SK8ing Down the Wrong Path (2019)

SK8ing Down the Wrong Path (2019)

Author: Derek October 8, 2023 Duration: 7:51

QuickDraw GX, meet unfinished developer tool prototype.

Original text by Cameron Esfahani who is still at Apple today, ~30 years later.

Chris Espinosa replied to the original: “Cam, with this thread you got maybe 500 people interested in SK8, which is a lot more than Jim Spohrer and I ever did.”

Someone resurrected the SK8 section of www.research.apple.com as it stood in 1997.

Download SK8, the source code, look at a screenshot of it, or read the user guide.

In addressing QuickDraw’s deficiencies by completely uprooting it, QuickDraw GX was naturally a bit of a compatibility nightmare. Like virtual memory and A/UX, you heard about it somewhat frequently through shareware README files, usually followed by “disable it” and/or “you’re out of luck”. Like many things at Apple in the ’90s, it also shipped years behind schedule: “QuickDraw GX will start shipping as an optional part of System 7.5 installs starting in September 1994“.

Note that while three developers personally confronted Steve Jobs about OpenDoc at his famous WWDC 1997 Q&A session, nobody even mentioned QuickDraw GX in passing.

Macworld readers respond to QuickDraw GX.

A Quick Look At QuickDraw GX and another quick look.


Derek hosts Mac Folklore Radio, a podcast that serves as a warm, nostalgic conversation about the machines that defined personal computing for a generation. This isn't a dry technical history, but rather a collection of stories, memories, and shared experiences centered on the Macintosh ecosystem from its early beige-box days through the colorful iMac era and beyond. Each episode feels like digging through a box of old software manuals and rediscovering the community, the quirks, and the sheer sense of possibility those computers inspired. You'll hear tales of first setups, beloved and baffling peripherals, the games that consumed hours, and the software that felt like magic. It's crafted specifically for those who lived through it-the users, tinkerers, and enthusiasts who remember the hum of a CRT and the distinct scent of a warm motherboard. Tune in for a dose of genuine, fond reminiscence that functions as comfort food for the Apple-centric soul, preserving the personal side of tech history one story at a time. This podcast is a love letter to the culture built around these machines, celebrating the folklore that official manuals never recorded.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

Mac Folklore Radio
Podcast Episodes
What Steve Jobs Thinks of Your Industry (1996) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 8:27
Original text by Steve Hayman. Steve Jobs demos WebObjects at Microsoft PDC 1996. Xserve (with free WebObjects server license) introduction from WWDC 2002. WebObjects FedEx and Chrysler demo clips from OpenStep Day 1995,…
The Quix Fix (1995) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 22:46
Original text by Charles Piller, Macworld October 1995. A lot more about Quix Daydream, the Macintosh environment for NeXT hardware: YouTube: booting into Daydream YouTube: a more detailed look at Daydream a brief NeXTWO…
The Forgotten Mac OS Licensee (1991) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 20:41
Original text by Dan Littman, Tom Moran, and Charles Piller. Apologies for my rough voice in this one. It’s been a difficult year. “Apple and IBM will work together on architecture-independent multimedia products and lic…
Guy Kawasaki - Who Should Apple's Next CEO Be? (1994) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 7:04
Original text by Guy Kawasaki, Macworld, November 1994. Who should be the next CEO of Apple? Acquire NeXT and let it be Steve Jobs, obviously. This was intended as satire but became a case of “truth is stranger than fict…
Bill Atkinson (1951-2025) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:28
Original text from The Complete HyperCard Handbook (Expanded 2nd Edition with HyperCard 1.2 supplement!!!) Open HyperCard Stacks with just 512K RAM via HyperDA. If copying HyperCard was such an obvious idea, where did al…
MFR Housekeeping, Spring 2026 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:49
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) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 19:53
Original text by Konstantin Othmer and Bruce Leak for Apple’s develop! magazine, December 1992, March 1993, and June 1993. Apple’s MicroBug documentation: Technote TN1136. Running MacsBug on an alternate monitor: “Using…
Frank Casanova Interview - Maclopedia (1996) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 15:19
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 Advanced Technology Group, Inventing the Future, is worth your while. John is also…
Steve Hayman - Great Idea (2025) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 6:32
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) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 18:32
Original text by Jecel Mattos de Assumpçao Jr, 1998. Rainer Brockerhoff, who also participated in the Unitron 512 project, provides additional background at Low End Mac. More about Brazil’s reserved market policy, a.k.a.…