25 Years of Apple Technology

This post by Alison Bechdel reminded me of the first Mac I worked with in 1987, a Plus at an agency in State College. Crazy to think back on working on such a small monitor, and working with the OS, which at the time was amazing GUI. 

Today's BoingBoing pays perfect tribute to that here. 


I bought a similar Plus model at Surplus and Salvage a few years ago, just out of nostalgia. The first Mac I owned was a LC II, which I did freelancing work on in between the stint at Graphics II and getting hired Penn State in 1993. Today, we have an iMac, iPods, and an iTouch at home, and I use a Tower at work, and my daughter-in-law has an iPad. Apple’s technology and the way it has become ingrained in our lives is fascinating, and I wonder what things will look like in another 25 years.

Image of the Day: Mouseover Hand

via a two-winged fairy and a raven who were searching for sparkly objects
When a cursor hovers over a hyperlink, a mouseover event changes the cursor into a hand with an outstretched index finger. This hand icon now graces my keychain. An online search revealed links to artist Susan Kare’s original Mac icons limited edition prints.

A Visual History of Famous Mac Icons

via maclife
“Mac OS 10 has given Mac users a slick GUI full of fancy visual goodies, and with the release of Lion right around the corner, it's only going to get slicker. However, we must not forget that Apple's attention to detail hasn't just been limited to their most recent releases -- they've always been pioneers on the interface front. This gallery features Apple's most humble beginnings -- their most famous icons you're sure to remember with fondness, and a few current updates as well...”
See them here.

Mac vs. PC

via hunch blog
“Our latest data project was to analyze how self-described Mac and PC people are different. The infographic [here], designed by the talented folks at Column Five Media, breaks it down. Keep reading after the Infographic for more background and analysis, including some comparisons to findings from 18 months ago when we first looked at this issue.”

Paste Shortcut Illustration

via cmybacon

A wonderful little illustration by Brandon Ortwein.

Apple Memorabilia Loupe Mystery

via cultofmac


Read about the mystery behind this Apple memorabilia loupe here.

In the early 80s, I remember popping the clear plastic back off of a similar size and style of loupe and then inserting a customized round paper disk in it so that the loupe was clearly recognizable as mine. I'd change the artwork as the mood struck me.

100 Tips #46: Invert Your Mac’s Display Colors

via cult of mac

“Here’s a fun one. Whatever you’re doing on your Mac, from any application or any document, try hitting all these buttons together: Control+Option+Command+8. Bam! Your screen colors are inverted. Don’t worry, you haven’t broken anything, and this isn’t a bug. It’s a feature. To switch things back, hit the same key combination again: Control+Option+Command+8. The same command toggles this feature on and off. The inverted colors feature is one of the accessibility tools that are built into OS X (to see more of them, go to System Preferences and click on Universal Access).”

Read the rest here.