Mac Folklore Radio
Episodes
MFR Housekeeping, Spring 2026
20 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Order David Pogue’s “Apple: The First 50 Years”. Watch the livestreamed Apple 50th event at the Computer History Museum.
KON and BAL's Puzzle Page II (1992, 1993)
14 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Original text by Konstantin Othmer and Bruce Leak for Apple’s develop! magazine, December 1992, March 1993, and June 1993. Apple’s MicroBug doc...
Frank Casanova Interview - Maclopedia (1996)
15 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Original text from Maclopedia. While I wasn’t looking, Frank Casanova parted ways with Apple in 2024. Whoops. John Buck’s book on Apple’s Ad...
Steve Hayman - Great Idea (2025)
08 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Original text by Steve Hayman. NeXT Mail clips from the NeXT launch event in Tokyo and the NeXTSTEP Release 3.0 demo VHS tape.
Jecel on the Unitron 512 Macintosh Clone (1998)
20 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Original text by Jecel Mattos de Assumpçao Jr, 1998. Rainer Brockerhoff, who also participated in the Unitron 512 project, provides additional bac...
Power 100 Review and Mac OS Clone Commentary (1995)
21 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Original text by Tim Warner, Macworld, August 1995. Additional clone cancellation fallout information from Macworld, October 1997. Original Power C...
KON and BAL's Puzzle Page (1992, 1994)
20 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Original text by Konstantin Othmer and Bruce Leak for Apple’s develop! magazine, May 1992 and June 1994. “These problems are supposed to be tou...
Glider 4.0 Reviews (1991)
01 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Game Hall of Fame text by Steven Levy, Macworld January 1992. Review of Glider 4.0 by Toni Thompson, Macworld February 1992. I wonder if that’s t...
The Desktop Critic Secret Reviewer's Notebook (1996)
13 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Original text by David Pogue, Macworld June 1996. The database review mentioned in this article might be one of these two. Review of the hilarious...
John Calhoun on Casady and Greene (2024)
30 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Original text by John Calhoun. MacScene’s interview with John re: The History of Glider. Part 1, Part 2. Mr. Advisador for the Newton has been r...
Charles Piller: Is Apple Serious About Macintosh Clones? (1995)
05 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Actions speak louder than words: a look at Apple’s extremely quiet Mac OS licensing program. Original text by Charles Piller. Macworld Boston 19...
Jim Black on John Carmack and Steve Jobs (2018)
12 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Original text by Jim Black. Previous John Carmack episode: The Steve Jobs Rollercoaster. Peter Graffagnino’s appearance at NeXTEVNT 2015. Peter ...
The Iconoclast - Send In The Clones (1995)
24 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Apple’s licensing approach (ca. 1994-1997) is a bad idea. Original text by Steven Levy, Macworld January 1995. Andy Bechtolscheim quote about SP...
Wise Guy - 1984 Redux (1994)
13 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How Macintosh could have taken over the world. Original text by Guy Kawasaki, Macworld February 1994. Various 1993ish Apple commercials courtesy o...
Steven Levy - One Mississippi, Two Mississippi, ... (1996)
17 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Why does System 7.5 take so long to start up? Original text by Steven Levy, Macworld April 1996. Avoid conflating Moore’s Law with Dennard scali...
The Desktop Critic - How to Become a Millionare Overnight (1996)
09 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Eight best-selling Mac products that don’t exist–yet. Original text by David Pogue, Macworld April 1996. More on the history of DiskDoubler. ...
Jonathan Schwartz - Good Artists Copy, Great Artists Steal (2010)
05 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What to say when Steve Jobs threatens to sue you. Original text by Jonathan Schwartz. More about Lighthouse Design’s Concurrence courtesy of the...
James Thomson - Mac OS X Dock History (2025)
27 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Original text by James Thomson. DragThing, one of many Dock-like tools for classic Mac OS. PCalc for classic and modern Mac OS/iOS. Some PCalc his...
Darin Adler: 20 Years of Computer Software (1996)
26 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Original text by Darin Adler. An overview of the Motorola MEK6800D2 single board computer/development kit. Roger Heinen “engineers are a dime a ...
Craig Hickman - The History of Kid Pix (2013)
11 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
How a little paint program became a worldwide phenomenon. Original text by Craig Hickman. Craig talks about his 8-bit Atari projects on episode 378...
Greg Maletic on OpenDoc (2006)
10 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Original text by Greg Maletic who is now at Panic, one of the few companies still making beautiful native non-Electron, non-Flutter Mac desktop appl...
Apple's 1989 Year In Review (1990)
19 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Original text by Steven Levy, Macworld January 1990. The sad story of dBASE Mac, which was quickly sold off and briefly revived as nuBASE. Followup...
That Time I Had Steve Jobs Keynote at Unix Expo (1991)
05 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Original text by Chris MacAskill at the now-defunct cake.co. “Team FDA” jean jacket pictures in the comments (scroll down). Steve Jobs with th...
Steve Hayman - A Different Apple/NeXT Story (1995)
09 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Original text by Steve Hayman. Humungous Entertainment’s CD-ROM titles for classic Macs. The infamous Power Mac 5200 featured the horrendously s...
The Desktop Critic - High Trek (1994)
10 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Original text by David Pogue, Macworld May 1994. Products mentioned in this article: Interplay’s “Star Trek: 25th Anniversary” adventure gam...
Left Behind: A Be, Inc. and BeOS Post-Mortem (2024)
10 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A broader look at the circumstances surrounding the demise of BeOS. Original text by me. Text version available. No links here this time; they’r...
Calling In Sick
08 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
MFR will be off its usual schedule while your host recovers from a brutal flu. Sound effect from MacPuke/MacBarfX.
Jean-Louis Gassée Interview (1998)
14 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A snapshot of Be’s direction in 1998 post-Apple merger talks and pre-bankruptcy. Original text by Henry Bortman. Selected Jean-Louis Gassée quo...
A Short Story About SCSI (1991)
08 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A short story about long cables. Original text by Steve Riggins. Macworld San Francisco 1999: Steve Jobs pokes fun at legacy parallel SCSI-1 versu...
Should Sun Microsystems Buy Apple? (1996)
21 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Original text from SunWorld, February 1996 by Michael McCarthy and Mark Cappel. This was such a bad idea that in the very same issue it was announc...
GlobalTalk Special - O Bolo Mio (1995)
21 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In Bolo’s world, players form alliances, pilot tanks and command little green men. Original text by Steve Silberman. GlobalTalk Overview, or how...
The History of Be, Inc. (1998)
10 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Original text by Henry Bortman. Be’s roller coaster ride from 1990-1998: the 1995 O.J. Simpson trial, Commodore’s Irving Gould, a thirty-mile h...
Plan Be (1997)
12 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Original text by Henry Bortman and Jeff Pittelkau, MacUser, January 1997. How does BeOS measure up to System 7.5, and could it have become the next...
The Wizards of Be, Inc. (1997)
11 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Original text by Dave Mark, MacTech, January 1997. Bryan Cantrill on interviewing at Be, Inc. (perhaps with Dominic Giampolo?) and inadvertently bu...
The Desktop Christmas '94 (1994)
07 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Original text by David Pogue, Macworld December 1994. Watch the CD3 compact disc storage and retrieval box in action. Photos of the salami-like CD...
Trouble In Finder City (1992)/The Hard Sell (1995)
26 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Simplicity, sophistication, oversimplification, and At Ease. I rant about the usability of modern Apple software, Steven Levy rants about the compl...
Life At Apple (1991)
10 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Original text by Erfert Fenton, Macworld September 1991. Roger Heinen “engineers are a dime a dozen” story from episode 40 of the Algorithms + ...
Review: Infini-D 2.5.1 and StrataVision 3D 2.6.3 (1994)
20 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Original text by Deke McClelland, Macworld February 1994. RayDream Designer and Infini-D merged into a new product called Carrara, which is still m...
SK8ing Down the Wrong Path (2019)
08 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
QuickDraw GX, meet unfinished developer tool prototype. Original text by Cameron Esfahani who is still at Apple today, ~30 years later. Chris Espi...
Basal Gangster - A/UX: The Long View (2010)
08 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Why didn’t Apple’s Unix-based A/UX become the Mac OS of the future? Original text by Basal Gangster. UniSoft mentions A/UX exactly once in the...
A/UX and MachTen: Serious UNIX for the Macintosh (1993)
20 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
If an IBM PC can see the light, why not a Mac? Original text by Joel Snyder, SunWorld July 1993. This review calls A/UX “complete”, but that’...
1988: Apple's Year In Review (1989)
01 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Macintosh’s year in review for 1988: some reached milestones, some threw stones, and some wished they’d stayed at home. Original text by the...
Review: HyperCard 1.0 (1988)
01 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Sometimes it’s difficult to envision what a new category of products will be used for as Apple’s marketing department discovered. Jeff Walden ta...
MultiFinder 1.0 Review and Commentary (1988)
08 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Multitasking on the Macintosh evolves beyond Switcher. MultiFinder review by Bruce Webster, Macworld, April 1988. Commentary by Jerry Borrell, Macwo...
folklore.org: Apple II Mouse Card (1981)
01 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A spontaneous port of MacPaint to the Apple II. No vertical blanking interrupt? No problem! Original text by Andy Hertzfeld at folklore.org.
Andy Hertzfeld on QuickerDraw (1988)
08 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Andy discusses micro-optimization and the earliest days of colour graphics on the Macintosh. Original text by Chester Peterson Jr., MacTutor, June ...
Landon Dyer - Eject, Eject! (1992)
01 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Landon Dyer on the joys of subversive sticker placement at Apple’s then new Infinite Loop campus. Original text from dadhacker.com. The button i...
Behind Locked Doors - A Tour of Apple's Factory (1990)
02 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A tour of Apple’s Fremont and Singapore factories. Remember when we used to manufacture stuff in North America? Written by Cheryl England Spencer...
They're No Angels (1990)
01 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A prison Macintosh Users Group gives as good as it gets at the Massachussetts Corrections Institute, Lancaster Prerelease Facility (1x 5-star review...
The Desktop Critic - Mac OS 8 and Why It's Great (1997)
03 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
“The gang at Apple Computer does its best work when its collective back is against the wall.” Oh 1997 David Pogue, if only you knew. :-( Writte...
The Iconoclast - Is That All There Is? (1992)
03 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
After the System 7 switch, some users are wondering what got into them. Written by Steven Levy, The Iconoclast, Macworld May 1992. Stanford Univer...
folklore.org: Mea Culpa (2004)
07 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Revisiting the design decisions and constraints behind the original Macintosh 128. Original text by Andy Hertzfeld at folklore.org. Steven Levy on...
Verbatim - Interview with Andy Hertzfeld (1987)
11 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In an interview conducted shortly before the dawn of the Macintosh II, Andy Hertzfeld talks about product design, NeXT, leadership, PostScript, desi...
Landon Dyer - Sorry I Almost Got You Fired (1989)
24 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
How the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, GNU Emacs, and the Macintosh Programmer’s Workshop converged. Written by Landon Dyer at dadhacker.com in 200...
Landon Dyer - Flash Memories (1992)
04 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Of Newton MessagePad data store resilience and Mars Rover reboot loops. Written by Landon Dyer at dadhacker.com in 2004. Excerpt of Steve Capps (e...
Chris MacAskill - Steve Jobs, AutoCAD, and Focus Groups (1991)
18 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
If Unix workstations were cars, what kind of cars would they be? Written by Chris MacAskill at cake.co (defunct, 2021). Watch a bakeoff between Su...
Conspicuous Consumer - Smart Company, Foolish Choices (1992)
20 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Deborah Branscum’s Conspicuous Consumer column puts Apple’s active matrix LCD defect apathy under the microscope. At 77dpi in pure black and whi...
Review: Envisio Notebook Display Adapter (1992)
01 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Hello listeners who found me via Michael Tsai! David Pogue reviews a smoking hot new video output product for the PowerBook 100/140/170. And you th...
PowerBook 100 Series Introduction (1991)
01 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Apple’s apology for the gigantic expensive Macintosh Portable. Original text from Macworld, December 1991. Audio clips courtesy of The Unofficial...
Outbound and Gagged (1991)
01 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Original text from Macworld, February 1991, page 73. Macworld published a correction confirming the Outbound 2000 series was indeed FCC-certified f...
Review: Outbound Laptop System (1990)
16 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
From the days before the hot-selling PowerBook 100 series, David Pogue reviews a sleeker, less expensive alternative to Apple’s 1989 Macintosh Por...
Review: NuTek Duet Macintosh Clone (1994)
20 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
NuTek’s years of labour finally bear fruit–kind of. The trail of NuTek coverage stops cold after early 1994. We don’t know exactly what happen...
Send In The Clones (1991)
23 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
NuTek’s plan for Macintosh World Domination: a clean room implementation of the ROMs and System 6, cheap hardware, and enough investor money to su...
What Comes Together Falls Apart (1985)
16 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
InfoWorld (13-May-1985) profiles Andy Hertzfeld one year after his departure from Apple. Original text by Kevin Strehlo.
folklore.org: PCB Aesthetics/Diagnostic Port (1981)
01 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Steve Jobs says of the Mac’s logic board “The lines are too close together!” while Burrell Smith surreptitiously adds some means of expansion....
NeXT Cube Serial Number AA001032 (1993)
01 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Burn a NeXT Cube, they said. It’ll be easy, they said. Original text from Simson Garfinkel. Simson maintains a complete NeXTWorld archive on his ...
Steve Hayman - NeXT's Black Monday (1993)/The Merger (1996)
05 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Steve Hayman and diskzero recall the death and unlikely rebirth of NeXT. Original text from blog.hayman.net (Remembering NeXT’s Black Monday, App...
A Suit In Time (1992)
13 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Sheldon Breiner (1936-2019) gives Apple a taste of its own medicine. Sheldon’s bio at breiner.com. Stanford Alumni Magazine on Sheldon’s quest ...
Don Melton - Memories of Steve (2013)
13 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Don Melton, former WebKit and Safari team lead at Apple, recalls some close encounters with Steve Jobs. Original text from Don’s website. Don di...
Wise Guy - Give and You Might Receive (1994)
24 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Guy suggests Christmas gifts for figures in the Macintosh world circa 1993. Apple Board of Directors interview clip from the Macworld Boston 1997 k...
Interview with Chris Espinosa (2000)
30 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Chris Espinosa on… discovering computers in high school the Homebrew Computer Club unusual user group personalities “after school Appl...
folklore.org: Calculator Construction Set (1982)
29 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Chris Espinosa tries to build a Steve Jobs-approved calculator. Original text from folklore.org. My favourite classic MacOS calculator was ProCalc...
folklore.org: Do It (1982)
22 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Testing software on real world users often yields surprising results. Origin of the Apple Human Interface Guidelines video with Chris Espinosa read...
folklore.org: Inside Macintosh (1982)
08 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Early Macintosh developer documentation had a bit of a rocky start. Caroline Rose also did some technical documentation work for NeXT. Caroline’s...
Adrian Mello - Name That Macintosh (1993)
23 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Apple’s marketing poets meet Mercedes-Benz, Latin, and Sylvester Stallone. Original text from Macworld Magazine, August 1993.
Interview with Eric Harslem (1992)
03 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Which Mac is the current bestseller? Is Apple giving up on industrial design? Why did you screw Quadra 900 customers by introducing the 950 just f...
Wise Guy - The Akihabara Syndrome (1993)
27 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Guy boils down your Macintosh purchase decision to three choices from Apple’s bloated 1993 product lineup. Apple has arguably suffered from The G...
Wise Guy - The F-15 vs the Quadra 800 (1993)
20 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This is not Macintosh-related whatsoever but it’s Guy Kawasaki, it was in Macworld, and he had some fun flying in an F-15 fighter jet. Original t...
Wise Guy - Words of Wisdom (1993)
13 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It’s late 1993, Apple is sinking, PowerPC Macs haven’t arrived yet, the Macintosh system software is showing its age, and John Sculley is out. I...
Wise Guy - The Macintosh Home Office (1994)
07 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Listener request from Charkes (not a typo): more Guy Kawasaki! Here’s Guy on the pros and cons of working from home. Who the heck is Guy Kawasaki...
Claris Redux (1992)
17 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Steven Levy on why Macintosh developers aren’t scared of Claris, the software company backed by Apple Computer. Original text from Macworld Magaz...
folklore.org: What Hath Woz Wrought (1979)
08 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Andy Hertzfeld’s first task as an employee of Apple Computer. Original text from folklore.org.
Bob Hearn - A Brief History of ClarisWorks (2003)
21 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The story of how “the best-loved application for the Mac” took on Microsoft Works as told by programmer [Bob Hearn in 2003][bob]. Read Macworld...
folklore.org: Quick, Hide In This Closet! (1983)
30 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Steve Jobs temporarily forbid the Macintosh team from working with Sony. Original text from folklore.org. Bill Gates Twiggy drive clip from All Th...
Code and Dagger (1990)
07 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The FBI’s attempted investigation of the nuPrometheus League. I wish there was a dramatic conclusion to this 1990 editorial, but we’ve heard no...
The Dirt on Apple Security (1989)
15 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The early days of Apple’s culture of secrecy. If you had people digging through the garbage bins outside your corporate headquarters, you would be...
The First Macintosh Clone (1989)
01 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Steven Levy on a little-known Macintosh clone project from 1989. Original text from Macworld Magazine, April 1989. Our sponsor for April 1st: The M...
Duo Trouble (1993)
07 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Is it too late for Apple’s lightweight laptops? Steven Levy’s summary of the awkward PowerBook Duo situation. Original text from Macworld Magaz...
David Pogue - PowerBook Duo and Duo Dock Review (1993)
15 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
David Pogue reviews the PowerBook Duo 210/230 and the companion Duo Dock. NuBus and SCSI weren’t hot pluggable, meaning you had to shut down the m...
folklore.org - Macintosh Launch Day 3-Pack (1984)
22 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Happy Birthday, Macintosh! Andy Hertzfeld and company rush to complete the first release of the Macintosh system software, then cobble together a de...
Interviews with StuffIt Creator Raymond Lau (1996/1998)
03 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Two interviews with StuffIt creator Raymond Lau, conducted during Apple’s darkest days (Maclopedia 1996, AppleWizards 1998). StuffIt Deluxe 2.0 r...
The Road to Power Macintosh (1994)
02 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The story behind Apple’s big RISC. Written by Steven Levy, The Iconoclast, Macworld, May/June 1994. Watch a special Christmas message from MFR. ...
folklore.org: Black Wednesday
01 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
A shakeup in Apple II engineering frees up Andy Hertzfeld to work on the Macintosh. Original text from folklore.org. Jef Raskin and Andy Hertzfeld ...
Why Did Apple Kill Newton? (1998)
03 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The Newton MessagePad soap opera from product launch to cancellation, and all that could have been. Check out “Love Notes to Newton” for even m...
Scrooge McDuck (1980)
13 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The very first image displayed on the very first prototype Macintosh, an Apple II expansion card with a Motorola 6809E. Original text at folklore.o...
MFR Housekeeping 2020
28 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
“Mask ROM” means something a little different in 2020. E-mail your article and topic suggestions to derek at macfolkloreradio.com.
Newton MessagePad 2000 Review (1997)
24 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Surf the Web, deal with e-mail, crunch spreadsheets, write real documents, and keep your life together with this 1.4-pound wonder. Written by Jeff ...
The Palmtop Blues (1995)
10 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Of Newton and Magic Link, Marco and Envoy. The Newton and its competition continue to make progress… sort of. Written by Steven Levy, The Iconocl...
Not Ready for Prime Time (1994)
14 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Newton will be great if it can live down its beginnings. Written by Steven Levy, The Iconoclast, Macworld January 1994. Audio from the Newton TV C...
Patching the Newton (1993)
01 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
From the days before flash ROM and easy firmware updates, the tale of Landon Dyer’s accidental inspiration for what to do when your ROMs are truly...