The complaints in articles about Apple seem strangely timeless.
.Patronizing the Naive User
There is a lot of talk now about the naive user, what the naive user doesn’t want, and the hazards from which the naive user must be protected. Unfortunately, some of the steps that computer companies take on behalf of the naive user show a misunderstanding of what “naive” means in this context.
The Mac had only been out for six months and already the fanboy trope was already in full effect.
“I’ve already experienced what happens when one is less than enthusiastic about Macintosh: the Mactribesmen descend in force with fire and sword.”
.COMPUTING AT CHAOS MANOR
The AT&T Computers
Jerry Pournelle holds a doctorate in psychology and is a science-fiction writer who also earns a comfortable living writing about computers present and future.
I’ve just come back from COMDEX Winter in the Los Angeles Exposition Center, where I got to play with the new AT&T computers.
Like, Wow!
When AT&T announced a computer line, there was a bit of panic on Wall Street; after the prices were announced, the excitement died away. Too expensive. Who’s worried about a computer line whose lowest-cost item is a $9950 desktop? How can that affect the micro world? That’s what many Wall Street analysts said, anyway.
Dream on.
I don’t own any computer stock—the conflict of interest is obvious—but if 1 did, I’d give that analysis a lot of thought. People, that AT&T desktop computer is one hell of a machine.
Mac Draw was originally called Mackelangelo? Yeah, I think they made the right choice there.
Also if you look at the text sample on page 17 you can see that they hadn’t even picked the font names yet. Geneva Chicago is called System.
.The Apple Macintosh Computer
Mouse-window-desktop technology arrives for under $2500
by Gregg Williams
Apple established itself as one of the leading innovators in personal computing technology a year ago by introducing the Lisa, a synthesis and extension of human-interface technology that has since been widely imitated. Now the company has strengthened that reputation with a new machine, the Macintosh (above). In terms of technological sophistication and probable effect on the marketplace, the Macintosh will outdistance the Lisa as much as the Lisa has outdistanced its predecessors.
Also check out Byte’s review of the Lisa: The Lisa Computer System – Apple designs a new kind of machine (Feb, 1983)
.An Interview with Wayne Rosing, Bruce Daniels, and Larry Tesler
A behind-the-scenes look at the development of Apple’s Lisa.
Chris Morgan Gregg Williams, Senior Editor Phil Lemmons, West Coast Editor
Of the more than 90 members of the Apple engineering staff who participated in the Lisa project, Wayne Rosing, Bruce Daniels, and Larry Tesler are three of those who were most responsible for its final form. Rosing, formerly of the Digital Equipment Company, oversaw hardware development until Lisa went into pilot manufacture and then assumed responsibility for technical management of the entire Lisa project. Daniels and Tesler were responsible for Lisa’s systems software and applications software, respectively. Chris Morgan, senior editor Gregg Williams, and West Coast editor Phil Lemmons interviewed the three at Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino, California, last October.
