The story behind Graphic Calculator
updated 10:15 am EST, Mon December 27, 2004
Graphic Calculator story
Ron Avitzur has published , the popular Mac OS X application bundled on classic Mac computers. Avitzur apparently developed most of the application for free after his contract expired at Apple in the early/mid 90s. The bundled application was created by two non-paid ex-Apple contracts sneaking onto campus and receiving support from dozens of other Apple employees--both officially and non-officially: "I view the events as an experiment in subverting power structures. I had none of the traditional power over others that is inherent to the structure of corporations and bureaucracies. I had neither budget nor headcount. I answered to no one, and no one had to do anything I asked. Dozens of people collaborated spontaneously, motivated by loyalty, friendship, or the love of craftsmanship. We were hackers, creating something for the sheer joy of making it work."
Old news
12/27, 10:41am reply
But an interesting read.
And what's wrong with 'Graphing Calculator'?
The Milkman
Forum Regular
Joined: Sep 2001
Great story...
12/27, 10:53am reply
...nice to know design can triumph despite 'lawyers & suits'...
bobolicious
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Aug 2002
It's not old news
12/27, 01:45pm reply
this is ancient news. Most people already knew the story.
thunderman
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Dec 2004
Yawn...
12/27, 02:31pm reply
Last week on slashdot... This is news?
LordJohnWhorfin
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Aug 2002
*&?$%$??
12/27, 03:26pm reply
bunch of stupid whiners!! I'm really ashamed of my fellow mac users these days.. A few years ago it was us agains the bunch, now it's us agains us.. brillant!
maybe this is old news for you but a lot of people, including myself, didn't know this story. If you know the news item, just skip it damn it!!!! MacNN is doing a good job of fetching the news from around the world so we don't have to.
Will ABC stop broadcasting a news because CNN talked about it earlier?? Grow up, people... Last week it was about the "zealots", which is an insult from PC users, in my book. Now Mac fans say that about another Mac fan!! Great, simply great!
Back on topic, this kind of story reminds me why the Macintosh world is so special: every piece of hardware or software has its own interesting story. Be it a code-name for a computer case, the impact of the geographical location of the clarisworks development team or simply the design stages of their products.
FireWire
Grizzled Veteran
Joined: Oct 1999
Fascinating!!
12/27, 03:47pm reply
I read the whole article. Thanks MacNN for pointing us to it!!
telem
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Dec 1999
good to post
12/27, 04:33pm reply
I agree... "if you haven't seen it, it's new to you."
Not everyone reads slashdot or the MacNN forums daily (like myself), and it's a good story regardless.
Avenir
Mac Elite
Joined: Jan 2000
Bling
12/27, 08:12pm reply
I liked the stories on folklore.org better because they gave me a laugh =
ApeInTheShell
Senior User
Joined: Nov 2002
Repeat after me:
12/27, 10:16pm reply
GraPHING caculator,
GRAPHING calculator,
GRAPHING not Graphic.
macimmortal
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Aug 2001
lame
12/28, 03:40am reply
That a mac site would misspell 'graphing calculator' as 'graphic' is a new low.
benh57
Senior User
Joined: Aug 2001