Trouble In Finder City (1992)/The Hard Sell (1995)

Trouble In Finder City (1992)/The Hard Sell (1995)

Author: Derek November 26, 2023 Duration: 27:53

Simplicity, sophistication, oversimplification, and At Ease.

I rant about the usability of modern Apple software, Steven Levy rants about the complexity of the Mac and the oversimplified environment provided by At Ease, and Josef Morell rants about the damage At Ease does to first impressions of the Macintosh in retail channels.

Original text by Steven Levy, Macworld December 1992 and Josef Morell, MacFormat March 1995.

datagubbe.se laments the usability of modern desktop computer software.

Product manager for At Ease, Dave Pakman, demonstrates At Ease for a user group in ~1992. Bruce Tognazzini on the user-centered design philosophy of the Macintosh. R.I.P. (The philosophy, not Bruce.) Thanks as always to the Unofficial Apple VHS Archive for both of these.

Phrases I never expected to learn while producing a computer history podcast: “spoiling the ship for a hap’orth of tar” (pronunciation).

You definitely need to install the Talking Moose on your old Mac right now and/or Uli’s Moose on your Mac OS X 10.1-10.7 machines.


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
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