contact with Gabreal Franklin, former president of Encore Systems. Encore was started up by Randy Wigginton (Apple Employee #6), they wrote what became the original MacWrite program for the Macintosh. Gabreal was willing to let me borrow his only 3 Twiggy Mac software disks - 2 of which were found to be bootable, and were to be archived and duplicated. The 2 working disks were labeled 'MacWrite Test Diskette' and' MacPaint 0.5 August 16, 1983'. GABREAL: I decided that I would go through my storage and get the old Twiggy Mac out, locate my original 5.25” floppy disks, and any other related items that I could find. A few weeks went by. Locating the Twiggy Mac was easy. As a matter of fact, at Encore Systems, I had actually used this machine literally as a stop to keep my office door from swinging closed, for some years. I knew that I had also stored the Macintosh Twiggy disks somewhere. Locating the Twiggy Mac was easy..
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Apple's Mac Team Gathers for Insanely Great Twiggy Mac Reunion
    Apple's Mac team gathers for insanely great Twiggy Mac reunion SILICON BEAT By Mike Cassidy Mercury News Columnist ([email protected] / 408-920-5536 / Twitter.com/mikecassidy) POSTED: 09/12/2013 11:57:40 AM PDT MOUNTAIN VIEW -- In Silicon Valley, it's not a question of "What have you done for me lately?" -- the question is, "So, what are you going to do for me next?" And so, you have to wonder what it's like to be best known for something you did 30 years ago. Randy Wigginton, one of the freewheeling pirates who worked under Steve Jobs on Apple's (AAPL) dent-in-the-world, 1984 Macintosh, has an easy answer. "It's awesome," says Wigginton, who led the effort on the MacWrite word processor. "People don't get to change the world very often. How much luckier can a guy be? I've had a very blessed life." The blessings were very much on Wigginton's mind the other day as he and a long list of early Apple employees got together to check out the resurrection of a rare machine known as the Twiggy Mac. The prototype was a key chapter in the development of the original Mac, which of course was a key chapter in the development of the personal computer and by extension the personal music player, the smartphone, the smart tablet and a nearly ubiquitous digital lifestyle that has turned the world on its head. Some of the key players in that story, first immortalized in Steven Levy's "Insanely Great" and again in Walter Isaacson's "Steve Jobs" and most recently, docudrama fashion, in the movie "Jobs," gathered at the Computer History Museum to get a look at the Mac and at old friends who'd done so much together.
    [Show full text]
  • Stories of Startups' Early Days
    INTERVIEWS WITH THE FOUNDERS OF 37Signals Hotmail Adobe HotorNot Aliant Computer Hummer Winblad Apple Lycos Founders at Work Stories of Startups’ Early Days ArsDigita Marimba Blogger.com ONElist Bloglines PayPal Craigslist Research in Motion Del.icio.us Six Apart Excite Tickle Firefox TiVo Flickr TripAdvisor Fog Creek Software Viaweb Gmail WebTV Groove Networks Yahoo! Jessica Livingston 7141FM.qxd 12/18/06 11:06 AM Page i FOUNDERS AT WORK STORIES OF STARTUPS’ EARLY DAYS Jessica Livingston 7141FM.qxd 12/18/06 11:06 AM Page ii Founders at Work: Stories of Startups’ Early Days Copyright © 2007 by Jessica Livingston Lead Editor: Jim Sumser Editorial Board: Steve Anglin, Ewan Buckingham, Gary Cornell, Jason Gilmore, Jonathan Gennick, Jonathan Hassell, James Huddleston, Chris Mills, Matthew Moodie, Dominic Shakeshaft, Jim Sumser, Matt Wade Project Manager: Elizabeth Seymour Copy Edit Manager: Nicole Flores Copy Editor: Damon Larson Assistant Production Director: Kari Brooks-Copony Compositor: Dina Quan Proofreader: Linda Seifert Cover Designer: Kurt Krames Manufacturing Director: Tom Debolski Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Livingston, Jessica. Founders at work : stories of startups’ early days / Jessica Livingston. p. cm. ISBN 1-59059-714-1 1. New business enterprises--United States--Case studies. 2. Electronic industries--United States--Case studies. I. Title. HD62.5.L59 2007 658.1'1--dc22 2006101542 All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner and the publisher.
    [Show full text]
  • Oral History of Taylor Pohlman
    Oral History of Taylor Pohlman Interviewed by: David C. Brock Recorded: March 14, 2016 Mountain View, CA CHM Reference number: X7738.2016 © 2016 Computer History Museum Oral History of Taylor Pohlman David C. Brock: Well Taylor, thank you again for joining us and I thought we could begin at the beginning and just ask you about when and where you were born. Taylor Pohlman: Well born as they say at a very early age, actually back east in Fredericksburg [Virginia] and grew up around the Washington D.C. area. I went to high school there and when it came time to go to college, launched off to UT in Austin. I was convinced that nuclear fusion was the future and it was gonna happen. This was in-- what would it be, like early ‘60s right and it was gonna happen they said in about 20 years, which they say it’s still gonna happen in about 20 years. But UT at the time had imported a bunch of guys from Europe and they were working on a Tokamak I think it’s called. The torus - - twisted torus -- and so I was gonna be a physics major and I was gonna solve the problem and went to Texas and found out that I was not born to be a physicist. I couldn’t picture myself in a white lab coat. I think part of it was probably when I joined a fraternity and discovered that there were other things besides science. But the net is I wound up in math because that was the simplest major to graduate with, given all the courses I’d taken as a freshman and a sophomore and that’s what actually, historically, led me- led me into computers, sort of.
    [Show full text]
  • Apple Confidential 2.0 the Definitive History of the World's Most Colorful
    vi Reviewers love Apple Confidential “The Apple story itself is here in all its drama.” New York Times Book Review “An excellent textbook for Apple historians.” San Francisco Chronicle “Written with humor, respect, and care, it absolutely is a must-read for every Apple fan.” InfoWorld “Pretty much irresistible is the only way to describe this quirky, highly detailed and illustrated look at the computer maker’s history.” The Business Reader Review “The book is full of basic facts anyone will appreciate. But it’s also full of interesting extras that Apple fanatics should love.” Arizona Republic “I must warn you. This 268-page book is hard to put down for a MacHead like me, and probably you too.” MacNEWS “You’ll love this book. It’s a wealth of information.” AppleInsider “Rife with gems that will appeal to Apple fanatics and followers of the computer industry.” Amazon.com “Mr. Linzmayer has managed to deliver, within the confines of a single book, just about every juicy little tidbit that was ever leaked from the company.” MacTimes “The most entertaining book about Apple yet to be published.” Booklist i …and readers love it too! “Congratulations! You should be very proud. I picked up Apple Confidential and had a hard time putting it down. Obviously, you invested a ton of time in this. I hope it zooms off the shelves.” David Lubar, Nazareth, PA “I just read Apple Confidentialfrom cover to cover…you have written a great book!” Jason Whong, Rochester, NY “There are few books out there that reveal so much about Apple and in such a fun and entertaining manner.
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter 10 Apple Computer in the 1980'S
    Chapter 10 Apple Computer in the 1980's As a dominant personal computer manufacturer in 1980, Apple Computer had distinct characteristics. It had developed in the Apple II and the related disk drive, technology and ease-of-use features that enabled it to make the transition from hobbyist or technical hacker user to the mass consumer market. These innovations and the release of VisiCalc spreadsheet software resulted in the commercial success of the company. It had espoused statements such as “Never build a computer you wouldn’t want to own” and “One person -- one computer.” The visit to the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) in 1979 changed the course of product development. The new PARC human interface concepts suited the vision of Apple. It continued the innovative initiatives of Wozniak. The development of the Lisa computer and the Macintosh computer that would be the future of Apple in the 1980’s. 10.1 ... Corporate & Other Activities Public Stock Offering The initial founders Jobs, Wozniak, Markkula, Holt and the venture capitalists who provided the financing had a tight control of the Apple Computer shares. Markkula also kept a firm control on the later sale and award of Apple shares. Initial shares went through several splits that significantly increased their value. A share distributed before April 1979 was the equivalent of thirty-two shares on the day that Apple went public. During 1980 the market for new stock issues had improved. In August 1980 the Apple Computer board of directors decided to make a public offering of shares in the company.
    [Show full text]
  • Steve Wozniak Interview Byte Magazine -- December 1984
    _________________ Apple Computer Historical Information _________________ STEVE WOZNIAK INTERVIEW BYTE MAGAZINE -- DECEMBER 1984 http://apple2history.org/museum/articles/byte8412/byte8412.html 31 October 2004 BYTE Magazine ran a "Guide to the Apple" in December 1984. Part of that guide included the first of a two-part interview with Steve Wozniak. Here follows a reproduction of that article, reprinted with permission of Byte.com: The Apple Story, Part 1 Conducted by Gregg Williams and Rob Moore An Interview with Steve Wozniak ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Gregg Williams is a senior technical editor at BYTE. Rob Moore is a hardware designer and a frequent contributor to BYTE. They can be reached at POB 372, Hancock, NH 03449. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Steve Wozniak is the designer of the original Apple computer and one of the cofounders of Apple Computer Inc. Here Steve speaks at length on a variety of topics that range from the hobby activities that led to his design of the Apple I to current issues at Apple Computer. His frank comments and criticisms provide a glimpse into the workings of Apple Computer from a true insiders point of view. This is the first part of a two-part article. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Contents Pre-Apple Experiences Breakout The Apple I Apple I: RAM Apple Computer Apple Computer's name Hewlett-Packard Apple I: Specs The Apple II Apple II: Color Apple II: Text & Graphics The Apple II
    [Show full text]
  • Transcript of Steve Wozniak's Interview
    The Henry Ford Collecting Innovation Today TRANSCRIPT OF A VIDEO ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW WITH STEVE WOZNIAK CONDUCTED AUGUST 18, 2008 COMPUTER HISTORY MUSEUM, MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA ©The Henry Ford 2009 Interviewer: Barry Hurd Producer: Judith E. Endelman Wozniak cleanedup Final.doc MEDIA ID: WOZ1.MP3 Pg.2 MEDIA ID: WOZ1.MP3 STEVE WOZNIAK: 01:01:59;21 [We all had Segways and we] just went on and said, "Well, what could we try doin' with paddles and goals?" BARRY HURD: 01:02:04;06 Interesting. STEVE WOZNIAK: 01:02:04;11 And balls. And we figured out what kind of ball size works, how to make a paddle, then how to buy a paddle. BARRY HURD: 01:02:10;26 So this is, like, your latest invention, a new [game] STEVE WOZNIAK: 01:02:12;14 Oh, we've been doing it for years, about four years or so. BARRY HURD: 01:02:14;18 Is it catchin' on? STEVE WOZNIAK: 01:02:16;17 Yes, it is, actually. We used to have one team for quite a few years, and then there was a team in New Zealand that Wozniak cleanedup Final.doc MEDIA ID: WOZ1.MP3 Pg.3 we'd play. And now there's teams all over Europe, a bunch of places. And there's three teams in the Bay Area. BARRY HURD: 01:02:28;06 Is this like-- STEVE WOZNIAK: 01:02:28;19 But we don't really play team versus team. Usually just whoever shows up today, we'll break everybody into a bunch of teams that are about equal and we'll play for fun.
    [Show full text]
  • Steven Wozniak Friday, April 2, 1999 STEVEN WOZNIAK by Manish Srivastava Steve Wozniak, Born 1950
    http://ei.cs.vt.edu/~history/WOZNIAK.HTM Steven Wozniak Friday, April 2, 1999 STEVEN WOZNIAK by Manish Srivastava Steve Wozniak, born 1950. Founder of Apple Computers and engineer invented one of the first computers Apple II. An industry pioneer who has been active in making computer a household word. Education: Bachelor's of Science Computer Science, University of California Berkley,1982. Bachelor's of Engineering Electrical Engineering, University of California Berkley,1982. Professional Experience: Hewlett-Packard , Engineer,.1973-1976. Apple computers, Co-founder and vice-president of Research and development,.1976- 1985. Cl9, President, 1985-1987. UNUSON, President, Present. Honors and Awards: 1985: National Medal of Technology , President of the United States. Known as the Wizard of Woz, Steve Wozniak along with Steve Jobs founded Apple Computers Inc. and started a computer revolution that has yet to slow down. Wozniak and Jobs introduced the Apple II which was one of the first personal computers originally aimed at medium to large size businesses. It was responsible for the species of small powerful computers that inhabit almost every part of our daily life. As a child Steve Wozniak was enthralled with mathematics and computers. He would often become so engrossed in mathematical ponderings that his mother would have to physically shake him back to reality . This love of mathematics drove Wozniak's ambition , as a child, to want to become an engineer (Slater). In the mid 1970's Wozniak decided to drop out of the University of California at Berkeley, where he was majoring in engineering, and start working for Hewlett-Packard.
    [Show full text]
  • Apple Confidential
    ««iÊ w`iÌ>Ê Ó°ä\Ê/ iÊ iwÌÛiÊ ÃÌÀÞÊ vÊ Ì iÊ7À`½ÃÊ ÃÌÊ ÀvÕÊ «>Þ «ÞÀ} ÌÊ^ÊÓää{ÊLÞÊ"ÜiÊ7°Êâ>ÞiÀ Ê À} ÌÃÊ ÀiÃiÀÛi`°Ê Ê «>ÀÌÊ vÊ Ì ÃÊ ÜÀÊ >ÞÊ LiÊ Ài«À`ÕVi`Ê ÀÊ ÌÀ>ÃÌÌi`Ê Ê >ÞÊ vÀÊ ÀÊ LÞÊ >ÞÊ i>Ã]Ê iiVÌÀVÊ ÀÊ iV >V>]Ê VÕ`}Ê « ÌV«Þ}]Ê ÀiVÀ`}]Ê ÀÊ LÞÊ >ÞÊ vÀ>ÌÊ ÃÌÀ>}iÊ ÀÊ *ÕLà iÀ\Ê7>Ê*V ÀiÌÀiÛ>ÊÃÞÃÌi]ÊÜÌ ÕÌÊÌ iÊ«ÀÀÊÜÀÌÌiÊ«iÀÃÃÊvÊÌ iÊV«ÞÀ} ÌÊ >>}}Ê `ÌÀ\Ê>ÀÊÕÀ>` ÜiÀÊ>`ÊÌ iÊ«ÕLà iÀ° «ÞÊ `ÌÀ\Ê`ÞÊ >ÀÀ *ÀvÀi>`iÀ\Ê-Ìi« >iÊ*ÀÛià /À>`i>Ài`Ê>iÃÊ>ÀiÊÕÃi`ÊÌ ÀÕ} ÕÌÊÌ ÃÊL°Ê,>Ì iÀÊÌ >ÊÕÃiÊ *>}iÊ>ÞÕÌ\Ê"ÜiÊ7°Êâ>ÞiÀ >ÊÌÀ>`i>ÀÊÃÞLÊÜÌ ÊiÛiÀÞÊVVÕÀÀiViÊvÊ>ÊÌÀ>`i>Ài`Ê>i]ÊÜiÊ ÛiÀÊ iÃ}iÀ\Ê iÀiÊ9ii >ÀiÊÕÃ}ÊÌ iÊ>iÃÊÞÊÊ>Êi`ÌÀ>Êv>à Ê>`ÊÌÊÌ iÊLiiwÌÊvÊÌ iÊ `iÝiÀ\ÊiÛÊ ÀVV ÌÀ>`i>ÀÊÜiÀ]ÊÜÌ ÊÊÌiÌÊvÊvÀ}iiÌÊvÊÌ iÊÌÀ>`i>À°Ê««iÊ «ÕÌiÀ]ÊV°Ê >ÃÊÌÊ>ÕÌ Àâi`ÊÀÊÌ iÀÜÃiÊi`ÀÃi`ÊÌ iÊVÌiÌÃÊvÊ *ÀÌi`ÊÊÌ iÊ1-ÊÊÀiVÞVi`Ê«>«iÀ° Ì ÃÊL°Ê õÕÀiÊÃÊ>ÊÌÀ>`i>ÀÊvÊi>ÀÃÌÊ>}>âiÃÊ*À«iÀÌÞ]ÊV°ÊÊ £ÊÓÊÎÊ{ÊxÊÈÊÇÊnÊÊ£ääÈÊäxÊä{ À} ÌÃÊÀiÃiÀÛi`°Ê Ê-Ì>ÀV Ê*ÀiÃÃÊ>`ÊÌ iÊ Ê-Ì>ÀV Ê*ÀiÃÃÊ}Ê>ÀiÊÀi}ÃÌiÀi`Ê ÌÀ>`i>ÀÃÊvÊ Ê-Ì>ÀV Ê*ÀiÃÃ]ÊV° ÀÊvÀ>ÌÊÊÌÀ>Ã>ÌÃÊÀÊLÊ`ÃÌÀLÕÌÀÃ]Ê«i>ÃiÊVÌ>VÌÊ Ê -Ì>ÀV Ê *ÀiÃÃ]Ê V°]Ê xxxÊ iÊ >ÀÊ -ÌÀiiÌ]Ê -ÕÌiÊ Óxä]Ê ->Ê À>VÃV]Ê Ê {£äÇ]Ê ­{£x®Ê nÈÎää]Ê v>ÝÊ ­{£x®Ê nÈÎxä]Ê vJÃÌ>ÀV °V]Ê ÜÜÜ°ÃÌ>ÀV °V° / iÊvÀ>ÌÊÊÌ ÃÊLÊÃÊ`ÃÌÀLÕÌi`ÊÊ>ʺÃÊûÊL>ÃÃ]ÊÜÌ ÕÌÊ Ü>ÀÀ>ÌÞ°Ê7 iÊiÛiÀÞÊ«ÀiV>ÕÌÊ >ÃÊLiiÊÌ>iÊÊÌ iÊ«Ài«>À>ÌÊvÊÌ ÃÊ ÜÀ]ÊiÌ iÀÊÌ iÊ>ÕÌ ÀÊÀÊ Ê-Ì>ÀV Ê*ÀiÃÃÊà >Ê >ÛiÊ>ÞÊ>LÌÞÊÌÊ>ÞÊ «iÀÃÊÀÊiÌÌÞÊÜÌ ÊÀiëiVÌÊÌÊ>ÞÊÃÃÊÀÊ`>>}iÊV>ÕÃi`ÊÀÊ>i}i`ÊÌÊLiÊ V>ÕÃi`Ê`ÀiVÌÞÊÀÊ`ÀiVÌÞÊLÞÊÌ iÊvÀ>ÌÊVÌ>i`ÊÊÌ° LÀ>ÀÞÊvÊ }ÀiÃÃÊ >Ì>}}*ÕLV>ÌÊ >Ì> â>ÞiÀ]Ê"ÜiÊ7° ««iÊ Vw`iÌ>Ê Ó°ä\Ê Ì iÊ `iwÌÛiÊ ÃÌÀÞÊ vÊ Ì iÊ ÜÀ`½ÃÊ ÃÌÊ VÀvÕÊV«>ÞÊÉÊ"ÜiÊ7°Êâ>ÞiÀ° «°Ê V° VÕ`iÃÊ`iÝ°
    [Show full text]
  • Oral History of Joanna Hoffman, Part 2
    Oral History of Joanna Hoffman, part 2 Interviewed by: Marguerite Gong Hancock Hansen Hsu Marc Weber Recorded March 9, 2018 Mountain View, CA CHM Reference number: X8464.2018 © 2018 Computer History Museum Oral History of Joanna Hoffman, part 2 Hancock: Today is March 9th, 2018. We’re really delighted to welcome you, Joanna Hoffman, back to the Computer History Museum. I’m Marguerite Gong Hancock, together with Hansen Hsu and Marc Weber of the museum and we’re delighted to have you here for Part 2 of your oral history. Today we’ll be focusing on your time with the Mac team at Apple, moving onto NeXT; Hansen will be leading that portion. Marc will be leading the portion on General Magic. And then I’ll be closing up with a review of your career and work afterwards. Of course, we’ll be really interactive, but we’re really delighted to have you here. Hoffman: Well, thank you very much. It’s such a privilege. I can’t even imagine doing this, but I’m very excited to do it. Hancock: Thank you. Hsu: So, to start off, could you maybe talk a little bit about Steve Job’s charisma and the reality distortion field? Hoffman: Well, you know, because Steve had a very strong vision of what he intended to do—and I don’t want to label him as a mere visionary, because, frankly speaking, visionaries are one in a million. People who are able to bring visions into reality, and make them successful, and make them stick are one in a billion.
    [Show full text]
  • The Birth of the Mac: Rolling Stone's 1984 Feature on Steve Jobs and His Whiz Kids | Rolling Stone
    11/7/2015 The Birth of the Mac: Rolling Stone's 1984 Feature on Steve Jobs and his Whiz Kids | Rolling Stone The Birth of the Mac: Rolling Stone's 1984 Feature on Steve Jobs and his Whiz Kids When Apple's Macintosh took on IBM, 'the Darth Vader of the digital world' By Steven Levy[1] October 6, 2011 Steve Jobs, Chairman of Apple Computers, and John Sculley, Apple's president pose with the new Macintosh personal computer in New York. Marilyn K. Yee/New York Times Co./Getty Images This the future of computing. Here in Silicon Valley, there is a room ringed with nondescript cubicles. Each contains a small, beige box not much bigger than two shoe boxes stood on end, a box that emanates a whitish glow of a nine-inch video display. The box is a computer called Macintosh, and the people who sit in the carpeted commons in the center of the room are some of its designers. They call themselves pirates. On the wall is a skull-and-bones pirate flag; one chrome­extension://iooicodkiihhpojmmeghjclgihfjdjhj/front/in_isolation/reformat.html 1/12 11/7/2015 The Birth of the Mac: Rolling Stone's 1984 Feature on Steve Jobs and his Whiz Kids | Rolling Stone of the skeleton's eyes has been replaced by the rainbow-colored Apple Computer logo. They are ten weary computer wizards. Average age: well under thirty. Standard dress: blue jeans and T-shirt. Standard look in the eyes: crazed by fatigue. One of the wizards, blond-haired, twenty-two-year-old Randy Wigginton, has been riding the fluctuations in the word-processing program he's been writing for Apple Computer's messianic new machine for over two years.
    [Show full text]
  • The Apple Story, January 1985, BYTE Magazine
    CONDUCTED BY GREGG WI LLIAMS AND ROB MOORE STORY THEPA RT 2: MORAPEPL HISETO RY AND THE APPLE III ast montli. Steve talked about liisback­ pany. Lately he's written the Macin­ ground. tlie evolution of tlie Apple I tosh word processor-MacWrite. He's and II. and tlieearly days of tliecom­ done a lot for the company, and he's pany. In tliis part. tlie conversation switclies used Sweet-16 in several things he's toL various aspects of tlieApple II design, later done. personal liistory. and Steve's tliouglits about tlie personal computing industry . THE DISK DRIVE BYTE: Can you tell us a little about how you SWEET·I6 came up witli the Apple II disk drive and now you ended up picking your form of group­ BYTE: One of tliemore interesting tliingsin coded recording? tlieApple II ROM was your 16-bit pseudo­ WOZNIAK: The disk design was my macliinecalled "Sweet-16:· How did you come most incredible experience at Apple up witli tliat? and the finest job I did. I never really WOZNIAK: While I was writing my knew what a disk controller was or BASIC. I had been thinking about what it had to do. But at Hewlett­ ways to save code. There were several Packard I had looked through a places where I had to handle 16-bit Shugart manual to see what signals pointers with an 8-bit processor. and were used and what they did. There An interview that was pretty awkward. were signals to make the head step in So I decided to write a little and out and signals to cause magnetic emulator and implement a 16-bit with Steve Wozniak flux changes.
    [Show full text]