History

The secret history of the Apple Watch

Lots to learn about the birth of the Apple Watch from this fascinating Wired piece. A fantastically fun read. Worth every second.

Steven Levy on Becoming Steve Jobs

Steven Levy is a terrific writer (see Insanely Great, the inside story of the birth of the Mac). This is his take on the new Steve Jobs bio, Becoming Steve Jobs.

A lesson from Steve

Tony Fadell, speaking at a TED conference about what he learned from Steve Jobs. Good lesson.

Tim Cook on Steve Jobs, legacy, and Apple Watch

Rick Tetzeli, Executive Editor of Fast Company and coauthor of Becoming Steve Jobs, had the chance to sit down with Tim Cook for a reasonably long Q&A. Presumably, this interview was done as background for the book.

The whole thing is an excellent read.

Vintage internet ads

Remember CompuServe? Excite? Prodigy? Kind of an ugly nostalgia.

The original Apple Car

Some nostalgia, plus a brand new page for the Apple Car that is already marked for deletion.

The Chronicle shares its 1998 audio interview with Steve Jobs

1998 was still a low point for Apple. Steve Jobs had just returned, had some new plans in place, but the triumphant arc of new products that would once again change the world had not yet begun.

The Chronicle of Higher Education sent two reporters, one a seasoned reporter and one fresh out of college, to a conference for college computing administrators to grab some time with Steve Jobs. Follow the link to read about the interview and listen to the whole thing.

Jonathan Ive and the future of Apple

This long form New Yorker piece explores, side-by-side with Sir Jony, the past present and future of Apple. A magnificent read.

The original Les Paul prototype guitar about to go on the auction block

CNN:

The crusade to find a home for a sacred electric guitar is reverberating like a thundering encore through the music business as innovator Les Paul’s Black Beauty from the ’50s is going up for auction.

There’s also video of Tom Doyle talking about the guitar and the tech and craft that went into it.

An oral history of 70’s music mecca Laurel Canyon

Some of the biggest names in 60s and 70s singer-songwriting made their homes in California’s Laurel Canyon, just outside of Los Angeles. This is how they remember it. Fantastic read.

Untold story of the video game cartridge

Think you know the story behind the video game cartridge? Not only was all of this new to me, I never even heard of the RAVEN console. A fascinating read, well written and rich in tech history.

The most disruptive upcoming technology

A panel at CES was discussing disruptive technologies, predicting what each panelist thought would be the most disruptive tech over the next five years. Definitely an interesting read.

The daily routines of famous creative people

Follow the link to an interactive page listing a number of historic figures along with their daily regimen. It might sound dull, but it is fascinating, especially if you have an interest in history or design.

Elon Musk AMA tonight, 9p EST

Have a question for the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX? Here’s your chance to ask Elon Musk directly.