Apple II Bits

Jonathan Mann has been producing an original song every day for over seven years. That’s 2,572 consecutive songs, a streak that’s landed him in the book of Guinness World Records.

To create so many songs, Mann draws his inspiration from everywhere, especially pop culture. Apple is a popular source, producing not only one of my favorite songs, "That’s Just the Woz", but also more infamously, "The iPhone Antenna Song"

Steve Jobs was never one to take criticism lightly, so you’d think this music video would’ve landed Mann on Apple’s blacklist. Perversely, just the opposite happened: Apple opened their "Antennagate" press conference with Mann’s music video.

What was it like when Mann got the call from Apple, seeking permission for this public performance of his critical work? And what could’ve motivated the mercurial Steve Jobs to own and embrace what he normally would see as a cruel jab?

In episode #7 of the podcast Welcome to Macintosh, host Mark Bramhill interviews Mann himself about his history with Apple products and the Apple community, his experience working with Apple to arrange this performance, and his theories as to why Jobs not only played his music, but danced to it.

Steve Jobs was a vision and a genius, and neither Apple nor the Apple II may ever have existed without him. Yet this genius was marred by incredible cruelty and apathy. In this episode, Mann puts himself in Jobs’ shoes and imagines how Apple’s co-founder might’ve felt to have the iPhone lambasted so mercilessly, and how Mann’s music video might’ve reached past that into some human core of Jobs. It was a humanizing and empathetic perspective, and one I appreciated hearing. I recommend you listen to Mann’s interview for a more complete picture of Steve Jobs.

(Full disclosure: I back Mann on Patreon)

Ever since I left Computerworld for a new job in Boston, my daily commute has included public transit. Although some people may prefer the agency and solitude of driving to work, I enjoy letting someone else drive while I kick back for a relaxing ride.

Not being a smartphone owner, I’m not much for passing the time with calls, texts, games, or apps. Since my eyes aren’t glued to a pocket-sized screen, I’ve done plenty of people-watching in my two years on the bus and subway. It’s hard to ignore how smartphones have proliferated into everyone’s hands — most days, I see more digital diversions than the print publications I still enjoy. As someone whose career was founded in print, I feel a bit sad about its demise.

But on a completely different track, I also feel heartened when I see everyone holding not just smartphones, but iPhones. These devices are a far cry from the machine we celebrate on Open Apple and in Juiced.GS — yet from those humble beginnings sprang an empire that has worked its way into the lives of millions. I look around the sybway and see in everyone’s hands and pockets the same logo that was on the computer on which I learned to program, to write, and to game.

Image courtesy Jens Schott Knudsen.

As a college instructor, I’ve had plenty of students who have never used an Apple II or don’t even know what one is. And in a way, that’s okay, because some part of the Apple II has survived to today. The scrappy company born in a garage was so successful in marketing a product to me and my contemporaries that they grew beyond our wildest dreams.

Every morning, I see more Apple users on the subway than I’ve ever seen at KansasFest. To the makers of that smartphone, I think, "Well done, guys" — and to the people using them, I think, "You’re welcome."

Ivan Drucker is a name known to many modern Apple II users. He’s the networking genius behind A2SERVER and A2CLOUD and the programming savant responsible for Slammer and NuInput. He’s on the staff of Juiced.GS and was Open Apple‘s first post-debut guest. He’s an all-around nice guy.

But to the residents of New York City — yes, the Big Apple — he’s the founder and chief technology expert of IvanExpert, an Apple consulting firm that’s been providing superior Mac, iPhone, and iPad service for over ten years. The name he and his partner Caroline Green have developed for their company recently caught the attention of their local CBS station. When hackers discovered a way to lock users’ iPhones remotely in exchange for ransom, CBS turned to IvanExpert for a video interview advising viewers how to avoid falling victim to this scam.

But wait — what was that?!

Computer, magnify sector B2!

This isn’t the first time Ivan’s Apple II have been featured in video. When he got back from KansasFest 2011, IvanExpert’s YouTube channel spotlighted the convention and why Ivan attends, with the Apple II prominently in the background.

Kudos to Ivan and the rest of the team at IvanExpert for keeping the Apple II in the forefront of their workplace and CBS’s television coverage!

(Hat tip to Caroline Green)

Mike Maginnis and I were driving home from KansasFest 2012, half-listening to the Major Nelson podcast, when I thought I heard news of something called “Lode Runner Classic“, featuring the Apple II game’s original 150 levels. Since this was primarily an Xbox 360 podcast, and I consider Lode Runner one of the best games ever, I was excited by the prospect of a follow-up to 2009’s Lode Runner sequel. I love remakes and reboots, but there’s just something about going back to the source that can be extremely satisfying.

I rewound the podcast to hear the details I’d missed… and alas: the game was released for Windows Phone 7, a mobile operating system I’ll never have access to.

Yesterday, Kotaku ran a "one month later, this game is still great" review. As an aside, the author, Mike Fahey, briefly mentions: "Nearly three decades later, Tozai Games has released Lode Runner Classic for Windows Phone 7, with versions coming soon for iOS and Android."

WHAT?! iOS version? Truly??

The developer’s official Web site says only: "Don’t worry, Android and iOS fans — your versions will be releasing soon with shared leaderboards, country-code bragging rights and achievements!"

Okay. I can wait. After all, it was nearly two years between when Lode Runner for Xbox 360 was announced and it was released. I just need to remember to breathe. In the meantime, I’m glad to know I’m not the only one excited by this release. Said the franchise’s creator, Douglas E. Smith, on the game’s official Web site:

When Lode Runner came out on the Apple II, the last thing I expected was that the game would be alive and kicking on platforms as advanced as today’s smartphones. It’s really gratifying to me that so many people are still interested in the game.

And, as the Kotaku critic commented:

Thirty years down the road I feel I’ve developed a much deeper appreciation for Lode Runner than I had as a child. This seemingly simple title is actually a rather complex mechanism crafted specifically to hand me my [butt]. I’ve not gotten any better at it, but at least now I understand my failure is a result of brilliant programming.

Last summer, I attended the CIO 100 Symposium, a conference hosted by my employer, IDG Enterprise. In one of the sessions, "New Ways To Manage Change", I and several IT professionals discussed the emerging trend of "Bring Your Own Device", in which employees supply their own technology rather than rely on corporate-issued hardware. An interesting correlation surfaced from one of the table discussions: whether it be theirs or their employers’, salespeople wanted to use iPhones, whereas the engineering department wanted Android devices. It seems engineers don’t want to work in a walled garden, preferring a machine that they can more easily tamper with.

Steve Wozniak, the quintessential hacker, recently reinforced that dichotomy. Woz, a known owner of several iPhones (simultaneously!), commented to Dan Lyons of The Daily Beast:

"My primary phone is the iPhone," Woz says. "I love the beauty of it. But I wish it did all the things my Android does, I really do."

Android phones aren’t as simple to use as the iPhone, but they’re not that much more complicated, and "if you’re willing to do the work to understand it a little bit, well I hate to say it, but there’s more available in some ways," Woz says.

Although initially surprising to hear the Apple co-founder say anything that could be construed as disparaging against an Apple device, Woz’s desire to operate outside the constraints of iOS is consistent with the creativity and innovation that led him to design the Apple II in the first place.

In the end, though, maybe there’s something to be said for ease of consumption. After all, despite the above comments, Woz still uses an iPhone — and most of the world no longer uses the Apple II.

All the less power to them!

(Hat tip to Dwight Silverman)

I don’t mean for this to be "iOS Gaming Week" here on Apple II Bits — the impressive Touch Arcade already has the corner on that market. But I do want to follow up on a post from last March, in which I eagerly anticipated Out of this World (OotW) coming to iOS. I greatly enjoyed this creative (albeit brief) game on the Super NES, which shared the same processor as the IIGS, making a port to the Apple II a no-brainer. A more accessible rendition of this classic game would be welcome.

Since I don’t actually own an iOS device, the port fell off my radar, replaced by news and reviews of From Dust, an Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) game released this past July by OotW creator Éric Chahi. Great, I thought — has he been so swamped with this new title that he’s forgotten his roots?

Nope! Out of this World for iOS was released last month under the name Another World for $4.99.

Can you bring scientist Lester Knight Chaykin home?

If Out of this World leaves you hungry for more, there’s no news on a similar port of the much rarer sequel, Heart of the Alien. But you can play OotW’s spiritual successor, Flashback, on iOS for $1.99.

(Hat tip to Carrington Vanston of the Retro Computing Roundtable)