8 ms·

TLDR: for whatever reasons it was a very top-secret project, so they spoofed the user agent, the end.

• gry 14y ago
  The interesting story is Apple. We're hearing about it now.
• jmspring 14y ago
  Sometimes the backstory makes for a fun read. Looking for the cliff notes version all the time makes life boring.
  • donmelton 14y ago
    Thank you. That was my whole reason for writing it. :)
    • bitcartel 14y ago
      What are your thoughts on the present and future for Safari? It appears Safari for Windows is all but dead, with no mention of it on Apple's website. Meanwhile Chrome's adoption has been stellar. http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp
      • donmelton 14y ago
        I'm not going to comment on the present and future of Safari and WebKit. I'm retired. I have no business doing that. And it would disrespect the fine people at Apple -- my friends -- who are still working on both.
        • robmcm 14y ago
          You are lucky no one changed their system clock for testing before launch! Then again it doesn't seem Apple do that very often, cough Do not disturb cough ;)
  • neumann_alfred 14y ago
    Looking for the cliff notes version all the time makes life boring. Not for me, I prefer doing stuff (like typing this inane comment right here) to hearing about trivial things others did. In this case, even the cliff's notes are kinda "meh".
    • sbuk 14y ago
      WebKit and Safari are hardly "trivial", are they. *Edited for the benefit of Alfred.
      • neumann_alfred 14y ago
        WekKit also isn't Safari, is it. I was referring to the reasons to keep bespoke Safari "secret" and the ways to do so... as in, to the actual fucking article, not "Apple success porn" in general, or whatever "sensibilities" I might have offended here.
        • sbuk 14y ago
          Wow.
          • sbuk 14y ago
            Ok. I was responding to you rather arrogant assertion that Don's interesting article was "meh". I'd argue that neither WebKit or Safari are trivial. WebKit is arguably the biggest HTML renderer out there and a heck of a lot of people access the internet using Safari. It's fine that you didn't find it interesting, really, that's ok, just don't be a dick about it.
            • neumann_alfred 14y ago
              Oh get off it. Yeah, it's perfectly fine for me to find something "meh", how fantastic of you to notice; especially after someone said not reading the in-depth details of it would have made my life more boring; I took exception to be included in that; the nerve of now crying! Geez. This may come as a shock to you, but the fact that a lot of people use Apple, Microsoft, Google, Facebook or whatever doesn't mean squat to me when it comes to find things "fascinating"; sometimes big isn't beautiful, sometimes it just means someone can't stop pushing people into their pie hole, and that some people actually stand for that. I don't fucking care if either of those parties understand or like my comments, and your "being a dick" is my "not being one". Sure, WebKit is a nice rendering engine in parts, it's prefix-infested bullshit in others; but when it comes to browser UI and options, Safari isn't even mediocre. Even if it was the best it would be that way for selfish, needy reasons. It's kinda like I don't even care how IE10 is going to be, I won't use it nor develop for it. The awesome thing about convictions is that you don't need the approval of people who don't share them.
  • stock_toaster 14y ago
    Well said. Definitely a case where it wasn't the destination so much as the journey that was interesting. :)