Speaking of This American Life, last weekend they did a segment (as part of the "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" program) on the graphing calculator that has been a part of the Macintosh since the PowerPC. It's a GREAT story.
The Graphing Calculator Story
The gist is a couple of contractors on a project find themselves jobless after the project is cancelled (for like the 5th time). They believe in the project so much and have so little needs (no mortgage, no family) that they sneak into Apple day after day to finish this project (using spare office space wherever they can find). They end up having to explain themselves to the Apple execs, who ask them to silence themselves (the silence has only very recently been broken) as the execs gradually bring the project back on-line so it looks legitimate. Yes, eventually they get compensation for all of this.
It's a GREAT story. Check it out. You might even listen to the real audio stream from thislife.org. You can fast forward to Act Two: Not Far From The Tree, which starts at 26:30 into the show and ends around 39:00.
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