You can look at this section as being production notes or a revison history without the usual letters and numbers. The stuff below are things that happened while we were making the applications. They were recorded by Craig:
02/18/97 - My first submission of icons to the Iconfactory.
02/24/97 - Ged - Comments (>) to me (>>) about a prototype icon utility called IconSetter.
>>4) Any other comments or suggestions?
>
>Try to make the interface user friendly .. if there is one. Many times
>app designers just skip the interface design completely or give it after
>thought. I think this is due to the fact that many times the programs
>were originally designed for use only by them and not the masses.
>
>Keep us posted and good luck!
02/24/97 - Reply to Ged and the rest of the Iconfactory workers:
>>Yeah, I know what you mean. If I can use a piece of software without
>>reading a manual or thinking about the interface, then the interface is good.
>>It's kind of hard to do this kind of evaluation yourself (since you already
>>know how it works).
03/06/97 - Finally made the connection with the Finder thanks to many people on the net (especially Carl Osterwald) and an employee at Apple in Japan (Greg Anderson, who wrote the Scriptable Finder). I can sleep again because the final version of IconSetter is complete. Changed the name of the app to IconDropper in celebration and converted the application to PowerPlant.
03/11/97 - I produced the first one of these documents. Called it a questionaire. Nobody (including myself) bothered to fill it out. It's main purpose was to help me think about how the app should work.
03/20/97 - Corey - Reprimands me for lengthy e-mail. I can ramble on .. witness this whole document. My real purpose is to bore you to the point where you will go play with IconDropper...
03/20/97 - Talos - Tells me: "This thing is really kewl, good job!"
03/28/97 - Ged - Sends e-mail about the web-site teaser:
> pack up those pixels - the foreman would like to take a quick opportunity to
> let you all in on an exciting piece of Mac software coming soon from craig
> hockenberry. craig has been working in collaboration with the iconfactory
> to create an easy-to-use method for keeping track of all those cool icons
> you've downloaded on the web. icondropper is a small application that organizes
> all of your icons into sets or "packs" that can be kept in a single, handy location.
> icondropper also eliminates the hastle of copying and pasting icons onto files
> and folders. the result is fewer folders, easy tracking of all your icon files,
> and ease of use. keep your eyes peeled to this spot for future developments
> regarding the cool new piece of software - icondropper.
03/29/97 - I finished the IconDropper code. No known bugs other than those listed in this document.
03/30/97 - I celebrated Easter with the family (I got to hide the eggs!) and then started on a new, improved IconPacker.
03/30/97 - Ged - Posts teaser on the Iconfactory home page. Counter is as 128,848.
04/02/97 - Talos - Sends the following mail:
> I still can't wait to see the banner working, when? lol!
To which I reply:
> By the way, what does "lol!" mean? Lots of luck? I'm curious...
To which Talos replied:
> lol=laugh out loud
To which I laughed. Out loud.
04/04/97 - Saved my first icon pack with IconPacker. Whoopee! Now I've got to make it so the foreman can't break it!
04/08/97 - Making it so the foreman can't break it was a non-trivial task. There were some nasty memory leaks that had to be plugged. The code is stable enough now so that the factory workers can start making packs.
04/13/97 - Ged - Puts a notice on the web site for beta testers. Time to start getting the boxes ready for the first shipment. Serious work done on this file.
04/14/97 - My four year old niece calls and sings me "Happy Birthday" as I'm putting some finishing touches on IconPacker.
04/16/97 - Ged - The first beta goes out to our beta testers. Thanks to all of them for a great job. If you'd like to see some of their comments, check out the web page.
04/17/97 - Nailed the last major bug that I know about in IconPacker. Everything is very stable. Ged and Talos send me their first icon packs. I danced around in my living room. Icon packs are going to be too much fun. Better than baseball cards.
04/21/97 - Cory, Ged and Talos - Reorganize the Web page after several weeks work. It looks fantastic and sets the stage for the IconDropper release. The hit counter is at 143,442.
The beta testers are also giving us some really good feedback. The best news is that there are no problems that can't be explained or fixed.
04/22/97 - Added a bunch of things that I'd been wanting to do all along. Cleaned up the code and got it to the point where we could call it gold.
04/23/97 - I have been really impressed with how easy it's been to work with the Iconfactory. No e-mail wars, just beautiful ideas and pictures. Thanks again, guys.
04/24/97 - Ged - Makes our first long-distance telephone call. We talked about some last minutes additions to this file and a small bug that has popped up in the pack locking code. We also talked about how enjoyable this project has been for all of us.
04/25/97 - Spent the day writing, sitting in the sun, playing guitar and cleaning the house. It always feels strange to be finished with a big project...
04/29/97 - Let the world have it.
05/24/97 - Received a message from Phil Noguchi saying that IconDropper doesn't work with MacOS 8. That's not too surprising given the number of changes in the Finder. Unfortunately, the OS is not available to the general public and we're not registered developers. We'll just have to wait.
07/28/97 - My copy of MacOS 8 thumps onto my doorstep. Time to get working on the fix.
08/02/97 - The major fixes for MacOS 8 are complete. There's still a bug with aliases. Thanks to Pete Gontier at Apple developer support for helping me with the new Finder stuff.
08/12/97 - It turns out that the alias bug can't be fixed. I've tried hard to find a workaround, but it's just not possible. A bug report has been submitted to Apple.
08/18/97 - Sent a newsletter to registered users to let them know about the availability of the update.
08/20/97 - The Iconfactory hit counter passes the 250,000 mark. Build a better icon and the world will beat a path to your door...
08/24/97 - Added IconDragger to the arsenal. Besides being a useful tool, it's a way to thank registered users for their patience with the MacOS 8 update. As soon as the factory workers finish pushing the pixels for the new application icon, we've got a public release.
08/28/97 - Ged and Talos are moving into their new houses. In spite of the chaos, a new IconDragger icon arrives in the mail. I build the release and get a newsletter ready.
04/14/24 - I'm 64. Moof Jobs, son of the computer entrepeneur Steve Jobs, has just signed a deal where Apple Computer will rule the world! Microsoft shares reach an all-time low. Bill Gates retires and heads for Mexico in a VW bus.
