i reminisce for a spell, or shall i say think back...

for some reason, i got nostalgic about wired back when it was good, so i started reading random articles from way back. this one on jean-louis gassee and be was great:

Then, when [gassee] discovers a new way of describing his company - as "the Pete's Wicked Ale of computer companies" - he shares his delight: "My nipples harden!"
[...]
Gassée recalls that there was a major cultural conflict with which to contend. "I came from France - I spoke my mind. It's a more abrasive culture. I saw the Apple IIGS and said, 'This is fucked!' and it did not amuse some people. In France that's an opening statement.
[...]
Gassée recounts, "I had the 'seminal' dinner conversation at Maddalena's when John Sculley asked me what I thought of him, and I answered honestly. After the dinner, the vice president of human resources at Apple, Kevin Sullivan, put his arm around my shoulder and told me he was proud of me. Right there and then, I understood I'd done something irreparable - luckily so."
[...]
...described by John Dvorak as "the mind of a Frenchman which is unfortunately trapped inside the body of a Frenchman," a quote Gassée appends to his email...
[...]
It somehow brings me back to words Gassée had uttered in a less tranquil moment: "The romance of Silicon Valley was about money - excuse me, about changing the world, one million dollars at a time."

for an idea on how old this article is:

Worthington feels there is a "silliness" to those older operating systems. "On the Mac, you are limited as far as file size. You can't have a file greater than two gigabytes, which is ridiculous because today you can buy a nine-gigabyte drive for $4,000..."
[...]
[gassee] also thinks that at some point this year, we'll all be able to "efficiently buy things safely" on the Web, which will have "more refined content and presentation."

....1996.
jesus fucking christ.

(pic is of a february sunset from the roof of the kimmel center. i'm a big fan of philly skies...)

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