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Andy Hertzfeld Shares His Thoughts on 25 Years of the Mac

Posted by timothy on from the never-forget-your-first-mac dept.

blackbearnh writes "It may make you feel very, very old, but the Macintosh will be turning 25 in January. As we approach this momentous anniversary, O'Reilly News had a talk with Andy Hertzfeld, one of the original Macintosh designers, about the long and storied history of the Mac. Hertzfeld, who tells the story of the Mac in his book A Revolution in the Valley, shares his thoughts about how the Mac has aged over time, how life might have been different if Steve Jobs had stayed on at Apple, and the differences between working for Apple, and for Google (his current employer.)" Read on below for a bit of what Hertzfeld had to say.

"They're very similar in certain ways — essentially both Apple and Google want to rewrite the rulebook; they don't want to do things in conventional ways. They want to come up with a better way — for everything; that's not even just the technology but the work processes, the work environment, everything has to be unique and better, so they're very similar in that way. One of the ways that they're different has to do with essentially trust of employees. Apple is very secretive within the company; people working on Macs don't know anything about the new iPods, et cetera. Google is extremely open within the company; once you're a Google employee you have access to just about every piece of information there is."

3 of 142 comments (clear)

  1. mac, what do you think? by jollyreaper · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    *makes a-ok sign* It stinks!

    --
    Kwisatz Haderach
    Sell the spice to CHOAM
    This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
  2. Re:What has he done lately? by Finallyjoined!!! · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Never used a mac, never want to. However you, Sir, should get a life. Nobody will reply to your post because of your low UID. So I will, and I say to you: "bollocks". Come back when you've achieved something comparable.

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    If I had an Ass, I'd call it Fanny Bottom, then I could slap my Ass; Fanny Bottom, on the Arse.
  3. Re:What has he done lately? by mpapet · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    Look cowboy, YOU come up with one really great thing that becomes an iconic device/OS/whatever and you too can get interviewed 25 years from now.

    You know, Linux has made it so much easier to do it too. Go ahead. I look forward to seeing it last 25 years.

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    http://www.maxineudall.com/2010/02/should-economists-be-sued-for-malpractice.html