Behind the Tech invites listeners to geek out with an amazing line-up of tech heroes, inventors and innovators. Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott takes tech enthusiasts behind-the-scenes to meet AI experts, computer scientists, authors, musicians, digital leaders, bioengineers and neuroscientists who have made discoveries, built tools, and literally helped make our modern world possible.
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Comfort food for Macintosh users of the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s.
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Ask Me Anything with Microsoft CTO, Kevin Scott
41:30
41:30
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41:30In this AMA episode of "Behind the Tech," Kevin Scott and Christina Warren address a variety of listener questions, ranging from the impact of AI on learning and personal projects to the future of software development and AI regulation. Kevin shares his experience using AI for personal projects, such as making Japanese tea bowls, and discusses how …
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Darin Adler: 20 Years of Computer Software (1996)
42:37
42:37
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42:37Original text by Darin Adler. An overview of the Motorola MEK6800D2 single board computer/development kit. Roger Heinen “engineers are a dime a dozen” story from episode 40 of the Algorithms + Data Structures = Programs Podcast. The General Magic documentary is a good hard look at how General Magic fizzled out, though it somehow managed to survive …
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Michele Elam, William Robertson Coe Professor in the Humanities; Senior Fellow, Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence; Bass University Fellow in Undergraduate Education
1:05:41
1:05:41
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1:05:41Michele Elam, the William Robertson Coe Professor of Humanities in the English Department at Stanford University and a Race and Technology Affiliate at the Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity, joins Behind the Tech to discuss her journey and work. Michele shares her unique path from a humanities background to engaging with technolo…
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Craig Hickman - The History of Kid Pix (2013)
27:39
27:39
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27:39How a little paint program became a worldwide phenomenon. Original text by Craig Hickman. Craig talks about his 8-bit Atari projects on episode 378 of the ANTIC Podcast. Apple honoured Craig in their already-zapped-from-history Macintosh 30th Anniversary website. John Sculley demonstrating Kid Pix on stage in 1991. John loves talking about “objects…
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As 2024 comes to an end, we take a look back at some of the biggest themes that emerged on Behind the Tech over this incredibly exciting year for tech and AI: creativity, education, and transformation. And we take a stroll through some of Kevin’s obsessions – from ceramics to Maker YouTube to classical piano – alongside guests like Xyla Foxlin, Lis…
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Refik Anadol, Director / Media Artist at Refik Anadol Studio, Visiting Researcher & Lecturer at UCLA's Design Media Arts Department.
49:31
49:31
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49:31Refik Anadol, an internationally renowned media artist and director, joins Behind the Tech to discuss his journey from a childhood fascination with computers in Istanbul to becoming a pioneer in the aesthetics of data and machine intelligence. In this episode, Refik shares his early inspirations—including his first encounter with a Commodore comput…
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Original text by Greg Maletic who is now at Panic, one of the few companies still making beautiful native non-Electron, non-Flutter Mac desktop applications–an endangered species. A technical walkthrough of OpenDoc from co-architect Kurt Piersol. Best comment: “… it’s telling just how much talking is happening in this presentation and how little ‘a…
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Original text by Steven Levy, Macworld January 1990. The sad story of dBASE Mac, which was quickly sold off and briefly revived as nuBASE. Followup article. MindWrite and how it relates to the collapse of mail order house Icon Review. Useless product of the year: WristMac, as shown at Macworld Expo San Francisco 1989. Watch Jean-Louis Gassee assemb…
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That Time I Had Steve Jobs Keynote at Unix Expo (1991)
11:37
11:37
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11:37Original text by Chris MacAskill at the now-defunct cake.co. “Team FDA” jean jacket pictures in the comments (scroll down). Steve Jobs with the 1991 Unix Expo keynote audience under hypnosis. (scroll down) Lotus Improv tutorial VHS tape, Lotus technical talk about Improv and NeXTSTEP, and Moose O’Malley’s Improv Guided Tour.…
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Ben Laude, Professor of Music (Piano Literature & Aural Skills) at Utah State University
1:27:18
1:27:18
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1:27:18Ben Laude, a concert pianist and music educator, joins Behind the Tech to discuss his journey from a suburban childhood in Austin, Texas to becoming a world-renowned classical pianist and YouTube creator. Ben shares his early inspirations—including his father's dabbling in piano and his own private obsession with classical music that began in high …
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Steve Hayman - A Different Apple/NeXT Story (1995)
4:28
4:28
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4:28Original text by Steve Hayman. Humungous Entertainment’s CD-ROM titles for classic Macs. The infamous Power Mac 5200 featured the horrendously slow PowerPC 603 (not the 603e). As if that wasn’t bad enough, a recycled motherboard design fed the 603’s 64-bit memory bus with a 32-bit wide memory subsystem, exacerbating the 603’s los performance. Add s…
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Original text by David Pogue, Macworld May 1994. Products mentioned in this article: Interplay’s “Star Trek: 25th Anniversary” adventure game download, CD-ROM download with voice acting, complete playthrough on YouTube. David Landis’ Stak Trek episode guide HyperCard stacks. David Pogue interviewed Mark Okrand, creator of Klingon and other conlangs…
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Left Behind: A Be, Inc. and BeOS Post-Mortem (2024)
51:39
51:39
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51:39A broader look at the circumstances surrounding the demise of BeOS. Original text by me. Text version available. No links here this time; they’re all inside the text version.By Derek
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Sal Khan, Founder and CEO of Khan Academy
1:12:55
1:12:55
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1:12:55Sal Khan, founder and CEO of Khan Academy, joins Behind the Tech to discuss his journey from a curious child fascinated by science and technology to a global leader in education innovation. Sal shares his early inspirations that led him to pursue a career in engineering and a degree at MIT, and outlines his lifelong passion for education rooted in …
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Ethan Mollick, Author and Associate Professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
58:43
58:43
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58:43Ethan Mollick is an associate professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he teaches innovation and entrepreneurship. His research focuses on the impact of AI on work and education, and he has published numerous papers and a New York Times-bestselling book on AI, "Co-Intelligence." Ethan is also behind the popular Subst…
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MFR will be off its usual schedule while your host recovers from a brutal flu. Sound effect from MacPuke/MacBarfX.By Derek
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Mike Volpi, Partner at Index Ventures
1:11:44
1:11:44
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1:11:44Mike Volpi is a longtime venture capitalist who joined Index Ventures in 2009 to establish the firm's San Francisco office and North American operations. Prior, he was Chief Strategy Officer at Cisco, overseeing a run of acquisitions still studied today as a model for technology merger strategy. Mike invests primarily in artificial intelligence, in…
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A snapshot of Be’s direction in 1998 post-Apple merger talks and pre-bankruptcy. Original text by Henry Bortman. Selected Jean-Louis Gassée quotes: “Who could have put a date on not getting fired for using Linux?” “One of my role models is Michael Dell. […] He looks like a sage in the industry now, but he didn’t always look like this.” “The simple …
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A short story about long cables. Original text by Steve Riggins. Macworld San Francisco 1999: Steve Jobs pokes fun at legacy parallel SCSI-1 versus FireWire.By Derek
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Should Sun Microsystems Buy Apple? (1996)
15:02
15:02
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15:02Original text from SunWorld, February 1996 by Michael McCarthy and Mark Cappel. This was such a bad idea that in the very same issue it was announced a potential Sun/Apple deal had fallen through. CHM Sun Microsystems Founders Panel in which they discuss close encounters with acquiring Apple. I’m glad Sun didn’t buy Apple because by the turn of the…
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Mike Schroepfer, Partner, Gigascale Capital
1:05:15
1:05:15
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1:05:15In 2023, after departing his role as CTO of Facebook, Mike Schroepfer launched the climate venture capital investment firm Gigascale Capital with the goal of building climate tech companies. Working alongside co-founders Victoria Beasley and Evaline Tsai, Gigascale’s investments are today driving advancements in clean energy, biotech and computing.…
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In Bolo’s world, players form alliances, pilot tanks and command little green men. Original text by Steve Silberman. GlobalTalk Overview, or how to run AppleTalk over TCP/IP around the world. Gursharan Sidhu quote at the end of this episode: “It worked across very large multi-segment networks… Apple’s own corporate network [for example]. You could …
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Original text by Henry Bortman. Be’s roller coaster ride from 1990-1998: the 1995 O.J. Simpson trial, Commodore’s Irving Gould, a thirty-mile hike to the sea, headhunting disgruntled Apple employees, and what to do when Apple says you’re not allowed to exhibit at WWDC 1996. Pictures of an AT&T Hobbit BeBox motherboard from ex-Be-er Jean-Baptiste Qu…
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Xyla Foxlin, Engineer and YouTube Creator
1:06:54
1:06:54
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1:06:54Xyla Foxlin is an engineer and YouTuber with a passion for making things dating back to her early childhood love of art and creative exploration. What began as a way to entertain herself with whatever materials she could find blossomed into a career as a content creator and maker, showcasing her skills crafting everything from a rocket to a sailboa…
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Original text by Henry Bortman and Jeff Pittelkau, MacUser, January 1997. How does BeOS measure up to System 7.5, and could it have become the next-generation Mac OS? The authors examine why Copland would not have been the crashproof operating system we had all hoped for. Official BeOS demo video from … I’ll have to guess 1998, the year the x86 por…
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