
"I decided to add "inertial" scrolling, where you gave the image a push..." - vark
http://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=Thunderscan.txt
======
there
the switcher
([http://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&s...](http://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=Switcher.txt))
story is also pretty interesting. i can't believe apple paid that much for
what seems like a (relatively) small utility.

~~~
gojomo
Great story. My favorite part is the contrast between Gates' and Jobs'
negotiating styles. Gates: use your pride to set a lowball effort/value frame.
Jobs: imply use of Apple proprietary information, leverage reputation of
stubborness.

Hertzfeld's tactic is nice, too: request a royalty for the unbundled version
that Apple "would never do" -- but did.

~~~
JacobAldridge
I like the note from Bill Gates as well. A gentle reminder that behind the
caricatures we all create for celebrities there are real people with depth ...
some of whom spend too much time playing maze games.

~~~
gojomo
I hadn't zoomed the letter until your reply. Looks like the early Mac's Geneva
font, printed on an ImageWriter. :)

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BigZaphod
Based on his royalty agreement ($7.50 per unit) and the stated total sales of
around 100,000 units, he made $750,000 in royalties. Nice! Sorta wish I got
royalties for my projects....

~~~
jeiting
Do people still do royalty based contracts? I wish they did.

~~~
growingconcern
We get royalty money in the games industry. Of course it depends on the
project deal, but often once the game has sold a certain number of units
royalty checks start coming in. For very successful games these checks can be
quite large.

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nailer
Is there a context behind the posting? Are we all saying this is prior art for
some UI patent somewhere?

~~~
vark
No context in particular :) Just an observation of how the "inertial
scrolling" people are raving about on the new iDevices has a history deeply
rooted in Mac folklore (Andy Hertzfeld was part of the original Mac team).

Also note mention of hysteresis and Floyd-Steinberg Dithering which are worth
reading up on.

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Tycho
Interesting read. But I was expecting it to end with 'when Steve Jobs found
out about the device, he added a new clause to the ImageWriter warranty
forbidding the use of 3rd party attachments, and that was that.' ;)

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matt1
FWIW, I implemented inertial scrolling (or flinging) on the timelines at
<http://www.preceden.com>. You're welcome to check out the JavaScript if
you're interested in implementing something similar.

It was exciting to set up... really brings you back to high school pyhsics.

~~~
bodhi
Hah, funny you should mention that. I noticed it when I stumbled across
Preceden a month or two back, but it's always seemed a bit buggy, and put me
off trying out the site. In Firefox & Chrome, if you drag the timeline to one
side and hold in place for a bit, then release, it scrolls as if I hadn't held
it stationary.

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WildUtah
Does anybody have any pointers on how to use hysteresis to make inertial
scrolling work better? It was mentioned in the article but I don't see how to
make it work.

~~~
sparky
I'm guessing he means something like "when the user clicks, drags, and
releases something, keep scrolling at the rate the mouse was moving at the
release point _only if the rate is above some threshold_." It'd be annoying if
the mouse had to be absolutely still when you let it go, most people don't
have the fine motor control for that.

