Apple: Our philosophy is to provide software for our machines free (1976)
by janandonly on 2/1/2026, 5:36:57 PM
http://apple1.chez.com/Apple1project/Gallery/Gallery.htm
Comments
by: dlcarrier
I worked at a place that tested software releases on a VM of every supported operating system, including OS X. We didn't have any Apple hardware, because no one wanted to deal with that, but someone had brought in the chassis of an old Apple computer and the host computer was inside it. We didn't run it by any lawyers or anything, but as far as we could tell, running OS X inside a computer that had all of its guts replaced was entirely within the license requirements.
2/1/2026, 6:50:22 PM
by: rpastuszak
Haha, excellent timing:<p>I opened HN <i>just now</i> because:<p>1. I got tired of waiting 2h for my app to get notarized because<p>2. I can't sell it on the AppStore in the EU... because<p>3. the AppStore Connect page gets stuck at their DSA compliance form (it's been 10 days).<p>And, to add insult to injury, the whole thing could be a PWA, without any compromises in the UX whatsoever.<p>I misread the title, but I still posted this comment as an example of confirmation bias* in the orange book for posteriority. Time to step away from the computer!<p>* (sunk cost fallacy)
2/1/2026, 6:52:02 PM
by: zweifuss
The text was mangeled by some OCR-software. This ad can be found as image on Wikimedia: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Apple_1_Advertisement_Oct_1976.jpg" rel="nofollow">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Apple_1_Advertisemen...</a>
2/1/2026, 7:53:34 PM
by: amelius
The full sentence:<p>> And since our philosophy is to provide software for our machines free or at minimal cost, you won't be continually paying for access to this growing software library.
2/1/2026, 6:23:35 PM
by: jrochkind1
A lot of corporate "philosophies" are actually just business models. There have been times between then and now they charged for the OS. They do charge for other software. But largely it's been a good business model for them.
2/1/2026, 6:32:20 PM
by: TheJoeMan
I appreciate that the software and updates are made "free" to me, and it may be their right to disallow "downgrades" and have time-limited windows for redemption. However, as a developer for their platform, it is quite frustrating that these restrictions are at odds with industry practice to guarantee support for older OS versions than current. I cannot purchase a new iPhone, put iOS 18 on it, install my app, and test updating the iPhone to 26. This can have very real negative consequences for the very same shared customers of mine and Apple's.
2/1/2026, 7:24:45 PM
by: wmf
There was discourse in the 1970s about whether software should all be free or if paid software would be better. Apple and Micro-Soft had different perspectives: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Open_Letter_to_Hobbyists" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Open_Letter_to_Hobbyists</a>
2/1/2026, 7:04:01 PM
by: cwicklein
Expandable to 65K. I don’t recall seeing SI units used in this context until by hard disk manufacturers years later.
2/1/2026, 7:47:42 PM
by: aaronbrethorst
What's up with all of the weird typos, such as:<p>"APPLE Computer Compagny"<p>"Palo Atlt"
2/1/2026, 6:13:22 PM
by: subtlesoftware
"Compared to switches and LED's, a video terminal can dis- play vast amounts of information simultaneously."<p>The beginning of the end.
2/1/2026, 6:32:57 PM
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2/1/2026, 6:58:08 PM
by: gignico
At $666.66 this must have been a diabolic deal!
2/1/2026, 6:24:13 PM