Andy Hertzfeld, the former Apple designer who now works for Google and worked on the original Macintosh project, has been featured in an interview with O’Reilly publishers.
The interview features a lot of tidbits that those in the Cult of Mac will find very interesting, including the designer’s opinions on the current direction of Apple and some insights into Apple’s (and Microsoft’s) infamous “rich uncle” relations with Xerox PARC.
A few interesting bits from the interview include:
O’Reilly: The Mac came out a time when the future of desktop computing was really up for grabs; there were a lot of players like Radio Shack and Commodore and people like that coming into the market or in the market already. What factors do you think ended up giving the numerical edge to the X86 platforms?
AH: It was probably the decision to openly license it. The Mac–when the Mac came out and for two years thereafter it was at least four or five years ahead of Windows and possibly could have taken the place of Windows if it was openly licensed, but because the Macintosh was restricted to a single member, Apple, it never could become an industry rather than a single platform. Of course it was an industry because it had third-party developers but it couldn’t become mainstreamed restricted to a single vendor. That’s the single biggest factor but there are probably other factors as well having to do with just sort of the sensibility of the designers and the willingness to meet the requirements of the enterprise versus the requirements of the consumer. Ours were more with the consumer I think; Apple has always been that way.
And this one, concerning Apple’s (and Microsoft’s) oft-alleged ideological theft from Xerox PARC:
O’Reilly: Was there any feeling on the Apple engineers that any–guilt is probably too strong a word but you know feeling like you know Xerox had these great ideas. I guess Xerox really let them go to waste but–.
AH: Oh there was nothing like that; Steve Jobs has a good quote. It’s actually a Picasso quote that he often cites; he cited it at one of our retreats which was sort of good artists copy; great artists steal. And what that means is that when you’re passionate about what you’re doing you’ll take ideas from anywhere and with no guilt. You want to make the best possible thing and that was our mentality.
I really like how they keep that “consumer oriented” attitude. They don’t advertise it and then blow it like Dell does.