Technology
Return of the Mac
paulgraham.com
Technology
4 min read → 80 sec
Macs regained appeal among hackers after OS X combined Unix with strong hardware design. Hacker platform choices shape future mainstream computing because software starts where top developers choose to work.
Hackers are switching back to Macs because OS X makes them open and good again
Platforms win software first from great hackers, then that software sells the hardware
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Hackers matter beyond their small numbers because mainstream computing often follows them within ten years
Technologies like Unix, bitmapped displays, and the Web spread from CS departments to everyone else
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In the mid to late 1980s, many hackers wrote software for the Mac or wanted to
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Linux and FreeBSD pulled hackers to Intel boxes because they followed the most powerful OS
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OS X brought hackers back by putting FreeBSD under well-designed Powerbooks
Research groups at places like MIT were buying Powerbooks, not just designers or casual users
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New software usually starts on the machines great hackers personally use, especially for platform-defining tools
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Many early Apple II sales came from VisiCalc, which Bricklin and Frankston wrote for Apple II because they liked it
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In 1994, Koling built Internet voice calling to reach Taiwan cheaply, years before VoIP became big business
Hackers create technologies for themselves first, then those technologies spread
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To attract hackers who create software that sells hardware, a platform must be open and good
01
Hackers need the freedom to modify and control their systems
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The platform must be technically excellent and well-designed
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Both qualities together draw the creators of breakthrough software
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18.8%
Macintosh share at Y Combinator visitor OS tracking
Much higher than it would have been five years earlier
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Apple's user base included a seventy year old mother and computer science PhDs, showing strength at both ends
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Apple is strong at the low end and high end but still has a small overall market share
That split is temporary, because more people will want Macs that pair strong design with Unix
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