

The Twilight Years of Cap'n Crunch (2007) - davidroberts
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB116863379291775523-_EQCu93LyjSommsN6J7qiCozuu8_20070122.html?mod=blogs

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lutusp
A quote from the article: "Mr. Draper received permission from the sheriff's
office to attend a computer fair in 1979 in San Francisco, where the program,
named after the cult film "Easy Rider," was a hit. It became Apple's first
word-processing program. When IBM launched its first PC, it also chose
EasyWriter, over competition from other programmers, including a young Bill
Gates."

I have the real story, and the author should have talked to me. After my
program Apple Writer (<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Writer>) replaced
Easy Writer and became Apple's default word processor, someone from IBM called
me up and asked me to write a word processor for their PC.

I asked "What business terms?" The IBM guy, taken aback that a programmer
would switch into business mode so quickly, said, "Okay, you get $100K in
royalties, after which we own the program."

I thought for a minute, then said, "100K, okay, umm, that's 15 days of Apple
Writer royalties right now. I think you'll need to do better than that." But
IBM wouldn't budge, and that ended the negotiation.

Later I heard they offered Draper the same deal and he accepted. Rumor has it
that the PC version of Easy Writer was really terrible and didn't last long.
Later, Draper supposedly remarked, "They asked for a hundred thousand dollar
word processor, and I gave them one."

~~~
rednukleus
IBM really were messed up in 1979 weren't they? Skimping that badly on the
default word processor is just insanity.

~~~
lutusp
The reason was that IBM looked on their PC as an "entry system", a silly,
unimportant introduction to their primary business, mainframes. It's important
to realize that IBM didn't see the potential of personal computers -- they
thought they would be another passing fad like quadraphonic sound. So they
slapped together a really minimal computer, nothing at all remarkable, only
hoping to attract people to their main business. They just had no idea what
was going to happen, or how the world would look on their PC, given that they
were IBM.

That's the real reason why older desktop machines are so crappy. That's the
reason why IBM wasn't able to compete against their own imitators. And IBM's
contemptuous attitude toward their own PC is one of the main reasons Apple was
able to introduce the Macintosh to an adoring public. It really was
spectacularly better than the original IBM PC.

------
rogerfromzapp
his time in the bay area rave scene in the late 90's/early 00's earned him a
creepy reputation, mostly due to his fondness of doing "energy work" with
shirtless teenage boys.

~~~
strlen
This can not be under-emphasized. I was in my late teens/early 20s at that
time and a lot of my friends who were nerds and into the rave scenes had
stories that started with "Oh wow, I met Captain Crunch at a rave, we'll get
to hang out soon!" and ended with "You are sweaty, you should take off your
shirt!" or "Do you want an energy transfer massage?"

I think his preferences are his own business, but using his reputation to
approach a bunch folks much younger than he is and otherwise uninterested,
probably had a lot to do with ruining any social capital that he had.

There's a very legitimate discussion that needs to happen about ageism in the
industry, but age is not the sole issue in the case of Captain Crunch.

~~~
tb303
I first met him in '00 (I think). He came up right after I played a live
techno set in a warehouse in Oakland, and I second this. As someone who grew
up on 2600, my excitement for meeting Draper quickly turned to backing away
once the topic of an energy transfer massage came up.

------
busterarm
Not a single mention of energy massages. I'm disappointed.

For those unfamiliar, it's really hard to explain just how strange the guy is
in print. He's out there.

~~~
eric970
LOL yes, yes yes. I've heard stories of people who met him while staying at
the HHH in Brooklyn.

~~~
busterarm
Is the HHH even still a thing? I'd been to a few parties there back in the day
and knew a few of the folks that lived there but haven't heard mention of it
in years.

------
ben1040
_"Mr. Draper several years ago developed some Internet-security equipment and
started a company. Some clients were interested, but the company foundered
when one of its executives, a fellow raver, made off with much of the money
from investors, say Mr. Draper and another executive, John Johnson."_

I remember back in 2001, seeing Draper speak at University of Illinois about
his "CrunchBox" security appliance. I got the vibe that he was just
repackaging some open source software on it and putting his name on it.

I never really heard anything more about it after that talk, though - I guess
this explained what happened.

------
unimpressive
I don't think the article captures quite what "obsessive" means when you're
talking about Captain Crunch.

This does.

<http://www.webcrunchers.com/stories/esq-art.html>

------
harel
I met the captain a few times when I was living in California. Weird does not
even start to describe him. I was part of the party scene in San Francisco at
the time, and heard how he was banned from certain parties because of
inappropriate massages. I treated that as rumor until now, when I read
different comments specifically about his special massage techniques.

------
noonespecial
I think if I had a great deal of money, I'd skip flying first class a few
times per year and "tenure" guys like John by giving him a few $k/month and
telling him to go work on whatever he wanted.

Just seeing what he came up with each year would be far more entertaining than
another beach vacation somewhere.

~~~
ChuckMcM
Some friends and I muse about what it would take to create a home for people
like John during their twilight years. Its very challenging. There aren't a
lot of high tech jobs that pay pensions, and the retirement money is very
unevenly distributed around.

Not a lot of folks think about that now, but someday, maybe sooner than we
would like, some icon of computing history is going to get rousted out of a
homeless shelter on national TV. I don't look forward to that day, not at all.

------
davidroberts
This passage really strikes me, because he is happy, though his life seems so
tragic, so emblematic of the dark side of technological obsession. It's a
bittersweet mixture of a "there but for the grace of God, go I" feeling and a
simultaneous admiration for the purity of his life's focus. It makes me
reflect on my own life:

"Mr. Draper's unusual behavior, such as shouting at anyone smoking anywhere
near him, could wear on fellow workers and employers. 'He was not a self-
starter, or associated with all the companies springing up back then,' says
Mr. Wozniak. 'But, actually, John is one of the happiest guys I know, no
matter what his situation seems.'"

------
VLM
"I'm blacklisted, man, a permanent menace to society, I guess,"

No dude, you're just old, in an industry with entrenched ageism. Just like the
other accomplished engineers in the story living in mobile homes,
couchsurfing, and living in a bus. Not a lack of skill or relevance, so much
as an excess of gray hair.

Imagine the same story if he went for management instead of engineering, he'd
be a CEO somewhere, greatly loved for his eccentricity, etc.

~~~
davidroberts
Although I have grey hair, and it does seem to reduce the number of job
offers, I think a lot of those couch-surfing engineers have other issues
besides hair color.

Capt Crunch would likely do better if he bathed regularly, washed his clothes,
and stopped shouting at people whose behavior he doesn't like (and hapless
waiters who bring him substandard bacon). And then there's that pesky criminal
record.

~~~
wyclif
It's all self-justifying fantasy on Draper's part, and passive aggressiveness.
He's a crazy old coot with dreadful personal hygiene who never brushed his
teeth or took a bath, with an inflated sense of his self-importance to go with
his disgusting habits, in addition to a predilection for "working out" with
young men.

Years ago one friend of mine went to a conference Draper was at. During a
break he went outside for a smoke, well away from the building. Draper left
the building through the same door, saw him smoking, and did his "I'm going to
scream at you now" act.

My friend had _no idea_ who he was, and as a result almost punched Draper in
the face.

Then there's his criminal record. But to Draper it's all a persecution
complex. He doesn't have enough sensitivity as a human being to understand why
many people didn't want to work with him at any age.

~~~
Macsenour
I got one of those offers to "work out" with John. I remember putting on my
shoes, headed for the door to join him, and something stopped me. To this day
I listen to my hunches and gut feelings. I'm not always right, but I think I
was that time when I decided to stay home.

------
teeja
Wow, some of you guys are impressing me with how much you're struggling to
suppress your raging homophobia in this thread.

I realize the need for some techies to look down on people who won't assent to
their brand of whatever for a chance to climb the ladder of temporary success.
Draper's more widely known and admired than most of you will ever be. So I
guess you gotta do what you gotta do. (which probably doesn't involve hanging
out with Woz)

~~~
raldi
Who are you referring to? Could you provide a link?

I don't see anything in these comments that looks like homophobia. Maybe they
deleted it.

------
Eclyps
Back at defcon last year he ended up joining a game of Cards Against Humanity
that I was playing. He's an interesting guy for sure, and it's nice to be able
to say that I hung out with him for a bit, but he wore out his welcome pretty
quickly. He wasn't being rude or disrespectful - he just acted like an old man
who had seen a _lot_ of shit. Felt bad for him...

