Welcome to Macintosh

**18: If It's Broke, Don't Fix It** Feb 11, 2018

What's the cost of having the latest and greatest?
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**Brought to you by:**
**Timing:** the automatic time tracking app for Mac. Listeners of Welcome to Macintosh get 10% off their purchase.
**Links:**
iFixit: The Free Repair Manual
The Problem with E-Waste
Repair.org
The Guardian: A right to repair: why Nebraska farmers are taking on John Deere and Apple
The Guardian: Under pressure from tech companies, ‘Fair Repair’ bill stalls in Nebraska
Buzzfeed: What You Should Know About Repairing Your iPhone
This episode was produced by Mark Bramhill. Editing by Rob McGinley Myers and Lacy Johnson. Scoring by the mysterious Breakmaster Cylinder and Mark Bramhill. Theme music by Terique Greenfield.

17: Watch Out Jan 01, 2018

Technology usually progresses in a straight line — we want to upgrade to the latest and greatest. But sometimes, technology of the future can make us long for the past.

16: Little Wrist Computer Dec 18, 2017

The Apple Watch sometimes gets a bad rap. Some people complain about it being useless, a dumb, frivolous toy. But one person thinks differently. Today, a story from producer James T. Green about him, his body, and his little wrist computer.

15: The Orchard Dec 03, 2017

The story of a precious young Apple collector.

14: Hey Siri Nov 18, 2017

Where did Siri's voice come from — and where is it going?

**13: Let it Beep** Oct 28, 2017

For over two decades, every time you turned on a Mac, you were greeted by a familiar sound. It’s appeared as a punchline in *The Simpsons*, in movies like *WALL•E.* It’s a sound some of us tried to hide from our parents as we turned on the computer in the middle of the night. It’s a sound that’s transcended technology; the sound that makes a Mac feel like a Mac. But no longer; the iconic Mac startup chime is going away.
But, while we all recognize the sound, we rarely think of *who made it*. On the eve of the boot beep's retirement, I talk to creator Jim Reekes about the most fun and iconic sounds he designed during his time at Apple. All the drama, the inspirations, and the hijinks that went into the creation of sounds you hear nearly every day.
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**Storyblocks:** affordable subscriptions for all the stock images, videos, music and sound effects you need. Welcome to Macintosh listeners get a free one-week trial.
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Be sure to listen to Breakmaster Cylinder's wonderful *Let it Beep:*

Music in this episode is by the mysterious Breakmaster Cylinder. Theme music is by Terique Greenfield. Editing by Rob McGinley Myers, Lacy Johnson, and Tish Stringer. Special thanks to John Lagomarsino.

**12: Don't Panic** Oct 15, 2017

If you have a music library on your computer, you probably use iTunes. It might not be by choice – there’s not much out there. But before iTunes, there was another app. An app that was beloved by many. An app that was quirky and strange and delightful. An app called Audion.
Today: a story about one of the Mac’s first big music players, and what it means to break with the mold of Silicon Valley and forge your own distinct, creative identity.
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**Brought to you by:**
**The Decision**: The podcast where people try to convince host Alex Kapelman to finally abandon The Knicks, and become a fan of their favorite team.
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Get an awesome sticker of the Audion Orb face!

Audion had some very experimental, and just truly *bizarre* "faces" you could use. Designers really took advantage of the transparent interfaces, for better or for worse (sometimes for worse).
In the members-only extra for this episode, Cabel & Steve play with Audion in a Mac OS 9 emulator. Hidden easter-eggs, karaoke mode, and more shenanigans from their rivalry with SoundJamMP.

*Two cool dudes!*

Music in this episode is by the mysterious Breakmaster Cylinder. Theme music is by Terique Greenfield. Editing by Tish Stringer and Rob McGinley Myers.

**4️⃣ Pandora's Box** Oct 02, 2017

*Illustration by* *Rachel Maves*.

*This is the conclusion to a* *mini-series on emoji. If you haven't already heard* *parts* 1️⃣,2️⃣ *and* 3️⃣*, go listen to those first.*
Emoji put a once obscure group of nerds, known as the Unicode Consortium, into the spotlight. How have these cute little pictures challenged and changed this stodgy organization?
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You can learn more about making your own emoji with Jenny's project, Emojination. And you can adopt an emoji of your very own through Unicode's Adopt-a-Character program.
**Brought to you by:**
**Outlier:** makers of clothing for the 21st Century. Try some of their comfortable, stylish, innovative clothing (my favorites are their Slim Dungarees).
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Music in this episode is by the mysterious Breakmaster Cylinder and Mark Bramhill. Theme music is by Terique Greenfield. Editing by Rob McGinley Myers and Suzanne Smith.

**3️⃣ Emoji Incarnate** Sep 16, 2017

*Illustration by* *Rachel Maves*.

*This is part* 3️⃣ *in a* *mini-series on emoji. If you haven't already heard* *parts* 1️⃣ *and* 2️⃣*, go listen to that first.*
How emoji are designed and the decisions behind them. And, what happens when they reach the real world?
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Members can hear exclusive deleted scenes from this episode about another person smitten by the idea of proposing an emoji, and Unicode's love of completion. If you're not already a member, sign up here.
Music in this episode is by the mysterious Breakmaster Cylinder. Theme music is by Terique Greenfield. Editing by Rob McGinley Myers.

*Google's new expression emoji. RIP blobs.*

Rachel Been did an excellent writeup of Google's emoji redesign for Android O. There are some great illustrations showing exactly what they changed. Go read all about it.

WHY IS GOP PLAYING POLITICS W/👶🏽's LIVES. WHERES GOV💰4 RISK CORRIDORS?THESE👧🏻👶🏼R NOT #'s‼️WE GET U WANT💰4 RICH,R U WILLING 2 ⚰️PPL4 THE RICH
— Cher (@cher) July 10, 2017

Famed musician Cher is known on Twitter for her frequent use of emojis. Tyler Schnoebelen, our emoji linguist, did an analysis to determine if she truly is the Queen of Emoji.

**2️⃣ The Gatekeepers** Sep 02, 2017

*Illustration by* *Rachel Maves*.

*This is part 2️⃣ in a* *mini-series on emoji. If you haven't already heard* *part 1️⃣, go listen to that first.*
In part one, we learned the process of creating an emoji. But why would someone want to make an emoji in the first place? (Besides making a podcast mini-series about it, of course.) For some people, the emoji they want is more than an ornament for their tweets and Instagram posts. It's their identity.
And, for people proposing a new emoji, who are the gatekeepers that they have to face?
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Instead of doing ads for this episode, I'm asking listeners to please donate to the Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund. It would really mean a lot to me.
I'll also be donating all profits from purchases of Welcome to Macintosh stickers to the Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund until September 15th. Get your merch and help my city recover.

*Hijab Emoji design by* *Aphee Messer*.

**1️⃣ Will You Be My Emoji?** Aug 18, 2017

*Illustration by* *Rachel Maves*.

Since they arrived on our keyboards five years ago, emoji have changed how we communicate. Our texts are all dotted with 😊 and 😂 and ❤️, maybe even some 🍆. But, where do they come from? How are new emoji created?
In this mini-series on emoji, I answer that question. I go on a quest to create an emoji of my own, and chronicle every step of the way. In part 1️⃣: the proposal.
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**Brought to you by:**
**Fracture:** Photos printed in vivid color directly on glass. Tweet a link to this episode with #YogaEmoji to enter the giveaway for a print the beautiful artwork for this episode (featured above).
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Members can hear exclusive deleted scenes from this episode about another person smitten by the idea of proposing an emoji, and Unicode's love of completion. If you're not already a member, sign up here.
Music in this episode is by the mysterious Breakmaster Cylinder and Mark Bramhill. Theme music is by Terique Greenfield. Editing by Rob McGinley Myers.

*My beautiful, designer-drawn emoji. Illustration by* *Aphee Messer*.

You can read my full proposal for "Person Meditating" on the Unicode website.

**Season 3 Promo** Aug 11, 2017

Season 3 of Welcome to Macintosh starts on August 18th, with new episodes coming out every other Friday. Take a listen to hear what's in store this season.

**Extra: Emojicon** Nov 17, 2016

My emoji Pile of Poo bracelet.

Matt frantically translating to emoji.

Matt is crowned the emoji champion

Scenes from the first Emojicon — a conference all about emoji.

**Extra: Emojicon** Nov 17, 2016

My emoji Pile of Poo bracelet.

Matt frantically translating to emoji.

Matt is crowned the emoji champion

Scenes from the first Emojicon — a conference all about emoji.

**Extra: Red Star** Nov 02, 2016

*Kim Jong-Un with his iMac.*

Apple's critics regularly complain about making its products too locked down, about how you have to go through the App Store to get software. But Apple's 'walled garden' looks positively open compared to Red Star OS, the leaked operating system of North Korea.

Welcome to Macintosh is produced by Mark Bramhill. Thanks to Kolin Pope and Josh Swartz for help editing today's episode. Music is by the mysterious Breakmaster Cylinder.

**Extra: Xs and OSes** Oct 26, 2016

Apple recently released macOS Sierra, the latest version of the Mac operating system. It had new features in it, but one of the most notable changes was something it left out — the X, the Roman numeral 10, from the name. It's a small, unimportant change, but it's kind of the end of an era. I talked to Apple history buff Stephen Hackett to reflect on the name's past.
You can check out Stephen's blog post about the lingering Xs in macOS Sierra. Also, you can watch videos of people who are really upset about people calling it Mac OS Ex.

Welcome to Macintosh is produced by Mark Bramhill. Thanks to Kolin Pope and Josh Swartz for help editing today's episode. Music is by the mysterious Breakmaster Cylinder.

**Extra: The Line** Oct 19, 2016

*Tom, Joe, and Ryan proudly displaying their t-shirt trophies.*

This summer, Apple opened their first retail store in Brooklyn, up in Williamsburg. It was near my apartment, so with recording gear in tow, I went to investigate. It was my first Apple Store opening, but I got to talk to some seasoned Apple Store opening veterans.

**7: The Shimmy** Nov 12, 2015

*The story of how a YouTube video made Steve Jobs dance.*
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Featuring Jonathan Mann and MG Siegler.
Find all 2500+ of Jonathan's songs on his YouTube channel or on his Bandcamp.
Download the fantastic credits song Jonathan and BMC wrote for the show (it's the new ringtone here at *Welcome to Macintosh* HQ).
Music in this episode is by Jonathan Mann and the mysterious Breakmaster Cylinder. Theme music is by Terique Greenfield.
Thanks to Kolin Pope and Rob McGinley Myers for editorial assistance, and to John Gruber and Sean Wolter for their support.
**This episode is brought to you by:**
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6: Somewhere In My Memory Sep 30, 2015

For the past couple of years, Alex Kapelman has been plagued by an iPhone notification sound that constantly reminds him of one of his favorite songs. So he went on a journey to find out why — and learned that he's not alone.

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You should listen to more of Alex's music podcast Pitch, it's really fantastic.

The amazing remix of Sloop John B and our ad music are by the mysterious Breakmaster Cylinder. Theme music is by Terique Greenfield.

This episode is brought to you by:

Harry's: a great shave at a fraction of the price. Use offer code 'MACINTOSH' to save $5 on your first purchase.
Harvest: simple, elegant time-tracking software. Get a 30-day free trial, then use offer code 'MACINTOSH' to save 50% on your first month.

**Extra: Reviews of Siracusa County** Sep 24, 2015

A reflection on how John Siracusa began writing reviews of Mac OS X for Ars Technica.
John's review of *Infinite Loop*
John's review of OS X Yosemite
Blog post announcing the end of his reviews
This extra is brought to you by Backchannel: a better way for developers to collect feedback from beta testers of your iOS apps. *Coming soon.*
Music for *Welcome to Macintosh* is by the mysterious Breakmaster Cylinder.

**Extra: Compute!** Aug 05, 2015
*"Downloading" programs in the '80s.*

Photo via Ars Technica

Guests
J ason Snell
References
Compute! Magazine
Commodore PET
BASIC programing language
Type-In program
Ars Technica article on Compute!'s type-in programs
Music
Music is by the mysterious Breakmaster Cylinder.
Brought to you by:
Harvest: simple, beautiful time-tracking software. Use code **MACINTOSH** for 50% off your first month.

**Extra: Itty-Bitty Buttons** Jul 21, 2015
*Letting a button be a button.*

Guests
Neven Mrgan
References
*Welcome to Macintosh* episode 1
Gruber "Let a button be a button"
Neven's At-Home Button Test
Music
Scoring for this Extra is by the mysterious Breakmaster Cylinder.
Brought to you by:
Backblaze: Unlimited, unthrottled online backup for just $5/month.

**Extra: Sagan** Jul 07, 2015
*The Power Macintosh 7100 and the BHA.*

Guests
Rick LePage
References
MacWEEK Magazine
Mac the Knife
Power Macintosh 7100
Carl Sagan
"Billions and billions"
Sagan's letter to Apple
Music
Scoring for this Extra is by the mysterious Breakmaster Cylinder.
Brought to you by:
Backblaze: Unlimited, unthrottled online backup for just $5/month.

**5: Rumors** Jun 24, 2015
*The Apple rumor mill.*
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Guests
Jason Snell
@jsnell
Six Colors
Rick LePage
@rlepage
John Moltz
@moltz
Very Nice Website
Mark Gurman
@markgurman
9to5Mac
Rob McGinley Myers
@robmcmyers
Anxious Machine
References
Apple introduces MacBook at the March 9th, 2015 Event
MacWEEK Magazine
Mac the Knife
Crazy Apple Rumors Site
Quicktime Live Attendees Wish Schiller had Pled the Fifth (Crazy Apple Rumors Site)
Crazy Apple Rumors Site shutting down
Tim Cook at AllThingsD Conference in 2012
Gurman's scoop on the 12" MacBook
Gurman's first big find
John Gruber on the podcast *Tomorrow* with Joshua Topolsky
Episode 4 of Rob McGinley Myers' excellent *Anxious Machine* podcast.
Music
The theme music is by Terique Greenfield.
Ad music is by Kebu.
Scoring for this episode is by the mysterious & wonderful Breakmaster Cylinder.
Brought to you by:
Unread: an RSS reader by Supertop 🐙
ICONIC: a photographic tribute to Apple Innovation. Use offer code 'MACFM' to save 10% and get free shipping on a special edition.
Listeners like you on Patreon. *Thank you.*

4: The End of Macworld As We Know It May 02, 2015

The history of Macworld magazine, from it's heyday to shutting down the presses.

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Guests
- John Siracusa
- Jason Snell
  - @jsnell
  - Six Colors
- Serenity Caldwell
References
Music
- The theme music is by Terique Greenfield.
- Ad music is by Kebu.
- Scoring for this episode is by the mysterious Breakmaster Cylinder.

Brought to you by:

Unread: an RSS reader. Features an elegant UI, great typography, and eight color themes. Available in the App Store for iPhone and iPad.
ICONIC: A Photographic Tribute to Apple Innovation. Buy the book on Amazon or get one of the special editions. Get 10% off and free shipping on a special edition using offer code 'MACFM' at checkout.
Patreon supporters like Zach Kahn, Marco Hyyryläinen, John Gruber, Daniel Cacace, and Alan Braverman. Thank you.

**3: Trip to alphaSyntauri** Apr 02, 2015
An Apple II, a synthesizer, the movie TRON, and dolphins.
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*Charlie Kellner playing the alphaSyntauri at Steve Wozniak's wedding*

Guests
Charlie Kellner
Clips
*TRON* Disc Fight
*TRON* Light Cycle
References
Logic Pro X
Apple ][
Moog Synthesizer
Mountain Hardware Sound Card
Apple Corps. v. Apple Computer
Frank Serafine
Dolphin Research Center
Bob Moog
Herbie Hancock
Brian Wilson
Steve Wozniak
*Inquisitive: Behind the App* Podcast
Music
Our theme song is by Terique Greenfield.
Scoring for the episode was performed on the alphaSyntauri synthesizer.
Brought to you by:
Patreon supporters like Zach Kahn, Marco Hyyryläinen, Derek Jobst, and Benjamin. *Thank you*.

2: Sweet Solution Mar 17, 2015

Apps before the App Store.

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Music
- Our theme song is by Terique Greenfield.
- Our ad music is by Kebu.
- Scoring for the episode is by the mysterious Breakmaster Cylinder.

Brought to you by:

App Camp for Girls: inspiring tomorrow's developers. Find out how you can help today.
Patreon supporters like Austin Holbrook, Marco Hyyryläinen, Derek Jobst, and Alexander Drechsel. Thank you.