August 14, 1988

STEAMED CRAB: I don’t want to sound like I’m just a little cranky or anything, stuck in the Boston Saunathon (alias Macworld Expo) this past week. I guess I ought to count my blessings, though. I heard about a guy who looked down at himself yesterday and discovered to his horror that even his tie was sweating. (Don’t think about it. You’ll be sorry.)

The rampant, totally unsubstantiated rumor circling the show floor was that show organizer Mitch Hall could have turned up the air conditioning at the sweltering Bayside Expo Center, but it would have cost him $20,000, so he said no. That sounds a little harsh to me, but whatever the case, people were still seen fainting in the aisles.

My suggestion, Mac lovers: Boycott this show next year unless it’s moved someplace sane.

HEARD ON THE FLOOR: Desktop publishing expert Tony Bove asked a good question. Why would Apple promote scanner software (OmniPage by Caere Corp.) that doesn’t work with its own AppleFax modem? Caere says it’s not Apple’s fault, it’s a function of standards. But they’ll fix it soon anyhow.

Lots of people spotted IBM spies. They had two questions: “Will you port your software to the PC? We’ll do anything you want”; and, “Just what exactly do you want from your next computer?” (This from a research scientist at IBM’s Tom Watson center.) Speaking of Next, I heard their evangelists were out in force, too.

SEE, I’M NOT PUSHY: I couldn’t pry through the circled wagons to talk to rocker Todd Rundgren at the Macworld party on Wednesday night, but later HyperTalk author Dan Winkler confirmed that Todd’s been working on a new user interface called HyperCode for the Mac (not related to HyperCard). Not only is it hot, he says, but Apple might actually fund its development. “Todd’s a true hacker,” says Winkler. “He’s innovative and imaginative.”

More Winkler news: He’s working on two books, one of which is a HyperTalk “cookbook” he’s writing with Scott Knaster, another Mac whiz.

IDIOTS SAVANT: Ran into my old boss David Bunnell at the Expo, just back from Moscow, where he launched the first issue of PC World USSR. While he and some advertisers were thumbing through the premier issue, they noticed 23 of the 26 pages of ads were missing.

“The editors said they decided not to run the ads because they ‘didn’t add any value,’” says a laughing Bunnell. “Microsoft had a spread and asked why their ad didn’t run and the editors said, ÔWe ran an article about Bill Gates (Microsoft’s chairman). Why do you want to run an ad, too?’”

THE LONG ARM OF APPLE: During the past nine months or so, Apple has been reeling in the creme-de-la-Valley journalists and taking them deep inside its Cupertino bowels.

The latest fish Apple landed is Maggie Canon, founding editor of InfoWorld, A-Plus and Macintosh Today. She’s just accepted a job as a senior editor for two internal Apple publications.

Here’s a few other names you haven’t seen in print for a while, because now they’re evangelizing third-party product development: Amanda Hixson, former book author/columnist/product reviewer extraordinaire; Steve Mann, author and product reviewer; Greg Williams, former tech editor at Byte; Dave Szetela, former editor of Nibble and NibbleMac; Gary Little, former author and editor of A-Plus; and Lisa Raleigh, former computing editor for the San Jose Mercury-News and executive editor of A-Plus.

Not to mention that Mary A.C. Fallon, once the terror of the Mercury-News business department, is now Apple’s senior PR exec in the education division.

Is this a conspiracy? “It sort of looks that way, doesn’t it?” says Barbara Krause, head of Apple PR. But the motivation, at least for people like Hixson, is clear.

“Working at Apple is like working at Disneyland,” she says. “Only you get to help design the rides.”

BELIEVE IT OR NOT: Just when you thought it was safe to go outside again without seeing yet another unauthorized bio of Steve Jobs, think again. Word is that Bill Gladstone, agent to high-tech authors, has sold the movie rights to Jeff Young’s book “The Journey is the Reward,” to part of Robert Redford’s Sundance Group. Young is writing the screenplay too.

Tom Cruise’s name is being bandied about to play Jobs. That choked me enough to make up my own all-star cast for the film, which I’ve decided to keep to myself for reasons of personal security. But I most heartily encourage you to send yours.

Here’s who we need to cast: Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, John and Leezy Sculley, Mike Markkula (Apple’s co-founder who walks softly but carries a big stick), and anyone else you think is pertinent.

The one that makes me laugh hardest gets famous. (Or can stay anonymous, if you don’t want to burn any bridges.)