It was certainly that way, almost insignificant, when Jef (Raskin) was running it.

It wasn't the future of the company the future of the company was the Lisa and the Apple III, and we were more like a little scruffy research project. And it was considered a Skunk Works project. The Macintosh was the price of an Apple II but had the features of a Lisa, so it managed to get at odds with all the big teams at Apple. For the whole first year I was working on it there was buzz, but it was not necessarily positive. Was there a lot of buzz already within Apple about the development of the Mac? Have you heard the one about Jobs, Wozniak, handicapped parking spaces and the Cupertino police? He also mentioned that he may start publishing more stories about Apple before and after the Mac. Displaying the same enthusiasm that drove him to log long days at Apple more than 20 years ago, Hertzfeld was not only quick to recount his experiences but also to also give his thoughts on a range of current topics, including the rise of open source, Microsoft's 'crushing' of innovation, the music industry's vain fight against file-sharing and Apple's decision to keep the iPod closed. Hertzfeld recently spoke with CNET about his work on the Mac, his reasons for documenting it and the reaction from his former co-workers.

He later opened the site to the public and has now published the stories, and many early photographs, in book form. He first published many of the stories privately on the Web and asked his former colleagues to vet the stories for accuracy or to submit their own tales. He went on to co-found three companies-Radius, General Magic and Eazel-but it was his tales of working on the Mac that continued to enthrall friends and colleagues. Soon after the Mac's release, much of the original team dispersed, and Hertzfeld was no exception, taking his leave two months after the airing of the famous Super Bowl '1984' ad.

Andy hertzfeld book