From May 96 issue


We take a look at the sites that add to Apple's 20th anniversary celebrations, including a glimpse of what happened to Apple's founders.

Please note that the Web links on this page will not work unless you have an Internet connection.

April Fool's Day this year was the 20th anniversary of Apple Computer. It's grown from a part-time business to become the most influential computer firm today - and one of the biggest.

The Apple Timeline (http://www.info.apple.com/aboutapple/timeline.html) is Apple's official version of how Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak started the company, and the rollercoaster ride of Apple's progress ever since. While it's not exactly bang up-to-date (ending in May 1995), it's a nostalgic trip for many and a reminder of how things have changed.

Always Apple (http://always.apple.com/) is more celebratory in tone. Welcoming newcomers to the Mac scene - or those who are simply curious to know what the fuss is about - it features regular updates of Mac news and views. It's something of a marketing exercise, but there are some sections where you can get involved.

You can also send in your own views on what you love about the Mac and participate in live chat sessions with top Apple brass. The likes of research chief David Nagel and multimedia master Satjiv Chahil star in question and answer sessions.

There are instructions on where to get the free programs for the Web chat sessions and how to use them with your Web browser, along with a schedule of forthcoming chats. But be prepared for a late night - the sessions are, of course, set to suit Americans. It's nevertheless a great example of how the Net can bring you closer to the people who make the decisions that affect your Mac.

Where are they now?

Two young men built a computer from scratch in 1976, little dreaming of the impact it would have on their lives - and ours. Steve Jobs (left in the picture) went on to start up the high tech computer firm NeXT (http://www.next.com/). Co-founder Steve Wozniak (right in the picture) now has a home page (http://www.woz.org/Pages/Staff/Steve/steve.html), which isn't the most fascinating ever published, but it's good to know he's around. In fact, you can prove to yourself that he's still around by using the WozCam - a camera connected to the Web and placed in the training room where he teaches.

You'll find a bigger blast from the past at Dream Acres Farm (http://www.dnacom.com:80/dream/), an unassuming place but one of the few farms with a Web site. The folks there have a prototype of the very first Apple computer, the Apple I. You can read all about it and find out a thing or two about chickens while you're there.

If the Apple Timeline whets your appetite, the Timeline of Microcomputers (http://www.islandnet.com/~kpolsson/comphist.htm) is an ambitious guide to the development of the device that's changing the world. It starts from 1926 and the invention of the transistor that made the first computers possible.

Finally, Dave's 'The Mac Line' (http://www.math.rpi.edu/%7Ejohnsd10/macline/) is a Mac fan's labour of love. From the Mac 128 to the PowerMac 9500, Dave Johnson's Web site contains a thorough list of every Mac design that's been released, with details of the processors used, the amount of RAM in the case, the number of pins on the chips...