Harry McCracken

@harrymccracken
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Fast Company Global Technology Editor. Boy journalist. Bon vivant. Lefthander. Westcoastian. šŸ‡ŗšŸ‡¦ Sign up for my free Plugged In newsletter: https://www.fastcompany.com/section/plugged-in
Flipboard’s Surf, which I first wrote about in 2024, is finally available without an invite as a web and Android app. (iOS still has a waitlist.) It’s a wildly inventive and invigorating way to find stuff that’s actually worth reading, watching, and listening to. https://www.fastcompany.com/91520679/surf-flipboard
The web can still be wonderful, and Flipboard’s Surf proves it

This new app lets human beings weave together worthwhile stuff from across the internet, in a way that’s uniquely rewarding—and sometimes even beautiful.

Fast Company
I guested on our Most Innovative Companies podcast to talk about Apple’s early history and my oral history about it. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/most-innovative-companies/id1576874503?i=1000758930856
How Apple became Apple

Podcast Episode Ā· Most Innovative Companies Ā· April 2 Ā· 1h 20m

Apple Podcasts
As I never tire of mentioning, Microsoft seriously considered buying PC Magazine not long after it launched in 1982. https://www.wsj.com/cmo-today/openai-buys-tech-industry-talk-show-tbpn-484c01c5?st=RUVFWn
This unheard Steve Jobs tape is part of an amazing trove of tech history

In 1988, Steve Jobs did a remarkable demo of his amazing new NeXT computer—and Charles Mann saved it for posterity.

Fast Company
I donā€˜t quite go back to 1976 as an Apple-watcher, but here’s a piece I wrote about having m socks blasted right off by a Lisa demo at the Boston Computer Society in 1983. https://www.fastcompany.com/40514962/this-1983-demo-says-so-much-about-apples-past-present-and-future
This 1983 Demo Says So Much About Apple's Past, Present, And Future

When Apple showed off two new computers to Boston computer nerds in 1983, it was historic in ways both obvious and unexpected.

Fast Company
Apple’s homepage has a fun 50th anniversary product video, but I’m still mystified by the company’s failure to celebrate these two guys named Steve. https://www.apple.com/
Apple

Commemorate Apple's 50th anniversary.

Apple
When I talked to Woz last week for this oral history, he told me that he considers *tomorrow* to be Apple’s 50th anniversary. His reasoning is above my pay grade (ā€œOur human calendar is very weakā€). But it delights me, because it’s also my birthday. https://www.fastcompany.com/91514404/apple-founding-50th-anniversary-apple-1-apple-ii-jobs-wozniak?mvgt=RkD1c7U8rLh7
How Apple became Apple: The definitive oral history of the company’s earliest days

The true story of how Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and other bright young tech hobbyists of the 1970s joined forces to ignite a revolution.

Fast Company

Wayne’s World: As Apple hits its 50th anniversary this week, we got a chance to talk to its forgotten third founder: Ronald G. Wayne. Apple is honestly a footnote in his long life.

https://feed.tedium.co/link/15204/17311236/ronald-g-wayne-apple-interview

Ronald G. Wayne Is More Than Two Weeks At Apple

Amid Apple’s 50th anniversary, we got a chance to talk to its forgotten third founder: Ronald G. Wayne. Apple is honestly a footnote in his long career.

Tedium: The Dull Side of the Internet.
ā€œThe overarching goal for the X platform is to be the best source of truth in the world.ā€ā€”Elon Musk
I wrote about Sora’s demise—I, for one, will miss it—and what it augers for OpenAI and maybe other AI companies as well. https://www.fastcompany.com/91516193/openai-sora-discontinued
With Sora’s death, AI’s age of frivolity may be ending

I’m not embarrassed to admit I liked OpenAI’s synthetic video social network. But I understand why it’s going bye-bye.

Fast Company