Forgotten QuickTime Demo Videos
Recently I helped a client locate some old QuickTime CD-ROMs from the early 1990s. Back in these days CDs were still fairly new, and people didn’t waste precious storage space on the shiny platters; it was not uncommon to find lots of bonus and filler material on discs of the day. We managed to find three discs, the QuickTime 1.0 and 1.5 releases, along with a copy of the QuickTime 1.0 Beta CD.
My client was primarily interested in the software while I found a search through the bundled materials the most rewarding. I quickly unearthed a few goodies that probably haven’t seen the light of day in over twenty years – which may or may not be a good thing.
The first video, DogCow, was included on the QuickTime 1.0 Beta release CD-ROM. This is a bizarre clip clearly targeted to Apple insiders. Moof, the beloved Apple DogCow from the print dialog boxes, underwent some changes between Systems 6 and 7. The QuickTime team apparently had strong feelings about the event. Either that or they ate too many magic mushrooms…
The second clip is a QuickTime 1.0 Tour, presented by a member of the development team. This tongue-in-cheek video was included on the QuickTime 1.0 CD. Originally a whopping 152 x 116 in size, this was referred to as “postage stamp video” back in 1991. How far we’ve come. Gotta love the portable QuickTime playback container for the DEC PDP 11!
Finally, Klone Killers is short clip also on the QuickTime 1.0 CD. Apple was considering licensing the Mac OS to clone manufacturers by this time, and the QuickTime team had a rather Space Invaders take on the notion. Apparently Steve Jobs felt the same way.
I love finding this stuff!
Could you possible help me? I want to figure out if the internal keyboard of the PowerBook 160 uses the standard interface for the matrix…. I can’t find that out anywhere… Also, is it bidirectional (the interface)? Thanks ahead of time you rock! (Sorry, this is for a build I’m working on.)
Sorry Corbin, I really don’t have any information about how that works.
Hello are these quicktime movies available in their original format (.mov), just started Basilisk II Classic Mac emulator :)
Hi Adam! I have another early QuickTime video that may be of interest to you. It was on a CD that came with the book “QuickTime – The Official Guide for Macintosh Users” by Judith L. Stern and Robert A. Lettieri. It’s titled “A Lovely Beverage” and features footage of the icon garden at the Cupertino campus. Hope you enjoy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lqbf54b6sc
Thanks Jon. It’s pretty obvious these pioneering QuickTime users didn’t take a filmmaking class in addition to programming!
I am looking for an early QuickTime movie that depicted an object fall from the skies and slowly become the center of what looks like a religious veneration. The best I can recall it was about two minutes long. I cannot recall its name. I think it came as part of a compilation disk with my first Apple CD-ROM player and speakers.
The original disc had some clips by Laurie Anderson and some “business advice” clips as well. Any idea where I could find those? I’ve looked and looked.
Thanks in advance.