Podcast

e8 – Escape Velocity

We go on a galactic adventure with one of our favorite Mac shareware games, Escape Velocity by Ambrosia Software. We encounter delightful pop culture references, everyone's favorite parrot space pirate, and — of course — the most destructive forklift in the universe.

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e7 – Early Internet

We remember how we first got on the internet on the Mac in the early 90s (hint: it came on a floppy disk in the mail). Then we recall the rise and fall of eWorld, getting Sherlocked, and other classic Mac OS internet essentials.

Links for this episode:

Non-sponsor: Street Atlas USA 3.0 2-pack
(Try Google Maps! It's 10 years old now!)

other dialup

e6 – Keyboards

Our first foray into Macintosh hardware, we examine a part of the Mac we often take for granted: the keyboard. We wind back the clock all the way to the Apple II to uncover all sorts of oddities including the BELL key, "open Apple", buckling springs, and chiclets galore.

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The ADB era

Also notice there is a “BELL” key that is activated by typing “Control-G”. That’s another hold-over from old typewriters and teletype machines that actually did have a little metal bell in them!
 

Non-sponsor: Power Macintosh 9600

The USB era

  • iPhone 6 and 6 Plus landscape keyboard features

e5 – At Ease

We revisit At Ease, the multiple user management system in System 7. Our discussion of its interface leads us on a historical journey through Apple's 22-year quest to perfect a grid of buttons.


Students are holding down the space bar at startup to open the Extensions Manager. Then they disable (deselect. At Ease Startup. The next time the computer restarts, it goes straight to the Finder. How can I prevent my students from getting access to the Finder, yet still run System 7.5 and At Ease?

Non-sponsor: Ram Doubler 2 by Connectix

e4 – Merryxmas

In a stocking-stuffer-sized holiday special we remember Merryxmas and other HyperCard viruses. Happy holidays!

Links for this episode:

  • HyperCard
  • "HyperCard was introduced by Apple in 1987. It shipped for free on all Macs. HyperCard was difficult to explain then, and -- to some degree -- remains so today." from Apple's Lost Decade on ZDNet
  • Myst (made with HyperCard)
  • HyperTalk scripting language
    • XCMDs (external commands) allowed extra features
    • Color Tools – became standard in HyperCard 2.2
  • @hypercard unofficial twitter account