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Apple Chronicle
Apple Chronicle MAC CD vintage computer advertisement news nostalgia demos audio
Application
Mac
Apple
1992
CD
$49.99
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The Apple Chronicle was an attempt at a periodic, CD-based newsletter. This CD was bundled with certain Apple computers produced around 1992, including the Centris 610 (introduced Feburary 10, 1993). Even though the content hints in several places that there were supposed to be future editions of the Chronicle, to my knowledge, only this one issue was ever published.
Half of the CD is the Apple Chronicle newsletter itself, a HyperCard stack enriched with the ColorizeHC and QuickTime XCMDs to feature color graphics and embedded movies. The issue’s headline was Apple’s recently released QuickTime, which at the time was a fairly revolutionary piece of technology, allowing applications to, well it’s right there in the front page article: “integrate graphics, sound, video, and animation.”
Let’s check out the global news:
Clicking on the yellow film icon in the top right starts a video in the picture box below of a discus thrower spinning and hurling an object, revealed to be a CD as it passes by someone stupidly using an Apple computer, right in the middle of the discus field, where people are throwing things. It is inspirational product placement at its best.
And speaking of product placement!
page 7 of the Apple Chronicle, showing the advertisement article "VIDEOSPIGOT: OVER 20,000 USERS AND THE NUMBER KEEPS GROWING!"
page 12 of the Apple Chronicle, showing the advertisement "MOOTION WORKS Family of Multimedia Products"
page 18 of the Apple Chronicle, showing an advertisement for the LaserMaster Unity 1200XL printer
Most of the newsletter is dedicated to different Mac software and hardware products, especially those with interaction with either QuickTime or HyperCard. The other half of the CD consists of demos of the products highlighted or advertised in the newsletter. Some of them, like Apple’s, are merely images. Apple’s is actually a PowerPoint presentation, “Products by Apple,” exported as an animated GIF. Here are a few slides:
slide 5 of the "Products by Apple" presentation, describing The Apple Advantage: created with the user in mind, intuitive and easy to use, graphical user interface, and built for growth and expansion
slide 9 of the "Products by Apple" presentation, describing What the Apple Advantage Means to You: powerful technology that's easy to use, thousands of consistent applications, built-in networking, and designed to grow as your needs grow
slide 16 of the "Products by Apple" presentation, describing The Macintosh Classic II, affordable and fast and an ideal entry-level system, and its features: all-in-one design, memory expandable to 10MB, built-in 40MB hard disk available, connects to printers and other Macintosh peripherals, virtual memory, and sound input (microphone included)
slide 33 of the "Products by Apple" presentation, describing two printers and their features, the Apple ImageWriter II (impact printer, best price, multi-part forms, and continuous feed paper) and Apple StyleWriter (laser quality, affordable, convenient small size, and TrueType fonts)
A lot of the demos are HyperCard based, allowing interactive displays of product information, occasionally enhanced with movies from QuickTime or Macromedia Director (now Adobe Director).
advertisement stack from Shiva Corporation, providing information on their various routers and other network products
advertisement stack from Nisus Software, showing off the features of Nisus Solo Writer 1.3
advertisement stack from Radius Inc., showing off the features of Radius VideoVision
advertisement stack from Interactive Speech Systems, showing off the features of their Speak English product, software designed to teach English to Japanese speakers
This last one is interesting because it contains possibly the greatest startup sound any program in this or any other universe has ever had:
And of course there are real demonstration apps, like FrameMaker 3.0. Claris has demos for six different languages, but, oddly, there are three different demo apps. For German, you get ClarisWorks 1.0 (the five different modes: “Textverarbeitung,” “Graphik,” “Datenbank,” “Tabellenkalkulation,” and “Kommunikation”). You speak Italian? Congrats, you’ve got MacWrite II! If you’re stuck with any of the other languages, English, French, Spanish, or Japanese, don’t fret! You can still try out a demo of FileMaker Pro.
directory of Claris demo applications, showing the different apps available for different languages
And, oh man, demos for Discis Books, anyone ever use any of these interactive storybooks?
two pages from the Peter Rabbit Preview from Discis Books, showing two sentences and an accompanying illustration
The screenshot really doesn’t do it justice. Every page has a music loop playing in the background, and you can click the speaker icons to the left of the text to have the story narrated. The words are highlighted as they’re spoken so you can follow along. And you can click on different parts of the illustrations to have what they are read out loud: “Peter Rabbit,” “gooseberry net,” “sleeve,” “ground,” etc. Wicked awesome.
Another demo is for Prescience Corporation’s Expressionist 3, an equation editor:
an example equation entered in Expressionist: the integral from zero to infinity of the sine of x squared is equal to the square root of pi divided by eight
From Vividus Corporation is a save-disabled demo of Cinemation, an animation program somewhat similar to Flash and Director in terms of creating objects in frames and adding motion and interactivity to them. Cinemation’s intended use was in creating animated presentations; it even had the ability to import PowerPoint presentations as the base for a project.
Motion Works Inc. had a demo of a product similar to Cinemation, PROmotion. PROmotion’s intended use though was actually for cartoons and other animated media, not simply presentations. Also included is a stack showing off ADDmotion II, an XCMD allowing color graphics and animations to be embedded in HyperCard stacks. There are a bunch of example uses of PROmotion and ADDmotion II in a “PrimeTime Examples” folder, containing some samples of what was included in Motion Works’s PrimeTime CD Collection Vol.1, a CD of sounds, graphics, and movies to be used with PROmotion and ADDmotion II. Of particular note is the “The Principles of Animation” stack:
splash screen from The Principles of Animation
main menu from The Principles of Animation, listing the techniques covered: squash & stretch, anticipation, secondary action, straight ahead & pose to pose, follow through & overlapping, slow in & slow out, arcs, staging, timing, exaggeration, solid drawing, and appeal
Straight Ahead & Post to Pose screen from The Principles of Animation
Most of the principles have actual animated examples, and not just a static frame like the one above.
I’ll close this post with video of a short cartoon contained in the “Editorial & Comics” section of the newsletter. The cartoon, titled “Mac ‘n’ Tish!,” has no credits save the signature of the artist “Deigert” on the frames containing the two main characters, but an advertisement in the “Classifieds” section for the company Media Design has the same two characters making a sales pitch, pointing to the cartoon as a sample of their work.
The cartoon is saved on the disc as seven Director files, so there are some pauses in the video during CD access of the next segment; I have left these intact to give you the authentic experience of viewing this cartoon off the CD. For Deigert, the uncredited voice actors, and everyone else at Media Design, I present to you “Mac ‘n’ Tish!”:
For 1992 VINTAGE Mac [*Please review compatibility/platform sections in 'What You Get']
Half of the CD is the Apple Chronicle newsletter itself, a HyperCard stack enriched with the ColorizeHC and QuickTime XCMDs to feature color graphics and embedded movies. The issue’s headline was Apple’s recently released QuickTime, which at the time was a fairly revolutionary piece of technology, allowing applications to, well it’s right there in the front page article: “integrate graphics, sound, video, and animation.”
Let’s check out the global news:
Clicking on the yellow film icon in the top right starts a video in the picture box below of a discus thrower spinning and hurling an object, revealed to be a CD as it passes by someone stupidly using an Apple computer, right in the middle of the discus field, where people are throwing things. It is inspirational product placement at its best.
And speaking of product placement!
page 7 of the Apple Chronicle, showing the advertisement article "VIDEOSPIGOT: OVER 20,000 USERS AND THE NUMBER KEEPS GROWING!"
page 12 of the Apple Chronicle, showing the advertisement "MOOTION WORKS Family of Multimedia Products"
page 18 of the Apple Chronicle, showing an advertisement for the LaserMaster Unity 1200XL printer
Most of the newsletter is dedicated to different Mac software and hardware products, especially those with interaction with either QuickTime or HyperCard. The other half of the CD consists of demos of the products highlighted or advertised in the newsletter. Some of them, like Apple’s, are merely images. Apple’s is actually a PowerPoint presentation, “Products by Apple,” exported as an animated GIF. Here are a few slides:
slide 5 of the "Products by Apple" presentation, describing The Apple Advantage: created with the user in mind, intuitive and easy to use, graphical user interface, and built for growth and expansion
slide 9 of the "Products by Apple" presentation, describing What the Apple Advantage Means to You: powerful technology that's easy to use, thousands of consistent applications, built-in networking, and designed to grow as your needs grow
slide 16 of the "Products by Apple" presentation, describing The Macintosh Classic II, affordable and fast and an ideal entry-level system, and its features: all-in-one design, memory expandable to 10MB, built-in 40MB hard disk available, connects to printers and other Macintosh peripherals, virtual memory, and sound input (microphone included)
slide 33 of the "Products by Apple" presentation, describing two printers and their features, the Apple ImageWriter II (impact printer, best price, multi-part forms, and continuous feed paper) and Apple StyleWriter (laser quality, affordable, convenient small size, and TrueType fonts)
A lot of the demos are HyperCard based, allowing interactive displays of product information, occasionally enhanced with movies from QuickTime or Macromedia Director (now Adobe Director).
advertisement stack from Shiva Corporation, providing information on their various routers and other network products
advertisement stack from Nisus Software, showing off the features of Nisus Solo Writer 1.3
advertisement stack from Radius Inc., showing off the features of Radius VideoVision
advertisement stack from Interactive Speech Systems, showing off the features of their Speak English product, software designed to teach English to Japanese speakers
This last one is interesting because it contains possibly the greatest startup sound any program in this or any other universe has ever had:
And of course there are real demonstration apps, like FrameMaker 3.0. Claris has demos for six different languages, but, oddly, there are three different demo apps. For German, you get ClarisWorks 1.0 (the five different modes: “Textverarbeitung,” “Graphik,” “Datenbank,” “Tabellenkalkulation,” and “Kommunikation”). You speak Italian? Congrats, you’ve got MacWrite II! If you’re stuck with any of the other languages, English, French, Spanish, or Japanese, don’t fret! You can still try out a demo of FileMaker Pro.
directory of Claris demo applications, showing the different apps available for different languages
And, oh man, demos for Discis Books, anyone ever use any of these interactive storybooks?
two pages from the Peter Rabbit Preview from Discis Books, showing two sentences and an accompanying illustration
The screenshot really doesn’t do it justice. Every page has a music loop playing in the background, and you can click the speaker icons to the left of the text to have the story narrated. The words are highlighted as they’re spoken so you can follow along. And you can click on different parts of the illustrations to have what they are read out loud: “Peter Rabbit,” “gooseberry net,” “sleeve,” “ground,” etc. Wicked awesome.
Another demo is for Prescience Corporation’s Expressionist 3, an equation editor:
an example equation entered in Expressionist: the integral from zero to infinity of the sine of x squared is equal to the square root of pi divided by eight
From Vividus Corporation is a save-disabled demo of Cinemation, an animation program somewhat similar to Flash and Director in terms of creating objects in frames and adding motion and interactivity to them. Cinemation’s intended use was in creating animated presentations; it even had the ability to import PowerPoint presentations as the base for a project.
Motion Works Inc. had a demo of a product similar to Cinemation, PROmotion. PROmotion’s intended use though was actually for cartoons and other animated media, not simply presentations. Also included is a stack showing off ADDmotion II, an XCMD allowing color graphics and animations to be embedded in HyperCard stacks. There are a bunch of example uses of PROmotion and ADDmotion II in a “PrimeTime Examples” folder, containing some samples of what was included in Motion Works’s PrimeTime CD Collection Vol.1, a CD of sounds, graphics, and movies to be used with PROmotion and ADDmotion II. Of particular note is the “The Principles of Animation” stack:
splash screen from The Principles of Animation
main menu from The Principles of Animation, listing the techniques covered: squash & stretch, anticipation, secondary action, straight ahead & pose to pose, follow through & overlapping, slow in & slow out, arcs, staging, timing, exaggeration, solid drawing, and appeal
Straight Ahead & Post to Pose screen from The Principles of Animation
Most of the principles have actual animated examples, and not just a static frame like the one above.
I’ll close this post with video of a short cartoon contained in the “Editorial & Comics” section of the newsletter. The cartoon, titled “Mac ‘n’ Tish!,” has no credits save the signature of the artist “Deigert” on the frames containing the two main characters, but an advertisement in the “Classifieds” section for the company Media Design has the same two characters making a sales pitch, pointing to the cartoon as a sample of their work.
The cartoon is saved on the disc as seven Director files, so there are some pauses in the video during CD access of the next segment; I have left these intact to give you the authentic experience of viewing this cartoon off the CD. For Deigert, the uncredited voice actors, and everyone else at Media Design, I present to you “Mac ‘n’ Tish!”:
For 1992 VINTAGE Mac [*Please review compatibility/platform sections in 'What You Get']
WHAT YOU GET:
This item is for the original media, and includes only the media (ie. CD, floppy ...) UNLESS specifically stated above and/or in the title. If more than just the media is included, it will state which items are (ie. box, manual, etc ). Items that come in a sleeve refer to a generic CD sleeve (typically white) and will be sent with shipping protection to avoid damage during transit. If available, we will also send the front and/or back CD inserts if in stock. If these are important to you, please message us to verify we have them available to send. Please do not assume items are included other than what's stated. Again, ask questions PRIOR to purchasing if you have any concerns.
IMAGES:
All images/pictures are stock photos and are for reference only, mainly to show the type of game you will be getting. Please read "WHAT YOU GET" for what is included with the media. Screenshots may vary based on your own computer system, video card, monitor, etc.
COMPATIBILITY:
Computers are like people, each one is different. Unlike console games, a computer game may install and work flawlessly on one system but may need adjustments on another. This is due to a variety of factors, mainly the OS platform running, video card you have, drivers, protection software installed, etc. Many times manufacturers release updates to games to fix bugs and add enhancements. We would be happy to help get the game going on your computer, but ultimately compatibility issues are the responsibility of the buyer. We suggest going to Google and searching for the name of the game along with the words "system requirements" to determine if your system is suitable. Ultimately, we are not responsible for software compatibility problems or publisher's errors.
PLATFORM:
Stated within the auction is what platform the game will work on (ie. Windows, Mac, Linux...) This is a generic statement and specific platform versions (ie. XP, Vista...) will have to be researched by the buyer. Games that came out PRIOR to XP or higher will not specifically state they will work on that release, but only because they came out before those versions were made. Many, if not most, will work on XP or higher with a few quick adjustments. We provide instructions with all items purchased on how to do this adjustment using the Program Compatibility Wizard. If we find out that an item will definately not work on a specific version, we will state it. For DOS games, you may need to play it with a free DOSbox program if the Program Compatibility Wizard does not work.
64-Bit Windows OS Systems:
For 64-bit Operating Systems, older games most likely will NOT work due to 64-bit systems not being able to run 16-bit programming code (most games prior to 2000). For DOS games, you may need to play it with a free DOSbox program.
Macintosh Systems:
For Macintosh programs, most older games will need to be run in Classic Environment if you have a MAC OS X 10.0 - 10.4 version. Please research Google on how to do this, or send us a message for information prior to purchasing. If your MAC OS system doesn't support Classic Environment (ie. MAC OS X 10.5 or Higher OR Intel Macs), you will have to try running it using the free program called SheepShaver, but compatibility is not ensured. Please research prior to purchasing or ask questions.
MEDIA FORMAT:
Please verify you have the required hardware in order to use the specified media (ie. CD, DVD, floppy drives, etc.) If the item comes as a floppy disc, make sure you have either the needed 3.5" floppy drive or the bigger and older 5.25" floppy drive.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR A SMOOTH PURCHASE:
Ask questions PRIOR to purchasing an order to avoid any confusion.
Be patient if there are problems during installation or gameplay. Typically someone else has
already ran into that problem and has listed a solution online. Contact us and we will do our best to help.
Be sure to update your video card drivers and search for updates to the game from the manufacturer.
This item is for the original media, and includes only the media (ie. CD, floppy ...) UNLESS specifically stated above and/or in the title. If more than just the media is included, it will state which items are (ie. box, manual, etc ). Items that come in a sleeve refer to a generic CD sleeve (typically white) and will be sent with shipping protection to avoid damage during transit. If available, we will also send the front and/or back CD inserts if in stock. If these are important to you, please message us to verify we have them available to send. Please do not assume items are included other than what's stated. Again, ask questions PRIOR to purchasing if you have any concerns.
IMAGES:
All images/pictures are stock photos and are for reference only, mainly to show the type of game you will be getting. Please read "WHAT YOU GET" for what is included with the media. Screenshots may vary based on your own computer system, video card, monitor, etc.
COMPATIBILITY:
Computers are like people, each one is different. Unlike console games, a computer game may install and work flawlessly on one system but may need adjustments on another. This is due to a variety of factors, mainly the OS platform running, video card you have, drivers, protection software installed, etc. Many times manufacturers release updates to games to fix bugs and add enhancements. We would be happy to help get the game going on your computer, but ultimately compatibility issues are the responsibility of the buyer. We suggest going to Google and searching for the name of the game along with the words "system requirements" to determine if your system is suitable. Ultimately, we are not responsible for software compatibility problems or publisher's errors.
PLATFORM:
Stated within the auction is what platform the game will work on (ie. Windows, Mac, Linux...) This is a generic statement and specific platform versions (ie. XP, Vista...) will have to be researched by the buyer. Games that came out PRIOR to XP or higher will not specifically state they will work on that release, but only because they came out before those versions were made. Many, if not most, will work on XP or higher with a few quick adjustments. We provide instructions with all items purchased on how to do this adjustment using the Program Compatibility Wizard. If we find out that an item will definately not work on a specific version, we will state it. For DOS games, you may need to play it with a free DOSbox program if the Program Compatibility Wizard does not work.
64-Bit Windows OS Systems:
For 64-bit Operating Systems, older games most likely will NOT work due to 64-bit systems not being able to run 16-bit programming code (most games prior to 2000). For DOS games, you may need to play it with a free DOSbox program.
Macintosh Systems:
For Macintosh programs, most older games will need to be run in Classic Environment if you have a MAC OS X 10.0 - 10.4 version. Please research Google on how to do this, or send us a message for information prior to purchasing. If your MAC OS system doesn't support Classic Environment (ie. MAC OS X 10.5 or Higher OR Intel Macs), you will have to try running it using the free program called SheepShaver, but compatibility is not ensured. Please research prior to purchasing or ask questions.
MEDIA FORMAT:
Please verify you have the required hardware in order to use the specified media (ie. CD, DVD, floppy drives, etc.) If the item comes as a floppy disc, make sure you have either the needed 3.5" floppy drive or the bigger and older 5.25" floppy drive.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR A SMOOTH PURCHASE:
SHIPPING:
We typically ship all items out within 1-2 business days after payment is received. In regards to the stated shipping and handling, remember that these costs include more than just postage.
International buyers please email/chat with us to determine if you are eligible for shipping of a specific product. If you are, then international buyers not shipping to an address within the U.S. can expect their orders to take anywhere from 5 days to 4 weeks to be received, depending on how fast/well USPS is moving. Additionally, international orders typically have to go through governmental customs, which can delay the arrival process. Import duties, taxes, and charges are not included in the item price or shipping cost. These charges are the buyer's responsibility. Please check with your country's customs office to determine what these additional costs will be prior to buying. Customs fees are normally charged by the shipping company or collected when you pick the item up. These fees are not additional shipping charges.
We typically ship all items out within 1-2 business days after payment is received. In regards to the stated shipping and handling, remember that these costs include more than just postage.
International buyers please email/chat with us to determine if you are eligible for shipping of a specific product. If you are, then international buyers not shipping to an address within the U.S. can expect their orders to take anywhere from 5 days to 4 weeks to be received, depending on how fast/well USPS is moving. Additionally, international orders typically have to go through governmental customs, which can delay the arrival process. Import duties, taxes, and charges are not included in the item price or shipping cost. These charges are the buyer's responsibility. Please check with your country's customs office to determine what these additional costs will be prior to buying. Customs fees are normally charged by the shipping company or collected when you pick the item up. These fees are not additional shipping charges.
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