Marcin WicharyMay 16, 2023

Last week, I had a chance to visit @hypertalking’s (James’s) excellent collection of Mac-related stuff. He’s particularly interested in collecting 1990s Macs, which is the era of Apple history I don’t have a lot of personal experience with, so it was doubly exciting.

Here are some 100 photos from that visit:

Show threadMarcin WicharyMay 16, 2023

James’s work has recently gone viral! He meticulously recreated a few of Hokusai's views of Mount Fuji in the original Mac’s resolution and 1-bit colour.

I got to see them all in person! https://kottke.org/23/05/great-wave-off-kanagawa-in-all-its-1-bit-pixelized-glory

Great Wave Off Kanagawa, In All Its 1-Bit Pixelized Glory

As part of a project to reproduce all 36 of Hokusai’s views of Mount Fuji as 1-bit black & white pixel art, James Weiner dre

kottke.org
Show threadMarcin WicharyMay 16, 2023
Anyway, on to the collection. There must be thousands of rainbow Apple logos in here.
Show threadMarcin WicharyMay 16, 2023
…recessed or otherwise.
Show threadMarcin WicharyMay 16, 2023
Love that you can see a little texture on this.
Show threadMarcin WicharyMay 16, 2023
A fun (although maybe more pretentious than usual) “do” and “don’t” manual of using the Apple logo.
Show threadMarcin WicharyMay 16, 2023
If you can’t afford six Pantone colors, you can always approximate them. Love, John.
Show threadMarcin WicharyMay 16, 2023
Oh, no, not these.
Show threadMarcin WicharyMay 16, 2023
These 1970s truck and van shapes are amazing.
Show threadMarcin WicharyMay 16, 2023
What is this, a font picker.
Show threadMarcin Wichary
“…with ’Illustrator‘ by Adobe.” Which James of course also has, in multiple editions!
May 16, 2023 at 12:19amWeb
Show threadMarcin WicharyMay 16, 2023
(I got rate-limited by my Mastodon server. More later. 😢)
Show threadMarcin WicharyMay 16, 2023
Somewhere here is also the first PowerPoint, around the time it’s been acquired by Microsoft. The manual is pretty impressive – it looks like a proper book.
Show threadMarcin WicharyMay 16, 2023
Prince of Persia I and II in their cool respective boxes.
Show threadMarcin WicharyMay 16, 2023
Apparently, SimCity – James has a huge collection of Mac-specific editions – got in trouble for putting Godzilla on its box… so that was changed to a tornado later.
Show threadMarcin WicharyMay 16, 2023
The most ambitious crossover in history: BBC Basic for a Mac!!!
Show threadMarcin WicharyMay 16, 2023

Microsoft Bob for a Mac! Sort of.

I have not heard of this before and I used to have a site cataloging GUIs.

Show threadMarcin WicharyMay 16, 2023
5 mice award/rating from MacUser. Kinda cute?
Show threadMarcin WicharyMay 16, 2023
There’s a lot of training and sales materials. Here’s one for System 7, explaining TrueType on prepared full-size transparencies. A fractal of obsolete tech.
Show threadMarcin WicharyMay 16, 2023
Here are some materials explaining DTP. The first one is gorgeous. The second one… yeesh.
Show threadMarcin WicharyMay 16, 2023
HyperCard! For education!
Show threadMarcin WicharyMay 16, 2023
The diagram for the never-released Macintosh Office (server).
Show threadMarcin WicharyMay 16, 2023
From a huge binder (binders!) for salespeople of the original Macintosh.
Show threadMarcin WicharyMay 16, 2023
A plastic Mac suitcase. Kind of a lame one, honestly.
Show threadMarcin WicharyMay 16, 2023
Apparently, what you do with your new Mac is…
Show threadMarcin WicharyMay 16, 2023
…draw a cat.
Show threadMarcin WicharyMay 16, 2023
TiBook wear and tear.
Show threadMarcin WicharyMay 16, 2023
I have never seen this gorgeous photo of the original iMac before. I’m sad we’ve never gotten a hi-res digital version of it.
Show threadMarcin WicharyMay 16, 2023
Strange experiments in early multimedia publishing: CD movies with extra features, and e-books on floppies.
Show threadMarcin WicharyMay 16, 2023
A rare Apple TV set top box! (*Not* Macintosh TV.) I learned it was called “Apple Interactive Television Box.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Interactive_Television_Box
Apple Interactive Television Box - Wikipedia

Show threadMarcin WicharyMay 16, 2023
The infamous Bandai Pippin, the Apple’s Mac-based console.
Show threadChris Silverman 🌻May 16, 2023

@mwichary I've always thought Apple's experiments with TV were interesting, and could have been something if the company hadn't been so distracted at the time.

I remember Steve Jobs initially referred to the Apple TV—the one that succeeded—as a "hobby", and I wondered at the time if he was trying to leave some leeway in case it didn't really go anywhere like the earlier attempts.

Show threadDave KleinMay 16, 2023
@mwichary NO. WAY.
Show threadDeadly HeadshotMay 16, 2023
@mwichary
The thing that made Apple and Acorn fall out...
Show threadJohn Manoogian IIIMay 16, 2023
@mwichary objects like these seemed vitally relevant at the time. We imagined that soon all storytelling would likely be interactive, enhanced, and enriched
Show threadMarcin WicharyMay 16, 2023
@jm3 I am honestly more than a little disappointed this didn’t go nearly as far as it could…
Show threadScott PerryMay 16, 2023
@mwichary *of course* the mouse is sideways
Show threadMarcin WicharyMay 16, 2023
@numist Hahaha
Show threadNicoMay 22, 2023
@mwichary Lot of HiRes images here: https://web.archive.org/web/19980509040231/http://www.apple.com:80/pr/ but not this particular one :(
Apple - Media & Analyst Information - Press Releases

Show threadMarcin WicharyMay 22, 2023
@nicoska Yeah, exactly!
Show threadsleepyMay 16, 2023
@mwichary Beautiful patina ...and that ninja tune sticker.
Show threadwakest likes your bugs ⁂May 16, 2023
@mwichary fav mac degradation
Show threadMarcin WicharyMay 17, 2023
@liaizon @hypertalking I want this with newer innards and a modern screen.
Show threadParisninlaMay 19, 2023
@mwichary it’s time.
Show threadmyrmepropagandistMay 16, 2023

@mwichary

OMG if ONLY this were possible.

Show threadRealGravitas -Citizen SaboteurMay 16, 2023
@futurebird @mwichary holding out for function hairball(cat) 😺
Show threadDavid JONESMay 19, 2023
@mwichary AUTOFILL YOUR CAT has strong meme potential
Show threadBrilliantcrankMay 16, 2023
@mwichary When I bought MacOS Panther it came with a set of dog tags.
Show threadBrilliantcrankMay 16, 2023
@mwichary In those days we didn’t need a server because we had access to a shared drive through AppleTalk.
Show threadChristopher GriffithsMay 16, 2023
@mwichary “DeskTop” is quite an odd choice.
Show threadMarcusMay 16, 2023
@mwichary This looks so familiar. My family's first computer was a Macintosh Plus and my parents used it for making newsletters and for their paper, we must have had some pretty similar sets of booklets around
Show threadDr. Juande Santander-VelaMay 16, 2023
@mwichary I had no idea that existed! Wow!
Show threadZaͩnͦsͤt̀́rͤa̅̆̈May 16, 2023
@mwichary BEOS! 😅
Show threadEd SMay 16, 2023

Wow, BBC Basic for the Mac, complete with 6502 assembler and emulator. Published in 1989 by Human-Computer Interaction Ltd, which is David Johnson-Davies, former head of AcornSoft. What an offering - and how did the licensing work out, I wonder - the BBC were very protective.

Download it here - also a video preview
https://www.macintoshrepository.org/32524-bbc-basic-for-the-macintosh

Announcement: Little Acorns from Big Macs in Acorn User
https://archive.org/details/AcornUser083-Jun89/page/n8/mode/1up

@mwichary

#retrocomputing #bbcbasic #acornsoft #macintosh #applemac

BBC BASIC for the Macintosh - Macintosh Repository

BBC BASIC on the Mac? BBC BASIC for the Macintosh has been developed with the dual aim of providing an advanced interactive programming language...

Show threadMetalSnakeMay 16, 2023

@EdS @mwichary better yet download from the Macintosh Garden https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/bbc-basic-the-macintosh

that repository site you linked basically steals everything from the garden and makes money off it.

Show threadloptaMay 17, 2023
@mwichary If they wanted to sell Macs into British schools, BBC BASIC would have been table stakes!
Show threadHeliomassMay 17, 2023
@mwichary How did I not know this existed?!? Seems it’s available as abandonware: https://www.macintoshrepository.org/32524-bbc-basic-for-the-macintosh
BBC BASIC for the Macintosh - Macintosh Repository

BBC BASIC on the Mac? BBC BASIC for the Macintosh has been developed with the dual aim of providing an advanced interactive programming language...

Show threadMichal Migurski 🍉May 16, 2023
@mwichary I had the Godzilla version
Show threadCharlieGMay 16, 2023
@mwichary Blast, I’ve got the newer one. Now I have to buy another.
Show threadGreg WhiteheadMay 16, 2023
@mwichary Cc @jmechner
Show threadsleepyMay 16, 2023
@mwichary oh man i forgot about that wavy side raised bezel…
Show threadJonas DowneyMay 16, 2023
@mwichary omg, this whole thread makes me so happy, but especially this. I haven’t seen that box since I was 14 or so. ❤️
Show threadeuroplus May 16, 2023
@mwichary oh, I thought you were parodying a short news clip! 🤣