[Ti] "end hanging disconnect" (was: disconnecting ... (forever))

[John Griffin]

Steve Wozniak typed this message on 5/31/04 4:39 PM:

> But it's not strange. I don't think that the current Apple programmers came up
> with the Macintosh ideals and what it stood for and how good it had to be.
> They didn't come up with User Interface Guidelines that gave some level of
> consistency to how various programs worked either. We long-time dedicated
> Macintosh users have a stronger feeling for what that is and how important it
> once was.

This one really caught my eye. It would be interesting for a book project to
chart the course that Apple has taken from the idealistic early 80's to the
more "bottom line" obsessed company it has become. I remember the early days
that were characterized by philosophical and deeply thought out statements
from the pioneers (the likes of Boich, Hertzfield, Burrell Smith, Atkinson,
Capps and Jobs himself). Then the cracks started appearing (I remember
reading a book by Lu - once the Mac Evangelist called "The Macintosh Way"
that revealed the more cut-throat side that had been kept hidden from the
public. And of course we have followed the erratic changes in direction and
high level personnel since. So yeah, how close is the Mac hardware and
System Software to the original goals of the early '80's?

I also remember when Alan Kay was brought aboard it appeared that perhaps
things could get back on course. He had some very exciting thoughts about
the role that the Mac could play in education. But that didn't last long,
did it?

OK, I'm rambling here, but Steve's comment touched something here that might
be worthwile chewing on a bit...

jg