AppleLink
Encyclopedia
AppleLink was the name of both Apple Computer
's online service
for its dealers, third party developers, and users, and the client software used to access it. Prior to the commercialization
of the Internet
, AppleLink was a popular service for Mac and Apple IIGS
users. The service was offered from about 1986 to 1994 to various groups, before being superseded by their short-lived eWorld
and finally today's multiple Apple website
s.
in fact touted this fact, promoting your dealer as the place to turn for help because of his access to AppleLink. In the late 1980s the service was also opened up to software developer
s, who could use it both as an end-user
support system, as well as a conduit to Apple development for questions and suggestions.
AppleLink used client software written in Pascal under contract to Apple by Pete Burnight/Central Coast Software. The program extended the desktop metaphor
of the Macintosh Finder
to encompass the areas on the remote server
site. These were displayed as folders and files
just as local folders and files were. In addition, there was a set of public bulletin boards, and the ability to use email
via the service — although initially only between AppleLink users. File transfer
for drivers and system software was another important role, and for this Apple created the AppleLink Package format to combine and compress the two forks
of a Macintosh file into one for storage and sending. Apple also developed their Communications Control Language (CCL) for AppleLink, a language still used in a very similar form for today's Macintosh modem
scripts.
The "back end" of the AppleLink system was hosted on General Electric
's Information Services (GEIS) (division) Mark III time-sharing mainframes
and worldwide communications network. AppleLink translated the user's GUI
actions into a transaction protocol that was sent into a server program running on the mainframe. The connection used a proprietary error free sliding window protocol called EF3. Later versions upgraded this protocol to GEIS' EFX
. GEIS charged fairly substantial prices, both to Apple for maintaining the service at about $
30 million a year, rebilled by Apple to the end-users for connection fees of about $15 an hour during business hours. For some years prior to the discontinuation of the system, GEIS maintained a number of employees on the campus of Apple's Cupertino, California
headquarters, co-located with the Apple On-Line Services organization. Repeated attempts to negotiate a lower cost failed, and Apple management chafed at paying for a service that had no obviously measurable income.
Eventually Apple approached Steve Case
of Quantum Computer Services, who ran a somewhat similar system for users of the Commodore 64
. They reached an agreement in which Apple and Quantum would develop a new system known as AppleLink Personal Edition, which would be intended for end-users until all existing AppleLink content could be moved over and the system proved itself stable enough for support services as well. Beta-test users were generally disappointed that the new service did not give them access to the "real" AppleLink, and eventually the service was released instead as America Online. Aaron Marcus and Associates, Inc.
, under contract to Apple and working closely with Apple's software engineers, designed the icons, dialogue boxes and screen layout for AppleLink Personal Edition. These icons and some dialogue boxes were incorporated into the first graphical user-interface design of America Online.
Meanwhile, interested in selling the system to other customers, GEIS developed both DOS
and eventually Windows
-based versions of the client software and sold the system as "DealerTalk" starting in 1986, aiming at the Apple model of manufacturers using the system to communicate with their dealers. All the systems, including the AppleLink community, were united behind the scenes as part of GEIS' worldwide Quik-Comm E-mail service and could exchange mail with each other and all GEIS mail customers, using addresses like MICHAEL@APPLELINK or JOHNDOE@GEIS. This was later expanded to include Internet mail addresses. Eventually, the GEIS products were renamed BusinessTalk and after a complete system rewrite
and creation of their own Macintosh client program (never incorporated into AppleLink), again renamed BusinessTalk System 2000 in 1992. During this time the system, with the Windows client, also became the foundation for Microsoft's first on-line service for developers, the Microsoft Partner Network (MSPN).
was used to send the first e-mail from space, aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis
, mission STS-43
. Atlantis astronauts Shannon Lucid
and James C. Adamson
sent the message: to Marcia Ivins, a shuttle communicator at Johnson Space Center. The AppleLink software was configured with a special Macintosh Communications ToolBox Connection Tool that interfaced to NASA
's communication system which allowed the Shuttle to call up GEIS' network from space. The Shuttle's e-mail address was secret, but exposed to GEIS' e-mail network as any other AppleLink address. To avoid a deluge of incoming mail resulting from the publicity of the event, Apple set up a number of obvious "honeypot
" addresses not really used by the Shuttle crew, such as STS43@APPLELINK. Most of the well-wishers' e-mail went there, rather than to the real Atlantis address.
machines in 1989, calling the new service America Online as Apple owned the AppleLink name. In 1991 the service had grown substantially, and the company was renamed as America Online Inc. Interestingly, the original AOL Macintosh software still retained within it vestiges of its GEIS/AppleLink heritage. It was not lost on GEIS engineers that it included a version of their proprietary EF3 protocol which was never Apple's intellectual property to share with Quantum. It was handed over anyway as part of the Macintosh source code, thanks to John Sculley
, Apple's CEO at the time. Although no legal action was ever pursued, this further soured the technical relationship between GEIS and Apple in the final years of AppleLink, especially since by then AOL was competing with GEIS own consumer service, GEnie
. As a result, when GEIS developed the improved EFX and upgraded AppleLink, it never released source-code to Apple, supplying only a copyrighted code-resource for the protocol.
Apple, encouraged by AOL's success and still wanting to turn the cost of AppleLink into a profit center, decided to re-enter the market. After a months-long RFP
process that included GEIS as an unsuccessful bidder, Apple approached AOL at the end of 1992 to host a private-label system known as eWorld
. By this time AOL had grown to be both much larger than GEIS, so all AppleLink content was to be moved over as well, allowing the GEIS service to be shut down. The eWorld software was basically a version of the original AOL software with custom graphics, giving it a distinctive look. The system was ready for launch in mid-1994.
However by this point the rapid rise of the Internet
was generally killing off all smaller online services and BBS
es, and online systems were generally seen as antiquated. Apple was never able to turn a profit on eWorld, and shut it down after a little over a year of operation, before it was able to supplant AppleLink. Subsequently Apple moved all of its services and replaced all of the AppleLink content. The first step involved a site within AOL's Computing Channel at keyword "Apple." Later, this site was shut down and replaced with website addressed by subdomains under apple.com, such as support.apple.com or developer.apple.com. The AppleLink service itself was finally shut down at the end of March 1997.
AppleLink's server machines (not the GEIS mainframes) were named for various famous musical composers: Beethoven
, Copland
, Lennon
, etc.
Apple Computer
Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs and markets consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers. The company's best-known hardware products include the Macintosh line of computers, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad...
's online service
Online service provider
An online service provider can for example be an internet service provider, email provider, news provider , entertainment provider , search, e-shopping site , e-finance or e-banking site, e-health site, e-government site, Wikipedia, Usenet...
for its dealers, third party developers, and users, and the client software used to access it. Prior to the commercialization
Commercialization
Commercialization is the process or cycle of introducing a new product or production method into the market. The actual launch of a new product is the final stage of new product development, and the one where the most money will have to be spent for advertising, sales promotion, and other marketing...
of the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
, AppleLink was a popular service for Mac and Apple IIGS
Apple IIGS
The Apple , the fifth and most powerful model in the Apple II series of personal computers produced by Apple Computer. The "GS" in the name stands for Graphics and Sound, referring to its enhanced graphics and sound capabilities, both of which greatly surpassed previous models of the line...
users. The service was offered from about 1986 to 1994 to various groups, before being superseded by their short-lived eWorld
EWorld
eWorld was an online service operated by Apple Inc. between June 1994 and March 1996. The services included email , news, and a bulletin board system...
and finally today's multiple Apple website
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
s.
Early years
The original AppleLink, which went online in 1985, was a service available only to Apple employees and dealers, and shortly thereafter to Apple University Consortium members. Apple's consumer 800 numberToll-free telephone number
A toll-free, Freecall, Freephone, 800, 0800 or 1-800 number is a special telephone number which is free to the calling party, and instead the telephone carrier charges the called party the cost of the call...
in fact touted this fact, promoting your dealer as the place to turn for help because of his access to AppleLink. In the late 1980s the service was also opened up to software developer
Software developer
A software developer is a person concerned with facets of the software development process. Their work includes researching, designing, developing, and testing software. A software developer may take part in design, computer programming, or software project management...
s, who could use it both as an end-user
End-user
Economics and commerce define an end user as the person who uses a product. The end user or consumer may differ from the person who purchases the product...
support system, as well as a conduit to Apple development for questions and suggestions.
AppleLink used client software written in Pascal under contract to Apple by Pete Burnight/Central Coast Software. The program extended the desktop metaphor
Desktop metaphor
The desktop metaphor is an interface metaphor which is a set of unifying concepts used by graphical user interfaces to help users more easily interact with the computer. The desktop metaphor treats the monitor of a computer as if it is the user's desktop, upon which objects such as documents and...
of the Macintosh Finder
Macintosh Finder
The Finder is the default file manager used on Mac OS and Mac OS X operating systems; it is responsible for the overall user-management of files, disks, network volumes and the launching of other applications...
to encompass the areas on the remote server
Server (computing)
In the context of client-server architecture, a server is a computer program running to serve the requests of other programs, the "clients". Thus, the "server" performs some computational task on behalf of "clients"...
site. These were displayed as folders and files
Computer file
A computer file is a block of arbitrary information, or resource for storing information, which is available to a computer program and is usually based on some kind of durable storage. A file is durable in the sense that it remains available for programs to use after the current program has finished...
just as local folders and files were. In addition, there was a set of public bulletin boards, and the ability to use email
Email
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
via the service — although initially only between AppleLink users. File transfer
File transfer
File transfer is a generic term for the act of transmitting files over a computer network or the Internet. There are numerous ways and protocols to transfer files over a network. Computers which provide a file transfer service are often called file servers. Depending on the client's perspective the...
for drivers and system software was another important role, and for this Apple created the AppleLink Package format to combine and compress the two forks
Resource fork
The resource fork is a construct of the Mac OS operating system used to store structured data in a file, alongside unstructured data stored within the data fork. A resource fork stores information in a specific form, such as icons, the shapes of windows, definitions of menus and their contents, and...
of a Macintosh file into one for storage and sending. Apple also developed their Communications Control Language (CCL) for AppleLink, a language still used in a very similar form for today's Macintosh modem
Modem
A modem is a device that modulates an analog carrier signal to encode digital information, and also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the transmitted information. The goal is to produce a signal that can be transmitted easily and decoded to reproduce the original digital data...
scripts.
The "back end" of the AppleLink system was hosted on General Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
's Information Services (GEIS) (division) Mark III time-sharing mainframes
Mainframe computer
Mainframes are powerful computers used primarily by corporate and governmental organizations for critical applications, bulk data processing such as census, industry and consumer statistics, enterprise resource planning, and financial transaction processing.The term originally referred to the...
and worldwide communications network. AppleLink translated the user's GUI
Gui
Gui or guee is a generic term to refer to grilled dishes in Korean cuisine. These most commonly have meat or fish as their primary ingredient, but may in some cases also comprise grilled vegetables or other vegetarian ingredients. The term derives from the verb, "gupda" in Korean, which literally...
actions into a transaction protocol that was sent into a server program running on the mainframe. The connection used a proprietary error free sliding window protocol called EF3. Later versions upgraded this protocol to GEIS' EFX
EFX
EFX may refer to:* EFX , a Las Vegas show* Enterprise Framework , see EFx Factory* Enerflex Systems, a Canadian company listed as EFX on the Toronto Stock Exchange* Equifax, a U.S...
. GEIS charged fairly substantial prices, both to Apple for maintaining the service at about $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
30 million a year, rebilled by Apple to the end-users for connection fees of about $15 an hour during business hours. For some years prior to the discontinuation of the system, GEIS maintained a number of employees on the campus of Apple's Cupertino, California
Cupertino, California
Cupertino is an affluent suburban city in Santa Clara County, California in the U.S., directly west of San Jose on the western edge of the Santa Clara Valley with portions extending into the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The population was 58,302 at the time of the 2010 census. Forbes...
headquarters, co-located with the Apple On-Line Services organization. Repeated attempts to negotiate a lower cost failed, and Apple management chafed at paying for a service that had no obviously measurable income.
Eventually Apple approached Steve Case
Steve Case
Stephen McConnell "Steve" Case is an American businessman best known as the co-founder and former chief executive officer and chairman of America Online . Since his retirement as chairman of AOL Time Warner in 2003, he has gone on to build a variety of new businesses through his investment...
of Quantum Computer Services, who ran a somewhat similar system for users of the Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
. They reached an agreement in which Apple and Quantum would develop a new system known as AppleLink Personal Edition, which would be intended for end-users until all existing AppleLink content could be moved over and the system proved itself stable enough for support services as well. Beta-test users were generally disappointed that the new service did not give them access to the "real" AppleLink, and eventually the service was released instead as America Online. Aaron Marcus and Associates, Inc.
Aaron Marcus and Associates, Inc.
Aaron Marcus and Associates, Inc. is a user interface development firm for mobile, Web, desktop, and vehicle applications in consumer and professional products/services...
, under contract to Apple and working closely with Apple's software engineers, designed the icons, dialogue boxes and screen layout for AppleLink Personal Edition. These icons and some dialogue boxes were incorporated into the first graphical user-interface design of America Online.
Meanwhile, interested in selling the system to other customers, GEIS developed both DOS
DOS
DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is an acronym for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions 95, 98, and Millennium Edition.Related...
and eventually Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
-based versions of the client software and sold the system as "DealerTalk" starting in 1986, aiming at the Apple model of manufacturers using the system to communicate with their dealers. All the systems, including the AppleLink community, were united behind the scenes as part of GEIS' worldwide Quik-Comm E-mail service and could exchange mail with each other and all GEIS mail customers, using addresses like MICHAEL@APPLELINK or JOHNDOE@GEIS. This was later expanded to include Internet mail addresses. Eventually, the GEIS products were renamed BusinessTalk and after a complete system rewrite
Rewrite (programming)
A rewrite in computer programming is the act or result of re-implementing a large portion of existing functionality without re-use of its source code. When the rewrite is not using existing code at all, it is common to speak of a rewrite from scratch...
and creation of their own Macintosh client program (never incorporated into AppleLink), again renamed BusinessTalk System 2000 in 1992. During this time the system, with the Windows client, also became the foundation for Microsoft's first on-line service for developers, the Microsoft Partner Network (MSPN).
Email from space
On August 26, 1991, AppleLink, running on a Macintosh PortableMacintosh Portable
The Macintosh Portable was Apple Inc.'s first attempt at making a battery-powered portable Macintosh personal computer that held the power of a desktop Macintosh...
was used to send the first e-mail from space, aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis
Space Shuttle Atlantis
The Space Shuttle Atlantis is a retired Space Shuttle orbiter in the Space Shuttle fleet belonging to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration , the spaceflight and space exploration agency of the United States...
, mission STS-43
STS-43
-Mission parameters:*Mass:**Orbiter landing with payload: **Payload: *Perigee: *Apogee: *Inclination: 28.5°*Period: 90.6 min-Preparations and Launch:The launch took place on 2 August 1991, 11:01:59 am EDT...
. Atlantis astronauts Shannon Lucid
Shannon Lucid
Shannon Matilda Wells Lucid is an American biochemist and a NASA astronaut. At one time, she held the record for the longest duration stay in space by an American, as well as by a woman...
and James C. Adamson
James C. Adamson
James Craig Adamson is a former NASA astronaut and retired colonel of the United States Army. He is married with 3 children...
sent the message: to Marcia Ivins, a shuttle communicator at Johnson Space Center. The AppleLink software was configured with a special Macintosh Communications ToolBox Connection Tool that interfaced to NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
's communication system which allowed the Shuttle to call up GEIS' network from space. The Shuttle's e-mail address was secret, but exposed to GEIS' e-mail network as any other AppleLink address. To avoid a deluge of incoming mail resulting from the publicity of the event, Apple set up a number of obvious "honeypot
Honeypot
Honeypot or honeytrap may refer to:* A pot used to store honey* Espionage recruitment involving sexual seduction in** reality** fiction* A type of sting operation such as a** Bait car...
" addresses not really used by the Shuttle crew, such as STS43@APPLELINK. Most of the well-wishers' e-mail went there, rather than to the real Atlantis address.
Demise
Quantum retained rights to the AppleLink Personal Edition software, and released a version for both the Mac and Microsoft WindowsMicrosoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
machines in 1989, calling the new service America Online as Apple owned the AppleLink name. In 1991 the service had grown substantially, and the company was renamed as America Online Inc. Interestingly, the original AOL Macintosh software still retained within it vestiges of its GEIS/AppleLink heritage. It was not lost on GEIS engineers that it included a version of their proprietary EF3 protocol which was never Apple's intellectual property to share with Quantum. It was handed over anyway as part of the Macintosh source code, thanks to John Sculley
John Sculley
John Sculley is an American businessman. Sculley was vice-president and president of PepsiCo , until he became CEO of Apple on April 8, 1983, a position he held until leaving in 1993...
, Apple's CEO at the time. Although no legal action was ever pursued, this further soured the technical relationship between GEIS and Apple in the final years of AppleLink, especially since by then AOL was competing with GEIS own consumer service, GEnie
GEnie
GEnie was an online service created by a General Electric business - GEIS that ran from 1985 through the end of 1999. In 1994, GEnie claimed around 350,000 users. Peak simultaneous usage was around 10,000 users...
. As a result, when GEIS developed the improved EFX and upgraded AppleLink, it never released source-code to Apple, supplying only a copyrighted code-resource for the protocol.
Apple, encouraged by AOL's success and still wanting to turn the cost of AppleLink into a profit center, decided to re-enter the market. After a months-long RFP
Request for Proposal
A request for proposal is issued at an early stage in a procurement process, where an invitation is presented for suppliers, often through a bidding process, to submit a proposal on a specific commodity or service. The RFP process brings structure to the procurement decision and is meant to...
process that included GEIS as an unsuccessful bidder, Apple approached AOL at the end of 1992 to host a private-label system known as eWorld
EWorld
eWorld was an online service operated by Apple Inc. between June 1994 and March 1996. The services included email , news, and a bulletin board system...
. By this time AOL had grown to be both much larger than GEIS, so all AppleLink content was to be moved over as well, allowing the GEIS service to be shut down. The eWorld software was basically a version of the original AOL software with custom graphics, giving it a distinctive look. The system was ready for launch in mid-1994.
However by this point the rapid rise of the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
was generally killing off all smaller online services and BBS
Bulletin board system
A Bulletin Board System, or BBS, is a computer system running software that allows users to connect and log in to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, a user can perform functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging...
es, and online systems were generally seen as antiquated. Apple was never able to turn a profit on eWorld, and shut it down after a little over a year of operation, before it was able to supplant AppleLink. Subsequently Apple moved all of its services and replaced all of the AppleLink content. The first step involved a site within AOL's Computing Channel at keyword "Apple." Later, this site was shut down and replaced with website addressed by subdomains under apple.com, such as support.apple.com or developer.apple.com. The AppleLink service itself was finally shut down at the end of March 1997.
AppleLink's server machines (not the GEIS mainframes) were named for various famous musical composers: Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
, Copland
Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later in his career a conductor of his own and other American music. He was instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, and is often referred to as "the Dean of American Composers"...
, Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
, etc.