Listen to how far we've come

The Apple Mac Plus, introduced in 1985, included an introductory tutorial that combined onscreen instruction with a spoken-word audio track. The audio was on a cassette tape and supplied contextual and conceptual information that accompanied an introductory software. The cassette tape allowed Apple to provide high-quality 40-minute narration, which would have been beyond the storage ability of the diskette-based Mac Plus.

The Mac Plus narration, which is available for download in MP3 format, is a fascinating snapshot of a historical moment in computing history. You'll hear how users were first introduced to, and instructed in the use of, the 3.5" disk, windows, menus, and icons. Technical writers will also enjoy hearing how Apple approached the problem of mixing written text with spoken word, including navigation and synchronization challenges.

Thanks for the link, Boing Boing.

Posted: August 31, 2004 link to this item, Tweet this item, respond to this item