One thing I really find interesting in this article is when the author quotes Mitch Kapor, developer of Lotus, who says," The IBM you respect, the Apple you love." And this was from 1984. Just last week there was an article in the New York Times about ow scientists say that emotional reactions and attachments to iPhones are more like love to the brain than simple interest or even attachment.
Brian M > -----Original Message----- > From: macvisionaries@googlegroups.com > [mailto:macvisionaries@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Chris Blouch > Sent: Friday, October 07, 2011 12:31 PM > To: macvisionaries@googlegroups.com > Subject: Re: This is more fun, was Steve Jobs introducing the > Macantosh in 1984 > > This link will give you the article without page breaks: > > http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/the-birth-of-the-mac-ro > lling-stones-1984-feature-on-steve-jobs-and-his-whiz-kids-2011 > 1006?print=true > > CB > > On 10/6/11 11:08 PM, Karen Lewellen wrote: > > Not to frown at mister. walker's youtube video...but this > one is more > > fun. > > its part of an article in rolling stone a feature done in 1984. I > > was enjoying myself so much reading it that I forgot they do not do > > single page formats. II have I hope included the link to > the actual > > piece however. If it fails and others are interested let > me know as I > > intend getting the rest. > > > > Tomorrow I will share a different article, ten years later > after Jobs > > had been kicked out of apple and his own second company was in > > trouble. what makes it neat is you can tell just how much of a > > visionary he was even when the industry was laughing at him. > > for now though, enjoy! > > Karen > > 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 October 6, 2011 2:50 PM ET > > 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 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. > Now that it > > is two weeks from his absolutely, positively final > deadline, his face > > has the dull pallor of a torture victim. His tormentors are two > > cheerful software hackers, dressed in shorts and hiking > boots, who, at > > this intolerably late date, are blithely revamping the part of the > > computer operating system called "the Finder." > > > > Despite the looming deadline, things are upbeat. For many of the > > wizards, the bulk of the work is done. Burrell Smith, > designer of the > > digital guts of the new computer, is already working on his > next Apple > > project. Two key wizards who masterminded the "ROM" - the > program on a > > chip that contains much of the magic within the computer - > are here, > > but now they're assisting with software debugging. The industrial > > designer who originally drafted the computer's simple profile is > > checking out the first run of casings from Apple's completely > > automated $20 million factory. > > > > But the Finder, the part of the computer that greets the user and > > finds files, is not yet done. And if it doesn't get done, > the programs > > won't work right, Macintosh will be seen as a dud, and > Apple Computer > > - the one corporate nexus of vision and capitalism, the > dream company > > of the Eighties - could turn into a nightmare for the > billion-dollar > > firm's employees and investors. > > Worse, the personal-computer industry would then be > dominated - lock, > > stock and microprocessor - by IBM, the Darth Vader of the digital > > world. > > > > This is the showdown at the Silicon Corral, and Apple has only one > > bullet left in its chamber against IBM's well-funded arsenal. > > That bullet is Macintosh. Steve Jobs, the twenty-eight-year-old > > multimillionaire chairman of Apple's board of directors, has staked > > his reputation (and the value of his approximately 7 million Apple > > shares) on the machine. He describes the situation: > > "It's kind of like watching the gladiator going into the arena and > > saying, 'Here it is.' It's really perceived as Apple's do > or die. And > > it goes even deeper... If we don't do this, nobody can stop IBM." > > > > Randy Wiggington, one of Jobs' wizards, is more succinct: > "The whole > > company is on the line. It's put up or shut up." > > > > Apple made a $400,000 tv Commercial that ran during the Super Bowl. > > The ad, in washed-out gray tones, shows rows and rows of > emaciated men > > with shaved heads, dressed in the faded pajamas of concentration > > camps. Inside a large auditorium, a Big Brother type on a > projection > > screen drones on about the triumphs of the electronic age. > This scene > > is intercut with flashes of a stunning young woman in red > gym shorts, > > sprinting like an Olympian and holding a sledgehammer. She > rushes into > > the auditorium, swings the rope attached to the sledgehammer and > > flings it toward the screen. Everything explodes in fiery > light; the > > mouths of the stunned masses drop open in astonishment. There is > > transcendent, blazing chaos. Then the screen goes black, and these > > words > > appear: > > > > On January 24, Apple Computer will introduce Macintosh. > And you'll > > see why 1984 won't be like '1984.' > > > > Can a $2500 computer, weighing under twenty pounds and taking up no > > more desk space than a piece of paper, change the world? > > Improve your life? Foil Orwell's prophecies? Save Apple from the > > clutches of IBM? > > > > For your answer, meet Macintosh. Put in a > three-and-a-half-inch disc, > > plug in the keyboard and the "mouse" - the palm-sized device that > > moves a dark pointer around the screen - and flick on the machine. > > That act alone may dispel your doubts > > > > If you have had any prior experience with personal > computers, what > > you might expect to see is some sort of opaque code, called a > > "prompt," consisting of phosphorescent green or white letters on a > > murky background. What you see with Macintosh is the Finder. > > On a pleasant, light background (you can later change the > background > > to any of a number of patterns, if you like), little > pictures called > > "icons" appear, representing choices available to you. A > > word-processing program might be represented by a pen, while the > > program that lets you draw pictures might have a paintbrush icon. A > > file would represent stored documents - book reports, > letters, legal > > briefs and so forth. To see a particular file, you'd move > the mouse, > > which would, in turn, move the cursor to the file you wanted. You'd > > tap a button on the mouse twice, and the contents of the file would > > appear on the screen: dark on light, just like a piece of paper. > > > > This seems simple, but most personal computers > (including the IBM > > PC) can't do this. > > > > the link...I hope lol. > > > > > http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/the-birth-of-the-mac-rolling-st > > ones-1984-feature-on-steve-jobs-and-his-whiz-kids-20111006 > > > > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the > Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. > To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en.
