Mac OS X - how Steve Jobs saved Apple’s crown jewel

02/12/2024 59 min Temporada 1 Episodio 10
Mac OS X - how Steve Jobs saved Apple’s crown jewel

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Episode Synopsis

In 1996, Apple was in serious trouble. The Mac was almost obsolete. Its multitasking was flaky, it couldn’t handle multiple processors, and it kept crashing. Sales were tanking as users switched to Windows NT in droves.Apple appointed a new CEO, Gil Amelio, to turn things around. He tried to replace the Mac’s System 7 with a new modern operating system he called Rhapsody. Amelio’s strategy wasn’t bad, but he failed to anticipate how difficult it would be to persuade Mac users and developers to switch platforms.Fortunately, Amelio selected NeXTSTEP as the core foundation of Rhapsody, and the acquisition of NeXT led to the fateful return of Steve Jobs. Over the following two years, Jobs ousted Amelio, fixed his flawed Rhapsody strategy, added a shiny UI that looked so good you could lick it, and rename the whole thing Mac OS X.LINKSGil Amelio’s book: On the Firing Line: My 500 Days at Apple https://www.amazon.com/Firing-Line-500-Days-Apple/dp/0887309186/MacWorld Expo San Francisco January 7 1997 - Steve Jobs first keynote after his return to Apple:  https://youtu.be/QhhFQ-3w5tE?si=f0IIUmN-s_Ff0n0IWWDC, May 1998 at the San Jose Convention Center - Steve Jobs and Avi Tevanian introduce Mac OS X and Carbon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03kTC0Sm7wcMacworld San Francisco January 2000 - Steve Jobs announces Aqua: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ko4V3G4NqIIScreenshot of iMovie running on Mac OS 9 with Aqua controls, before Aqua was announced for Mac OS X: https://x.com/mac_os_9/status/1080826112408662017Interesting article about Steve Jobs and object oriented programming: https://computerhistory.org/blog/the-deep-history-of-your-apps-steve-jobs-nextstep-and-early-object-oriented-programming/