Macinography 8: FireWire

Macinography #8: FireWire

Once upon a time, there was an interface known as SCSI. Nobody liked setting IDs, chaining devices, or using thick cables on fat connectors. “There’s gotta be a better way!” said the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and Apple took them up on their challenge. Apple, Sony, IBM, and other companies came together to design a hot interface: IEEE 1394, better known as FireWire. So if it was so great, why isn’t it still around? Listen in to find out.

Sources / Notes:

• Ars Technica’s The Tragedy of FireWire
• Michael Johas Teener’s Q&A
• Oral history of John Rubinstein
• 1394 Trade Association
• The 8-Bit Guy: RIP FireWire

Contact Us You can find Dan on twitter @kefkafloyd and Jake on twitter @jakepugh. We’re available on your podcast platform of choice, and if you like us, a five star rating or review would be greatly appreciated. You can visit our website at icongardenshow.com or post in the Ars thread by going to bit.ly/tigsthread. Some interstitial music used in this episode is courtesy of the Youtube Audio Library and it was composed by Jeremy Blake. Thanks for listening, and we’ll catch you next time.

Macinography 7: The First Power Macs

Macinography #7: The First Power Macs

In the nineties, Apple's processor architecture was falling behind the competition. Motorola won a few battles, but Intel was winning the war. Enter IBM had a hot new architecture that could help both Apple and Motorola. Would they succeed in putting more Power into the Mac? And just how good were those first generation Power Macs anyway? Listen to find out.

Sources / Notes:

• The Computer History Museum's Oral Histories of David Patterson, Gary Davidian, the SPARC Roundtable, the IBM 801 roundtable, and Dave Ditzel.
• Apple Confidential
• Apple-history.com
• MacWorld
• MacUser

Contact Us You can find Dan on twitter @kefkafloyd and Jake on twitter @jakepugh. We’re available on your podcast platform of choice, and if you like us, a five star rating or review would be greatly appreciated. You can visit our website at icongardenshow.com or post in the Ars thread by going to bit.ly/tigsthread. Some interstitial music used in this episode is courtesy of the Youtube Audio Library and it was composed by Jeremy Blake. Thanks for listening, and we’ll catch you next time.

Macinography 6: Microsoft Word 5.1

Macinography #6: Microsoft Word 5.1

Today in the sixth installment of Macinography, we look back at one of the most fondly remembered applications on the Classic Mac OS: Microsoft Word. Microsoft was the dominant player in word processing on the Mac, and 5.1 was slaying the competition. What made people love this word processor so much? Why did it stick around for years after its end of life? Listen in to find out.

Sources / Notes:

• Wired Magazine on Word 5.1 Refuseniks
• IDGConnect
• Zamzar’s 30 years of Word
• History of Microsoft, MSDN: Jeff Raikes
• The Best Software Writing by Avram Joel Spolsky
• Rick Schaut on Word 6.0
• Antitrust case notes against Microsoft
• Working with Word 5.1 Third Edition by Chris Kinata and Gordon McComb
• Macworld (Jan 1995) Word 6.0
• MacUser (Dec 1994) Word 6.0
• MacWorld (March 1993) Word 5.1
• MacUser (April 1993) Word 5.1

Contact Us You can find Dan on twitter @kefkafloyd and Jake on twitter @jakepugh. We’re available on your podcast platform of choice, and if you like us, a five star rating or review would be greatly appreciated. You can visit our website at icongardenshow.com or post in the Ars thread by going to bit.ly/tigsthread. Some interstitial music used in this episode is courtesy of the Youtube Audio Library and it was composed by Jeremy Blake. Thanks for listening, and we’ll catch you next time.

Macinography 5: The Macintosh Color Classic

Macinography #5: The Macintosh Color Classic

Today in the fifth installment of Macinography, we journey back to the third epoch of Apple design beginning in the year of 1993. The traditional all-in-one Mac was getting a bit creaky. A brand new Mac in a newly designed case sought to carry the torch of the all-in-one Mac. This Mac would definitely be one for the history books… but not for the reasons they thought it would. Listen in for the story of the Mac Color Classic.

Sources / Notes:

Macworld April 1994
MacUser April 1994
Jason's Macintosh Museum
The Club for Creating the Strongest Color Classic

Contact Us

You can find Dan on twitter @kefkafloyd and Jake on twitter @jakepugh. We’re available on your podcast platform of choice, and if you like us, a five star rating or review would be greatly appreciated. You can visit our website at icongardenshow.com or post in the Ars thread by going to bit.ly/tigsthread. Some interstitial music used in this episode is courtesy of the Youtube Audio Library and it was composed by Jeremy Blake. Thanks for listening, and we’ll catch you next time.

Macinography 4: The Rise and Fall of Iomega's Zip Drive

Macinography #4: The Rise and Fall of Iomega's Zip Drive

Join us for the third episode of Macinography, where we look at influential hardware, software, and ephemera of Apple and Apple-related subjects. Every Mac user needed a place to store their stuff. Floppies were flunking in the nineties, and hard drives weren't portable enough to bring jobs from place to place. Long chained to the expensive and finicky SyQuest system, Mac users longed for a change. Iomega came a-courtin', promising a hundred megabytes in a speedy, small, and most importantly, inexpensive enclosure. Iomega rode this drive to historic success, but would it just be a one-hit wonder? Listen to find out how it all happened.

Sources / Notes:

Macworld July 1989 Macworld July 1995 Macworld November 1998 MacUser July 1995 Fujifilm USA Data Sheet: Zip Disks and ATOMM Coating The Computer History Museum's Oral History of Syed Iftikar Gibson Research C|Net Fortune Magazine August 1999 Company Histories: Iomega and SyQuest

Contact Us

You can find Dan on twitter @kefkafloyd and Jake on twitter @jakepugh. We’re available on your podcast platform of choice, and if you like us, a five star rating or review would be greatly appreciated. You can visit our website at icongardenshow.com or post in the Ars thread by going to bit.ly/tigsthread. Some interstitial music used in this episode is courtesy of the Youtube Audio Library and it was composed by Jeremy Blake. Thanks for listening, and we’ll catch you next time.

Macinography 3: The Titanium PowerBook G4

Macinography #3: The Titanium PowerBook G4

Join us for the third episode of Macinography, where we look at influential hardware, software, and ephemera of Apple and Apple-related subjects. Our topic this time is perhaps the most influential Apple laptop of all, the Titanium PowerBook G4. This machine’s exotic exterior and supercomputer insides would change portable computers forever… but it would have to contend with its dark side to do so. Listen to find out how it all happened.

Show Notes

The Titanium G4 on: Wikipedia Apple-history Low End Mac Macworld’s Review of the 800MHz DVI model

Contact Us

You can find Dan on twitter @kefkafloyd and Jake on twitter @jakepugh. We’re available on your podcast platform of choice, and if you like us, a five star rating or review would be greatly appreciated. You can visit our website at icongardenshow.com or post in the Ars thread by going to bit.ly/tigsthread. Some interstitial music used in this episode is courtesy of the Youtube Audio Library and it was composed by Jeremy Blake. Thanks for listening, and we’ll catch you next time.

Macinography 2: System 7

Macinography #1: System 7

Join us for the second episode of Macinography, where we look at influential hardware, software, and ephemera of Apple and Apple-related subjects. Our topic this time is the classic Mac OS, specifically System 7. This operating system saw the transition of four CEOs and years of tumult at Apple. For most of the nineties, this was what it meant to be a Mac. What was the goal of System 7 and how did it change our idea of what a Mac was? Listen to find out.

Show Notes

System 7 on: Wikipedia Low End Mac

Contact Us

You can find Dan on twitter @kefkafloyd and Jake on twitter @jakepugh. We’re available on your podcast platform of choice, and if you like us, a five star rating or review would be greatly appreciated. You can visit our website at icongardenshow.com or post in the Ars thread by going to bit.ly/tigsthread. Some interstitial music used in this episode is courtesy of the Youtube Audio Library and it was composed by Jeremy Blake. Thanks for listening, and we’ll catch you next time.

Macinography 1: The Macintosh LC II

Macinography #1: The Macintosh LC II

Join us for the first episode of Macinography, where we take an in-depth look at the Macintosh LC II, a popular early nineties Mac that found its way into schools across the globe. Featuring an Apple IIe emulation option and a cute pizza box design, the LC II helped spur the imagination of many a curious child. Listen in to hear about its place in the market and how pizza box Macs delivered a hot slice of computing to a market hungry for graphical interfaces.

Show Notes

The LC Family on: Wikipedia

Low End Mac

EveryMac

Apple-history

Jason's Macintosh Museum

Contact Us

You can find Dan on twitter @kefkafloyd and Jake on twitter @jakepugh. We’re available on your podcast platform of choice, and if you like us, a five star rating or review would be greatly appreciated. You can visit our website at icongardenshow.com or post in the Ars thread by going to bit.ly/tigsthread. Some interstitial music used in this episode is courtesy of the Youtube Audio Library and it was composed by Jeremy Blake. Thanks for listening, and we’ll catch you next time.