“It’s a poorly kept secret, but we’re all using Macintosh computers right now. Most of them, of course, use microprocessors made by Intel rather than Apple, and run Microsoft’s Windows, not Apple’s OS 9 or OS X, but they’re all direct descendants of the original graphic user interface and operating system created by an amazing group of computer artists in the early 1980s,” Richard Pachter writes for The Miami Herald. “The popularity of the nascent Apple II microcomputer began the personal computer revolution, but that was just the beginning for the upstart company in Cupertino, California.”
Pachter writes, “Author Andy Hertzfeld joined Apple as a young developer and eventually became a part of the team that was assembled to create the Macintosh, a revolutionary computer that didn’t require arcane keyboard combinations or other specialized knowledge. Its point and click commands, using a metaphoric, icon-driven method of running software applications and creating documents — derived in part from the work of Xerox’s seminal interface experiments — is now the industry standard.”
Pachter writes, “The story of the creation of the Mac is an exciting tale of creativity, innovation, ego and revolution. It’s far more dramatic than one would expect, and certainly more than just a routine product development story, as evidenced in Hertzfeld’s new book, ‘Revolution in the Valley.'”
Pachter writes, There are ample business insights amid the memories. For example, the tough negotiating of Bill Gates resulted in Microsoft’s perpetual license for the Mac interface, hence Windows’ ‘resemblance’ to the Macintosh operating system… Whether you’re a Mac person or a Windows user, this classic tale of American innovation is entertaining and insightful.”
Full article here.