©1992 Lawrence I. Charters
Washington Apple Pi Journal, Vol, 14, no. 4, April 1992, pp. 13-14.
Columbia Slice had a “special event” on Monday, January 27, at Apple Computer’s offices in Columbia. Three things made it special: it was a short-notice, unscheduled event; attendance was limited (limited by seating to the first 20 people who answered the phone and said ”Yes”); and the presentation was extraordinary.
Bob Langan, Senior Systems Engineer with Apple in Columbia, invited “no more than 20” Slice members to see Apple’s Corporate Briefing Center. The center is basically your average board room, with a nice curved table and nice seats. There really is nothing extraordinary about the room, except for $100,000 worth of computers, video equipment and electronics.
Using a wireless remote controller, Langan could open and close the curtains, dim or brighten the lights, and play music or other audio through an excellent sound system. He could also project video images on two rear projection screens at the end of the room, allowing everyone to watch under normal lighting conditions. This avoids the traditional problem with video presentations, in which you turn down the lights and put everyone to sleep. As “proof,” no one fell asleep, or even looked sleepy, during the entire evening.
Much of the technology is out of sight in an adjoining room. Two high quality Barco video projectors are “fed” by a number of computers, video April 1992 tape decks and laser disc players. The audio and lights, and much of the video, is controlled by one Mac running a HyperCard stack which in turn runs several other boxes. So much for criticism that HyperCard is a “toy” …
Langan next discussed System 7, reviewing many key features, and showing off Apple’s incredible AppleTalk Remote Access (ARA). This $195 package, working through System 7, allows any modem-equipped Macintosh running System 7 to connect with any other modem-equipped Macintosh running System 7 – anywhere in the world. Once connected, the Macs can share files and applications, and copy files, and do all the other usual Mac things, as if they were sitting side by side on a network.
Apple’s Columbia office is so eager to demonstrate this technology that they have devoted part of their server for demonstration of AppleTalk Remote Access. If you have ARA and a modem, call (410) 730-6823, identify yourself as “demouser” (no spaces), with a password of”demo,” and try it out. If you are prompted for a password at anytime, again respond with “demo.” You will soon be connected with “Attila The Demo Volume,” which has several megabytes of software upgrades, QuickTime movies, System 7 icons and beep sounds, and other goodies.
Next, Langan demonstrated Apple’s new OneScanner and its companion Ofoto software. This demonstration was quick, straightforward, and spectacular. After placing a color photo on the scanner, and making sure it was deliberately crooked, he then pressed one button in the Ofoto scanning application. Ofoto then scanned the image, automatically adjusted contrast and brightness, straightened the image, cropped the image, and saved it to disk. For those with experience slaving over a hot scanner, it was, as Langan noted, scanning the ”Macintosh way.”
David Kile, of Alpha Technologies Group (6921 Cable Dr., Ste. 100, Marriottsville, MD 21104, 410-781-4200) then took over to demonstrate Apple’s new QuickTime technology. His company released, on the same day QuickTime was announced in January, ClipTime Vol. l, a CD-ROM filled with 251 different QuickTime movie clips for use in presentations. Kile, a former Apple employee and Columbia resident, gave a quick overview of QuickTime technology, and explained (with on-screen examples) how QuickTime movies could be embedded in HyperCard, word processing documents, and presentation packages.
All of the clips on the CD-ROM were shot by R. Scott Kramer, a writer, producer and photographer living in Columbia. Kramer demonstrated many of the video clips, and provided some valuable tips on what makes a good QuickTime video clip:
- Have a good, steady camera, with little panning and zooming. If at all possible, use a tripod.
- Try for good, sharp closeups, with an uncluttered background.
- Let the subject provide the action; avoid special effects, camera tricks.
- Avoid horizontal lines – venetian blinds, overhead power lines, striped shirts.
- Soft edge subjects (people, plants) work best.
- Avoid fast action.
Kramer has divided the CD-ROM into a number of subject categories, ranging from medical (complete with some operating room footage) to buildings to sports to general scenery. He had lots of ideas on how to use the clips, plus one terrific demo: a FileMaker Pro database with records of houses available, complete with pictures of the houses. When you clicked on the pictures, you were given a brief “walk-through.” Real estate will never be the same.
The evening concluded with a hands-on look at Apple’s new computers, with Slice members almost evenly divided in their desires for Classic II, PowerBook and Quadra machines. Langan ignored numerous pointed suggestions that he should give away a PowerBook as a door prize. Maybe next time …