History

The story behind Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water”

This is an old story, but I just encountered it, found it fascinating. All guitarists (at least of my generation) learn, at some point, the chords to Smoke on the Water. It’s just one of those foundational songs.

The words tell a story, something about a flare gun, Frank Zappa, a gambling house, and a big fire. The post is an interview with the person who owned the concert hall/casino where Frank Zappa was playing when the whole disaster went down.

Bill Atkinson on the birth of the Mac

[VIDEO] Bill Atkinson is one of the members of the original Mac development team. He created MacPaint, the QuickDraw toolbox (the underpinnings of the Mac’s graphical interface), and HyperCard, just to name a few of his many accomplishments.

This is a great interview, with lots of nice little touches, like Leo LaPorte pulling out his original copies of Inside Macintosh, the bible for us Mac developers.

Jean-Louis Gassée: Apple at 40

Jean-Louis Gassée, writing for Monday Note, takes a long look at the company he once helped run, as Apple approaches their 40th birthday later this week.

Om Malik reflects on ten years of Twitter

Two solid reads from Om Malik, one an article he wrote to introduce the world to Twitter, back in July 1996, and another present tense piece looking at his love for Twitter.

I’m Steve Wozniak – Ask me anything

Woz did a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) yesterday. If you are a fan of Woz or of Apple history, this is worth a read. I really enjoyed it.

More than 500 Apple II programs, ready to run in your browser

This is extraordinarily exciting for me. Of course, as a long, long time Apple user, I’m thrilled for the chance to play some old and deeply loved games from my past.

But coolness of all coolness, at least one of these is a game I helped write!!!

Newly discovered video of Woz and Apple Fest from 1988

From the Apple User Group Connection, some newly digitized video tapes from 1988. There’s also a link to one of my favorite videos from long ago, Apple’s fantastic vision for the future, The Knowledge Navigator.

Rare video from 1936: AT&T explains the brand new rotary dial telephone

[VIDEO] Imagine this scenario. All the telephones in the US operated without dials, all depended on a human operator connecting your call by hand. No phones had dials.

City by city, AT&T had to roll out new equipment, giving rotary dial telephones to everyone. They put out the word via a newsreel shown in the town’s movie theaters. See the video in the main post.