3 ms·

"Commodore's phones rang off the hook. They had 50 calls a day from people wanting to sell the PET. Distribution couldn't keep up with demand. The PET's success

"Commodore's phones rang off the hook. They had 50 calls a day from people wanting to sell the PET. Distribution couldn't keep up with demand. The PET's success was partly due to it's built-in BASIC interpreter. Commodore outsourced BASIC to a small firm called Micro-Soft. Micro-Soft agreed to be paid per PET once delivered. Delays hurt cash flow so much they nearly went under. Micro-Soft were saved only by Apple licensing Micro-Soft BASIC for their Apple II." Twenty years later, in 1997, with Apple near bankruptcy, Microsoft invested $150 million in to Apple. It's interesting to wonder what would have happened had these companies not throwing each other a lifeline at these critical times, or if they instead just bought the other outright.

betamaxthetape 6y ago
It was in the renewal of the Applesoft Basic license that Apple gave Microsoft a perpetual license to the Mac interface: > Apple's original deal with Microsoft for licensing Applesoft Basic had a term of eight years, and it was due to expire in September 1985. Apple still depended on the Apple II for the lion's share of its revenues, and it would be difficult to replace Microsoft Basic without fragmenting the software base. Bill Gates had Apple in a tight squeeze, and, in an early display of his ruthless business acumen, he exploited it to the hilt. He knew that Donn's Basic was way ahead of Microsoft's, so, as a condition for agreeing to renew Applesoft, he demanded that Apple abandon MacBasic, buying it from Apple for the price of $1, and then burying it. He also used the renewal of Applesoft, which would be obsolete in just a year or two as the Mac displaced the Apple II, to get a perpetual license to the Macintosh user interface, in what probably was the single worst deal in Apple's history, executed by John Sculley in November 1985. source: https://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=MacBasic.txt https://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&stor...
- ethanpil 6y ago
  Wanna try it? https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/macbasic-10 https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/macbasic-10
rasz 6y ago
>agreed to be paid per PET reality https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_BASIC https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_BASIC >Commodore licensed BASIC from Microsoft in 1977 on a "pay once, no royalties" basis after Jack Tramiel turned down Bill Gates' offer of a $3 per unit fee, stating, "I'm already married," and would pay no more than $25,000 for a perpetual license

betamaxthetape 6y ago

It was in the renewal of the Applesoft Basic license that Apple gave Microsoft a perpetual license to the Mac interface: > Apple's original deal with Microsoft for licensing Applesoft Basic had a term of eight years, and it was due to expire in September 1985. Apple still depended on the Apple II for the lion's share of its revenues, and it would be difficult to replace Microsoft Basic without fragmenting the software base. Bill Gates had Apple in a tight squeeze, and, in an early display of his ruthless business acumen, he exploited it to the hilt. He knew that Donn's Basic was way ahead of Microsoft's, so, as a condition for agreeing to renew Applesoft, he demanded that Apple abandon MacBasic, buying it from Apple for the price of $1, and then burying it. He also used the renewal of Applesoft, which would be obsolete in just a year or two as the Mac displaced the Apple II, to get a perpetual license to the Macintosh user interface, in what probably was the single worst deal in Apple's history, executed by John Sculley in November 1985. source: https://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=MacBasic.txt https://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&stor...

ethanpil 6y ago
Wanna try it? https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/macbasic-10 https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/macbasic-10

rasz 6y ago

>agreed to be paid per PET reality https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_BASIC https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_BASIC >Commodore licensed BASIC from Microsoft in 1977 on a "pay once, no royalties" basis after Jack Tramiel turned down Bill Gates' offer of a $3 per unit fee, stating, "I'm already married," and would pay no more than $25,000 for a perpetual license