Apple Core

• Leander Kahney - biographer of Tim Cook and Jony Ive

  In this special episode we interview Leander Kahney, editor of Cult of Mac, and author of New York Times best-selling biographies of Tim Cook and Jony Ive.During his three-decade career, working first at MacWEEK, then Wired News, and now as the editor of his own tech news website, Cult of Mac, Leander attended all the legendary Steve Jobs keynotes and interviewed some of Apple’s most senior executives. Leander regales us with a wealth of fascinating Apple insights and anecdotes. He also shares his origin story as a war correspondent. Plus we learn how Cult of Mac became a thing… And why he wishes he’d never called it that.MERCH STORECheck out our merch store on Teepublic for retro-geek t-shirts, hoodies, sweatshirts, mugs, stickers, and more: https://www.teepublic.com/stores/apple-core-podcastLINKS:Subscribe to Leander’s Cult of Mac Newsletter: https://newsletters.cultofmac.comAnd check out Leander’s books:The Cult of Mac https://www.amazon.com/Cult-Mac-Leander-Kahney/dp/1593271220/The Cult of iPod https://www.amazon.com/Cult-iPod-Leander-Kahney/dp/1593270666/Inside Steve’s Brain https://www.amazon.com/Inside-Steves-Brain-Leander-Kahney/dp/1591845513/Jony Ive: The Genius Behind Apple's Greatest Products https://www.amazon.com/dp/1591847060/Tim Cook: The Genius Who Took Apple to the Next Level https://www.amazon.com/dp/0525537600/The Cult of Mac, 2nd Edition https://www.amazon.com/Cult-Mac-2nd-Leander-Kahney/dp/1593279140/

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• Apple Maps - the unnecessary apology

  Apple Maps launched alongside the original iPhone in 2007. Initially, it relied on map data from Google. But in 2012, when the two companies became smartphone rivals, Apple was forced to find an alternative data source.Opting to build its own map platform in-house, Apple attempted to replicate a product Google had developed over many years in a matter of months. Unsurprisingly, the results were not perfect. Users around the world reported bad directions, missing landmarks, and bizarre visual glitches.The fallout from the Apple Maps launch led to a rare apology from Tim Cook, and the departure of one of Apple’s most indispensable software engineers. But with the benefit of hindsight, the wisdom of Apple’s move into mapping has become clear. It enabled Apple to compete head-on with Android, and kickstarted Cupertino’s move into services.MERCH STORECheck out our merch store on Teepublic for retro-geek design t-shirts, hoodies, sweatshirts, mugs, stickers, and more: https://www.teepublic.com/stores/apple-core-podcastLINKSThe Verge report stating Apple’s deal with Google still had a year to run when Apple scrapped it: https://www.theverge.com/2012/9/25/3407614/apple-over-a-year-left-on-google-maps-contract-google-maps-ios-appTim Cook’s apology letter (via the Internet Archive): https://web.archive.org/web/20121001005112/http://www.apple.com/letter-from-tim-cook-on-maps/New York Times article on the brawl between Apple and Google in 2010: https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/2010/03/14/technology/14brawl.htmlWall Street Journal report on Apple’s acquisition of C3 Technologies from Saab: https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304543904577398502695522974Cult of Mac on firing of Richard Williamson: https://www.cultofmac.com/apple-history/apple-maps-launch-disasterScott Forstall tells the story of his interview with Steve Jobs at NeXT: https://macdailynews.com/2020/05/22/scott-forstall-reveals-how-his-interview-with-steve-jobs-went/Adam Lashinsky’s Inside Apple: https://www.amazon.com/Inside-Apple-Americas-Admired-Secretive-Company/dp/1455512168/

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• Mac OS X - how Steve Jobs saved Apple’s crown jewel

  In 1996, Apple was in serious trouble. The Mac was almost obsolete. Its multitasking was flaky, it couldn’t handle multiple processors, and it kept crashing. Sales were tanking as users switched to Windows NT in droves.Apple appointed a new CEO, Gil Amelio, to turn things around. He tried to replace the Mac’s System 7 with a new modern operating system he called Rhapsody. Amelio’s strategy wasn’t bad, but he failed to anticipate how difficult it would be to persuade Mac users and developers to switch platforms.Fortunately, Amelio selected NeXTSTEP as the core foundation of Rhapsody, and the acquisition of NeXT led to the fateful return of Steve Jobs. Over the following two years, Jobs ousted Amelio, fixed his flawed Rhapsody strategy, added a shiny UI that looked so good you could lick it, and rename the whole thing Mac OS X.LINKSGil Amelio’s book: On the Firing Line: My 500 Days at Apple https://www.amazon.com/Firing-Line-500-Days-Apple/dp/0887309186/MacWorld Expo San Francisco January 7 1997 - Steve Jobs first keynote after his return to Apple:  https://youtu.be/QhhFQ-3w5tE?si=f0IIUmN-s_Ff0n0IWWDC, May 1998 at the San Jose Convention Center - Steve Jobs and Avi Tevanian introduce Mac OS X and Carbon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03kTC0Sm7wcMacworld San Francisco January 2000 - Steve Jobs announces Aqua: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ko4V3G4NqIIScreenshot of iMovie running on Mac OS 9 with Aqua controls, before Aqua was announced for Mac OS X: https://x.com/mac_os_9/status/1080826112408662017Interesting article about Steve Jobs and object oriented programming: https://computerhistory.org/blog/the-deep-history-of-your-apps-steve-jobs-nextstep-and-early-object-oriented-programming/

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  59:25
• NeXT - the secret to Apple’s salvation and success

  The iPhone in your pocket, the Mac on your desk, and even the watch on your wrist are all based on NeXTSTEP, an operating system developed by a long forgotten computer maker called NeXT.Steve Jobs founded NeXT in 1985, just months after his humiliating departure from Apple. Jobs was determined to beat Apple at its own game by proving his new company was the next big thing in computing. But it didn’t work out that way. While NeXT’s iconic cube-shaped workstations gained a loyal following, they never sold in large numbers. Despite many setbacks and failures, Jobs’ wilderness years at NeXT laid the foundation for decades of success that would follow. Apple’s acquisition of NeXT in 1997 proved to be one of the greatest mergers in business history. During his second tenure at Apple, Jobs oversaw the migration of the Mac onto his NeXTSTEP platform. Many of its quirky features, like the spinning beachball of death, are still recognizable in MacOS to this day.LINKSThe full story of how Steve Jobs learned about 3M computers on a trip to Brown University - “What’s a megaflop?”: https://www.folklore.org/Whats_A_Megaflop.htmlThe NeXT logo, designed by Paul Rand: https://www.logodesignlove.com/next-logo-paul-randTry NeXTSTEP out for yourself on Infinite Mac: https://infinitemac.orgThe NeXT Computer Tim Berners-Lee used to develop the world’s first Web browser at the Science Museum in London: https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/world-wide-web-global-information-spaceCheck out these pics of NeXT’s HQ and *that* staircase: https://allaboutstevejobs.com/pics/pics_places/next/next_hqNeXT cube Photograph by Rama, Wikimedia Commons, Cc-by-sa-2.0-fr  © Rama, Cc-by-sa-2.0-fr https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NeXT#/media/File:NEXT_Cube-IMG_7151.jpgThanks to our sound engineer, Martin Algesten, for making us sound fabulous.

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  56:41
• Apple Watch - what Tim Cook’s first product launch tells us about the future of Vision Pro

  These days, Cupertino describes Apple Watch as “the ultimate device for a healthy life.” But it didn’t start out that way. When Tim Cook originally launched the product in 2014, he positioned it as an “intimate way to connect and communicate.”Over its ten year history, Apple Watch has pivoted more radically than any previous Apple product. The user interface has transformed to such an extent that even the Digital Crown and side button no longer perform their original functions.The story of how and why this happened reveals a deeper truth about Apple’s evolution. Under Steve Jobs, the company toiled for years in secret to develop perfectly conceived products. Whereas, under Tim Cook, Apple has released products earlier and learned from consumer reaction. This approach could have profound implications for the future of Vision Pro.Featuring special guest D. Griffin Jones from The CultCast and Cult of Mac. Sound engineering by Martin Algesten.LINKSGriffin mentioned this book - The Apple II Age: How the Computer Became Personal by Laine Nooney:https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/A/bo195231688.htmlJony Ive and the battle of the big tent:https://www.macworld.com/article/696590/apple-expose-jony-ive-departure-apple-watch-tent.htmlApple Event September 2014 “Wish we could say more”:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38IqQpwPe7sApple Event March 2015 “Spring forward”:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2dVrpUxUhMGraham wrote an article about the evolution of watchOS:https://www.cultofmac.com/news/radical-evolution-of-watchosGriffin’s YouTube video about how he uses Vision Pro:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=im3_yq-LxMQ

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