A documentary

For the past few months, I’ve been helping a couple of talented filmmakers with a new project. I’ve been making introductions, reminding busy people to find some time for an interview, and that kind of thing. Today, the result was made public and it’s better than I ever imagined.

I think this project that looks at our past is important for two reasons: our present and future.

It’s no secret that the art and business of software development has changed radically since that day in January 2007. Listening to my colleagues talk about what that moment meant to them is incredibly helpful for putting today’s situation in perspective. You don’t give a shit how big the next iPhone’s screen is going to be when your peers are talking about how these devices have changed their lives.

By funding this project, you’re also giving your future self a rare gift. I was a young developer when the Mac was announced in 1984, and let me assure you that many of the details of that time have been lost over the course of thirty years. You’re going to look back at this time in your career fondly and wish you remembered more about it.

Something like what Andy Hertzfeld has done at Folklore.org has been a godsend to those of us who were around in the early days of the Mac. But I don’t think that approach would work now: the Internet made the iPhone a world-wide phenomenon, not a project limited to the Texaco Towers. (Did you know that the first person to make money from selling apps was a developer in New Zealand?)

This is your chance to create a record of something that has changed so many lives. Please take a moment to look at what Jake and Jed have done and join me in contributing to this Kickstarter.