Macintosh Folklore Radio

Font Manager Redux

Derek Warren — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 23:41:00 -0700

After quitting in 1984, Andy continued to work on Macintosh system software projects.

File Download (9:29 min / 8 MB)

Things Are Better Than Ever

Derek Warren — Tue, 26 May 2009 19:31:00 -0700

Not even Steve Jobs’ reality distortion field could hide the true state of the Macintosh team at Apple in mid-1984.

File Download (7:02 min / 6 MB)

Thunderscan

Derek Warren — Sun, 10 May 2009 10:48:00 -0700

The first low-cost scanner for the Macintosh was … a printer?

File Download (10:55 min / 9 MB)

Hand/Handicapped/Are You Gonna Do It?/Switch

Derek Warren — Sun, 03 May 2009 13:25:00 -0700

Where Did That Hand Come From? – Eric Barnes has a unique Mac unboxing experience.

Handicapped – A few words of caution about parking in illegal spots when you work alongside Steve Wozniak.

Are You Gonna Do It? – Burrell devises a way to defeat Steve’s reality distortion field.

An Early Switch Campaign – Steve Jobs meets Bo Derek.

File Download (7:48 min / 7 MB)

Spoiled?

Derek Warren — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 14:55:00 -0700

The Mac team slowly developed a reputation for being spoiled.

File Download (6:54 min / 6 MB)

First Day in the Mac Group

Derek Warren — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 23:19:00 -0700

Scott Knaster recalls his first hours in Bandley 3 as a member of the Macintosh division at Apple.

File Download (4:51 min / 4 MB)

Leave of Absence

Derek Warren — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 01:30:00 -0700

Fed up with management, Andy decides to take a break from working at Apple.

File Download (7:30 min / 7 MB)

A Mac for Mick

Derek Warren — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 09:58:00 -0700

After wowing Andy Warhol, the team seizes an opportunity to demo the Macintosh to Mick Jagger. Apparently Mick Jagger is only interested in your product if you offer to license one of his songs…

File Download (4:41 min / 4 MB)

Can We Keep the Skies Safe?

Derek Warren — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 23:28:00 -0700

The Mac narrowly missed the cover of Newsweek magazine in January 1984. (Also in the news: MFR escapes death after struggling with the one-two punch of a brutal flu and an extended throat infection.)

File Download (5:51 min / 5 MB)

MFR Housekeeping: nVIR B

Derek Warren — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 18:31:00 -0800

MFR production is on hold until Derek is able to speak again. :-)

File Download (0:42 min / 1 MB)

The Times They Are A-Changin'

Derek Warren — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 13:46:00 -0800

January 24th, 1984: The big day finally arrives. For more 25th anniversary celebrations, tune in to the RetroMacCast (www.retromaccast.com) where I join James and John to celebrate and look back.

File Download (11:34 min / 10 MB)

It Sure Is Great to Get Out of That Bag

Derek Warren — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 15:50:00 -0800

Happy 25th anniversary, Macintosh! The demo for Apple’s January 1984 annual shareholders meeting comes together at the last minute.

File Download (6:18 min / 5 MB)

Real Artists Ship

Derek Warren — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 23:37:00 -0800

The final push to finish the Mac system software in time for January 24th, 1984. Happy 25th Anniversary, Macintosh!

File Download (6:22 min / 6 MB)

Make a Mess, Clean it Up

Derek Warren — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 12:17:00 -0800

Donn Denman recalls Burrell’s unusual approach to the Defender arcade game.

File Download (5:11 min / 5 MB)

Disk Swapper's Elbow/A Floppy Named lsadkfjalhkjh

Derek Warren — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 20:23:00 -0800

Disk Swapper’s Elbow: A last-minute bug in the Finder wreaked havoc with the disk copying process. A Floppy Named lsadkfjalhkjh: An oversight in the design of the Finder sends Bruce Horn back to the drawing board.

File Download (7:02 min / 5 MB)

A Rich Neighbour Named Xerox

Derek Warren — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 16:53:00 -0800

Bill Gates defends his decision to develop a graphical user interface for the IBM PC.

File Download (6:09 min / 5 MB)

Price Fight

Derek Warren — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 13:49:00 -0800

The team’s low-cost ambitions of the Mac project are crushed by management and marketing. Happy Holidays from MFR! Special video greeting at http://www.macfolkloreradio.com/holiday2008/

File Download (5:15 min / 5 MB)

1984

Derek Warren — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 19:49:00 -0800

Apple’s famous Macintosh pre-launch commercial was almost cancelled. Happy Holidays from MFR! Special video greeting at http://www.macfolkloreradio.com/holiday2008/

File Download (8:44 min / 8 MB)

Swedish Campground/Mythical Man Year/Puzzle/Woz U

Derek Warren — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 14:30:00 -0800

Swedish Campground: Steve asks the team to find an alternate symbol for keyboard shortcuts.

The Mythical Man Year: Steve Jobs puts Bill Atkinson’s programming talent into perspective.

The Puzzle: A much-loved desk accessory is almost left out of the first system software release.

Steve Wozniak University: Burrell isn’t sure how to respond when asked about his education.

File Download (8:15 min / 7 MB)

Cut, Paste and Crash

Derek Warren — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 09:43:00 -0800

The team discovers a major bug in the ROM shortly after it was frozen.

File Download (6:02 min / 5 MB)

Quick! Hide in This Closet!

Derek Warren — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 15:21:00 -0800

Projects can be kept secret… but what about whole engineers?

File Download (7:50 min / 7 MB)

Too Big for My Britches

Derek Warren — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 19:05:00 -0800

Andy is given a devastating performance review by Apple management.

File Download (13:20 min / 12 MB)

Stolen from Apple

Derek Warren — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 09:15:14 -0700

An Apple II clone inspires the Mac team to hide a secret icon in the Mac ROM.

File Download (3:58 min / 3 MB)

Saving Lives/World Class Cities/A Big Scare

Derek Warren — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 23:29:00 -0700

Three short stories in one package. Saving Lives: The Jobsian theory of employee motivation. World Class Cities: Steve gives Susan Kare some feedback about her choice of font names. A Big Scare: A celebrity visit at Apple headquarters causes panic.

File Download (6:39 min / 6 MB)

MacPaint Evolution

Derek Warren — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 11:12:00 -0700

Andy describes MacPaint’s first steps, the birth of the phrase ‘marching ants’, and a unique feature that was left out of the final version.

File Download (9:41 min / 8 MB)

Bouncing Pepsis

Derek Warren — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 08:40:00 -0700

Andy creates a demo especially for John Sculley.

File Download (3:40 min / 3 MB)

What's a Megaflop?

Derek Warren — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 00:10:00 -0700

Steve demos a Mac prototype to Brown University and impresses everyone—almost…

File Download (6:12 min / 5 MB)

Credit Where Due

Derek Warren — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 18:49:00 -0700

Bill Atkinson almost leaves Apple after he is excluded from the media attention surrounding the launch of the Lisa.

File Download (10:30 min / 9 MB)

The Little Kingdom

Derek Warren — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 15:21:00 -0700

Steve Jobs was almost 1982’s ‘Man of the Year’.

File Download (5:16 min / 5 MB)

Steve Icon

Derek Warren — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 20:00:00 -0700

Personalized icons from Susan Kare became a status symbol amongst the Mac team.

File Download (2:53 min / 3 MB)

Resource Manager Countdown

Derek Warren — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 19:34:00 -0700

Bruce Horn is given 30 days to complete a major component of the Macintosh Toolbox.

File Download (3:08 min / 3 MB)

Boot Beep

Derek Warren — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 19:34:00 -0700

How the boot sound evolved.

File Download (3:58 min / 3 MB)

Sound by Monday

Derek Warren — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 19:30:00 -0700

Steve threatens to remove the Mac’s sound capability.

File Download (7:01 min / 6 MB)

MFR Unexpectedly Quit!

Derek Warren — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 19:22:00 -0700

A short message from Derek after 13 months of absence…

File Download (1:18 min / 1 MB)

You Guys Are In Big Trouble!

Derek Warren — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 22:02:00 -0700

Steve gives the Macintosh team permission to destroy an annoying alarm system.

Thanks again to James and John at the Retro Mac Cast (www.retromaccast.com) for mentioning MFR. The Retro Mac Cast has a welcoming, relaxing feel, and is packed with enough Apple history to satisfy both new and long-time Apple cult members alike. Check it out!

File Download (5:03 min / 4 MB)

Do It

Derek Warren — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 22:48:00 -0700

The team figures out why a user became flustered during a round of software testing.

File Download (3:43 min / 3 MB)

I Still Remember Regions

Derek Warren — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 01:05:00 -0700

The team almost loses Bill Atkinson to a car accident.

File Download (4:07 min / 3 MB)

Creative Think

Derek Warren — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 19:45:00 -0700

Notes from Alan Kay’s seminar, ca. 1982.

File Download (4:28 min / 3 MB)

Bob Hearn's "A Brief History of ClarisWorks"

Derek Warren — Sun, 18 Mar 2007 14:47:00 -0700

Bob Hearn details the rise and fall of ClarisWorks. Original text from http://www-swiss.ai.mit.edu/~bob/clarisworks.php.

File Download (27:16 min / 19 MB)

Gobble, Gobble, Gobble

Derek Warren — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 12:34:00 -0700

Steve toys with a dull interview candidate.

File Download (3:05 min / 2 MB)

Signing Party

Derek Warren — Sun, 04 Mar 2007 19:15:00 -0800

The artists sign their work.

File Download (4:23 min / 3 MB)

Mr. Macintosh

Derek Warren — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 22:17:00 -0800

Steve comes up with a unique idea for an Easter egg.

File Download (3:23 min / 2 MB)

Desk Ornaments

Derek Warren — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 21:12:00 -0800

A brief history of desk accessories.

File Download (8:44 min / 6 MB)

Hungarian

Derek Warren — Sun, 04 Feb 2007 21:42:00 -0800

The Mac team borrows some code from the Lisa group and discovers that it is written in an unusual style of programming.

File Download (5:26 min / 3.9 MB)

Joining the Mac Group

Derek Warren — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 17:05:00 -0800

The Reality Distortion Field changes Bruce’s mind about working at Apple.

File Download (6:21 min / 4.5 MB)

Apple II Mouse Card

Derek Warren — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 13:52:00 -0800

Warning: heavy technical content. Burrell, Andy and Bill Budge create a full-blown graphical user interface environment for the Apple II. This story has been in production since September 2006 and has sat around long enough to witness the Studio C upgrade, four weeks of the flu, hours of re-reading… but finally, here it is. Happy New Year!

File Download (6:09 min / 4.4 MB)

Software Wizard

Derek Warren — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 22:35:00 -0800

The Mac group gets business cards. The version of this story featured in “Revoultion in the Valley” adds, “My nomination for the weirdest Apple business card title goes to Ed Tecot, whose title was ‘Not Andy Hertzfeld’. I never knew whether to take that as a compliment or a slur.”

File Download (1:58 min / 1.4 MB)

I Don't Have a Computer

Derek Warren — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 22:14:00 -0800

Bruce Horn runs into a minor problem when trying to write software for the Macintosh project.

File Download (2:36 min / 1.9 MB)

-2000 Lines of Code

Derek Warren — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 18:48:00 -0800

Bill Atkinson thwarts management’s attempt to measure developer productivity.

File Download (2:14 min / 1.6 MB)

Shut Up!

Derek Warren — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 01:04:00 -0800

July 1981. The first demonstration of the Macintosh to Microsoft. What are the chances that someone recently said, “We can ship a brown MP3 player before you can!” to Steve Ballmer?

File Download (4:52 min / 3.5 MB)

Donkey

Derek Warren — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 22:39:00 -0800

The team discovers who wrote an awkward game for IBM PC DOS 1.0.

File Download (2:52 min / 2.1 MB)

Calculator Construction Set

Derek Warren — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 19:19:00 -0800

Chris Espinosa tries to make a Steve-approved calculator.

File Download (3:22 min / 2.4 MB)

PC Board Esthetics

Derek Warren — Sun, 29 Oct 2006 12:14:00 -0800

Steve raises some concerns about the esthetics of the Mac’s motherboard.

File Download (3:02 min / 2.2 MB)

Diagnostic Port

Derek Warren — Sat, 28 Oct 2006 16:00:00 -0700

Burrell tries to sneak in some hardware expandability. Thanks for staying tuned while MFR recovered from a brutal flu.

File Download (5:18 min / 3.8 MB)

MFR Housekeeping, Sept. 2006

Derek Warren — Tue, 05 Sep 2006 21:21:00 -0700

Housekeeping for September 2006: Notes and answers to questions that have been popping up in Studio C’s inbox.

File Download (3:27 min / 2.5 MB)

Early Demos

Derek Warren — Mon, 04 Sep 2006 09:35:49 -0700

Early software demonstrations showed off what the Mac hardware could do.

File Download (4:49 min / 3.4 MB)

Square Dots

Derek Warren — Sun, 03 Sep 2006 01:30:00 -0700

The story of the Lisa’s vertical/horizontal resolution disparity. If you ever saw a Lisa whose display was “squished” vertically via the CRT adjustment knobs, this is why!

File Download (4:41 min / 3.3 MB)

Pineapple Pizza

Derek Warren — Sat, 02 Sep 2006 23:15:00 -0700

The team stays late to watch the first printed circuit board come to life.

File Download (5:02 min / 3.6 MB)

Round Rectangles Are Everywhere!

Derek Warren — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 23:53:00 -0700

Steve inspires Bill with detail from the real world.

File Download (3:32 min / 4.9 MB)

A Message for Adam

Derek Warren — Sat, 01 Jul 2006 15:51:00 -0700

The Mac team encounters Adam Osborne at the West Coast Computer Faire.

File Download (5:06 min / 3.6 MB)

He's Only in Field Service

Derek Warren — Wed, 21 Jun 2006 00:06:00 -0700

Burrell talks serial controllers with a Zilog representative. Contributed by Steve Blank.

File Download (2:09 min / 1.5 MB)

Bicycle

Derek Warren — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 20:06:00 -0700

Mac team engineering manager Rod Holt wanted to change the name of the project after Jef Raskin’s departure. Some genius did indeed reverse-engineer an acronym for “Macintosh”: “Most Applications Crash, If Not, The Operating System Hangs”. Likewise, we all know that Windows really stands for “Will Install Needless Data Over Whole System”, and that Vista stands for “Viruses, Infections, Spyware, Trojans and Adware”. Vista supposedly means ‘chicken’ in Latvian, so… long live Windows Chicken!

File Download (3:35 min / 2.5 MB)

More Like a Porsche

Derek Warren — Sat, 17 Jun 2006 22:35:00 -0700

The conception of the original Macintosh chassis. Naturally, I had to take a survey and ask how people preferred to say “Porsche” and “Cuisinart”... Thanks again for the cards and letters.

File Download (6:04 min / 4.3 MB)

Black Wednesday

Derek Warren — Fri, 26 May 2006 19:53:00 -0700

This is the highest-rated story at folklore.org, and for good reason—you’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll wonder how anybody ever got along with Steve Jobs. This episode has been the most fun to rehearse and produce so far and I hope it shows.

Not even 48 hours after I announced Macintosh Folklore Radio to the Mac press, I’ve had thousands of visitors from all over the world drop by and have pushed 20GB worth of stories. I started out with 6 people having listened to the welcome message and now over a thousand people have heard my floppy disk techno (thanks for the compliment, Edward).

I have been very, very touched by the few thank you e-mails that I received. I’m just getting started here!

File Download (9:20 min / 6.6 MB)

Reality Distortion Field

Derek Warren — Tue, 23 May 2006 21:39:00 -0700

Bud defines Steve’s unique talent for dealing with people.

The Reality Distortion Field can be experienced with or without Steve’s presence. Witness the number of Mac fanatics who have marched out and bought the new black MacBook, in essence paying an extra $200USD for a black paint job. I’m not wagging my finger at them—I want one too. Drink the Kool-Aid!

File Download (3:35 min / 2.5 MB)

Texaco Towers

Derek Warren — Tue, 23 May 2006 15:22:00 -0700

The office where the Mac became real. This is the last of the “building” stories.

File Download (5:10 min / 3.7 MB)

Good Earth

Derek Warren — Tue, 23 May 2006 02:01:00 -0700

The Mac team’s original office. Netscape’s campus may have had a parking lot dedicated to hockey, but daily Nerf-ball tag sessions seems like a lot of fun too…

File Download (5:18 min / 3.8 MB)

I Invented Burrell

Derek Warren — Thu, 18 May 2006 15:19:00 -0700

Burrell imitates Jef Raskin, the creator of the Macintosh Project.

File Download (1:30 min / 1.1 MB)

Scrooge McDuck

Derek Warren — Thu, 18 May 2006 14:07:00 -0700

The very first image displayed on the very first Macintosh.

File Download (6:12 min / 4.4 MB)

It's the Moustache that Matters

Derek Warren — Wed, 17 May 2006 20:00:00 -0700

Burrell figures out how to get promoted to engineer status. (And here I was feeling silly for not having a computer science degree…)

File Download (2:06 min / 1.5 MB)

We'll See About That

Derek Warren — Tue, 16 May 2006 16:09:00 -0700

Bill Atkinson introduces Burrell to Jef Raskin, who initiated (and then was kicked out of…) the Macintosh project.

Macintosh Folklore Radio is now a needle in a haystack—that is, we’re listed in the iTunes podcast directory now. Tell your friends!

File Download (3:24 min / 2.4 MB)

I'll Be Your Best Friend

Derek Warren — Mon, 15 May 2006 15:13:00 -0700

Burrell Smith, the Macintosh team’s hardware wizard, was creative at more than just engineering.

Burrell later co-founded Radius with Andy. Some of the advanced products that Radius produced include the famous Pivot Display, and the Rocket series of accelerator cards which could be run in parallel with one another. Cluster-in-a-box, anyone?

Macintosh Folklore Radio

Font Manager Redux

Things Are Better Than Ever

Thunderscan

Hand/Handicapped/Are You Gonna Do It?/Switch

Spoiled?

First Day in the Mac Group

Leave of Absence

A Mac for Mick

Can We Keep the Skies Safe?

MFR Housekeeping: nVIR B

The Times They Are A-Changin'

It Sure Is Great to Get Out of That Bag

Real Artists Ship

Make a Mess, Clean it Up

Disk Swapper's Elbow/A Floppy Named lsadkfjalhkjh

A Rich Neighbour Named Xerox

Price Fight

1984

Swedish Campground/Mythical Man Year/Puzzle/Woz U

Cut, Paste and Crash

Quick! Hide in This Closet!

Too Big for My Britches

Stolen from Apple

Saving Lives/World Class Cities/A Big Scare

MacPaint Evolution

Bouncing Pepsis

What's a Megaflop?

Credit Where Due

The Little Kingdom

Steve Icon

Resource Manager Countdown

Boot Beep

Sound by Monday

MFR Unexpectedly Quit!

You Guys Are In Big Trouble!

Do It

I Still Remember Regions

Creative Think

Bob Hearn's "A Brief History of ClarisWorks"

Gobble, Gobble, Gobble

Signing Party

Mr. Macintosh

Desk Ornaments

Hungarian

Joining the Mac Group

Apple II Mouse Card

Software Wizard

I Don't Have a Computer

-2000 Lines of Code

Shut Up!

Donkey

Calculator Construction Set

PC Board Esthetics

Diagnostic Port

MFR Housekeeping, Sept. 2006

Early Demos

Square Dots

Pineapple Pizza

Round Rectangles Are Everywhere!

A Message for Adam

He's Only in Field Service

Bicycle

More Like a Porsche

Black Wednesday

Reality Distortion Field

Texaco Towers

Good Earth

I Invented Burrell

Scrooge McDuck

It's the Moustache that Matters

We'll See About That

I'll Be Your Best Friend

Welcome!