Up next in 10
Leander Kahney is diving into a year-long journey to update his 2006 book, "Cult of Mac." To kick it off, he's revisiting the original -- and getting a laugh remembering some of the incredible stories about Mac lovers that it contains.
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
Hi, I'm Leander Caney, publisher and editor of..
0:05
Hello, I'm Leander Caney, editor and publisher of CultOfMac.com and this is Caney's Corner, my weekly rant about whatever's getting on my t***
0:16
So I'm pleased to announce that we're doing version two of CultOfMac
0:20
the book that launched an empire. So the publisher has asked us to update the book next year
0:28
and take a look at what's been going on in Apple culture in the last ten years since the book first came out
0:35
And I haven't actually looked at it in ten years, but was actually quite pleased with how it was
0:40
I'm always faintly embarrassed about my books, and this one particularly, but this one worked out pretty good
0:45
I was surprised that there were some really good stories in there, and I laughed out loud a couple of times
0:49
It was some pretty good jokes. I'm really excited about the new version because there's a lot been going on in Apple culture since then
0:55
This is a product of the late 90s when Apple was on the ropes. And the only thing that kept the company alive was its customers and its fans
1:03
And they were organizing online, and of course the internet was new then too
1:08
So there was this crazy phenomenon of this active, passionate group of customers
1:14
who were organizing primarily online. But they were also doing other things too
1:19
There's a section in here about the customers that used to go to the old computer stores
1:25
and they would volunteer their nights and weekends as unpaid salespeople and fix up all the broken Macs, the neglected Macs
1:33
in places like CompUSA where they were put on a back dusty shelf and they were switched off
1:38
And these guys would go in and switch them on and then stay there for hours trying to sell these computers to people that were working, looking for a new PC
1:46
So another crazy story that I've completely forgotten about in the book was in the chapter on Apple tattoos
1:51
This is all the people that get Apple tattoos. And there's this guy here, Christoph Koch
1:55
who's got crazy hair and a rainbow tattoo on his shoulder. Turns out Christoph is one of the world's leading brain scientists
2:02
He's an expert in cryptogenetics, which is the new study of turning on neurons by stimulating them with light
2:08
Crazy stuff, cracking the neural code. And here he is with his Apple tattoo
2:13
Another great story that I've forgotten about concerns this kid who was a big fantasy Mac maker
2:21
He would make mock-ups of rumored Apple products. And at the time, it was things like the Cube and the PowerBook
2:29
And he would make these 3D renderings based on the rumors. And now he works at Apple's design department making them for real
2:37
So in the intervening 10 years, a lot of stuff has been going on
2:42
You know, the phenomenon around all the product launches at the Apple stores
2:46
the new store openings. And of course now Apple is much more international. There's a lot going on in other countries
2:51
So I'm super excited to be looking into that. And I'm going to be reporting on it for the next year or so
2:55
And we're going to collect all the stories into a book. That was Keynes Corner. More quality content brought to you from Cult of Media Corp
3:01
Don't forget to check out Cult of Mac every day. And follow us on Twitter, Cult of Mac and Cult of Mac
#Entertainment Industry
#Online Media
#Books & Literature
#Consumer Electronics