Category: Apple History

In August 1999, Apple announced the first Power Mac G4: ¹

The Power Mac G4 is powered by the revolutionary new PowerPC G4 chip architected by Apple, Motorola and IBM, and is the first personal computer in history to deliver supercomputer-level performance of over one billion floating-point operations per second. The Power Mac G4s run professional applications like Adobe’s Photoshop up to twice as fast as 600MHz Pentium III-based PCs.

The G4 chip incorporates a new execution unit named the Velocity Engine — the heart of a supercomputer miniaturized onto a sliver of silicon. In a set of Intel’s own tests published on their web site, the 500MHz G4 chip was 2.94 times as fast as the 600MHz Pentium III processor.

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That famous clip of a floppy disk floating through the air after being ejected from a Macintosh Portable really makes my brain vibrate in a special way. In this video, Scott Manley explains why the Portable was there in the first place:

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Script Editor, the built-in macOS app for creating and dealing with AppleScript and JavaScript automation, comes with a handful of example templates, including this gem for importing files into Aperture:

Aperture was discontinued some eight years ago, but this template is still included in the version of Script Editor bundled with macOS Ventura.

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The Guardian has an excerpt from Bono’s memoir, and the excerpt includes a bit on the time Apple and U2 added the band’s newest album to everyone’s iTunes music libraries:

If just getting our music to people who like our music was the idea, that was a good idea. But if the idea was getting our music to people who might not have had a remote interest in our music, maybe there might be some pushback. But what was the worst that could happen? It would be like junk mail. Wouldn’t it? Like taking our bottle of milk and leaving it on the doorstep of every house in the neighbourhood.

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Speaking of weird bugs and scripts, here’s Apple Support on a weird bug that was present in an early version of Mac OS X 10.2:

When using Script Editor to save a new file, there are two choices for compiled script.

When you choose Save As or save a script for the first time, you see two choices for the format:

• compiled script
• Compiled Script

The choices produce identical scripts. It does not matter which format you choose; they only differ in the capitalization. This is to expected [sic] to be corrected in a future version of Script Editor.

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A tweet from Mr. Macintosh over the weekend reminded me of one of the worst bugs Apple shipped in an application update.

Version 2 of iTunes was going to be a big deal, including support for the just-announced iPod and the addition of an equalizer with cross-fading.

Things did not go well. Here’s a bit from Adam Engst, dated November 12, 2001:

After releasing the new version late Friday night, Apple hastily pulled the Mac OS X installer Saturday morning due to a problem where, in some situations involving multiple volumes named in specific ways, the installer could delete a large number of files. Needless to say, this is a bad thing, and there have been reports of Apple quietly offering to buy file recovery software or even pay for DriveSavers recovery of affected hard disks. A revised installer, with the designation iTunes 2.0.1, was released before the end of the weekend.

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Garth Beagle has uploaded something pretty special to the Macintosh Garden:

A (mostly) complete collection of After Dark modules, pre-installed, ready to go, using an install of After Dark 4.0.3. Tested on a color-capable Macintosh with System 7.1 and Mac OS 7.6.1.

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Today I read a story about an Apple I that is reported to have been built by Woz. That may or may not be true, according to some experts. Ethan Baron, writing at The Mercury News, has more:

Mike Graff, spokesman for Boston-based RR Auction, said Jobs gave the Apple-1 to its current owner, who wants to remain anonymous, around 1990. The device had languished for years in a drawer “with things on top of it and below it” in the famed “Apple Garage” where Jobs and Wozniak did their early work in Jobs’ childhood home in Los Altos, said Corey Cohen, a board member of the Vintage Computer Federation and a prominent Apple-1 expert.

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I came across this article in doing research for my Apple History Calendar:

The Campbell Soup Company has over 40,000 employees. Campbell Germany wanted to improve their sales and distribution system as well as the quality of their customer service. Campbell developed a solution around a mobile communications system involving the Apple MessagePad and mobile phones in the field, and a SyncServer which processes data transfers between the MessagePad and the central office.

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Michael Steeber has made something wild:

The Apple Store Time Machine is a celebration of the places and products that have shaped our lives for more than twenty years. This interactive experience recreates memorable moments in Apple history with painstaking detail and historical accuracy.

This Mac app took me back to my Apple Store days in a way I didn’t anticipate. The attention to detail in these experiences is really impressive.

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It has been 20 years and change since Apple first introduced Mac OS X 10.2 Jaguar. Here’s a bit from the press release:

Apple today previewed the next major version of Mac OS X, code-named “Jaguar,” to more than 2,500 Macintosh developers at its Worldwide Developers Conference. “Jaguar” will be available to customers in late summer 2002, and will further establish Mac OS X as the most advanced operating system in the world.

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Apple, back in 1997:

Apple Computer, Inc. today announced a new credit option for college-bound youth to make buying a Macintosh as easy as using one. Kicked-off on June 1, the ongoing Apple Computer Loan program is the latest innovation from the Company that offers the world’s first 300 megahertz home computer and the world’s fastest notebook computer. Along with making it easier for consumers to buy a Mac, Apple expects the program to benefit retailers by giving them another payment option for customers. Having already achieved success with similar loan programs for college students buying on campus and for educators, the new Apple Loan Program is designed for individuals who buy at retail stores.

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