This last Saturday was a monster reunion for pre-1993 employees of Apple Computer. (I'm badge #8881, vintage 1986). It was held at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, with an online presence here. The final attendence was somewhere north of 1,300. I'll bet you never thought you'd see this again:

That's John Sculley fronting the Apple podium for the first time in a few years, and Woz followed him later, after a series of old Apple advertising videos that sent up cheers and groans, depending. (A sole mention of Gil Amelio drew hisses from the audience - this was a Classic crowd.)

What an awesome event! I guzzled ice water all evening so I could keep my voice during the 4+ hour reception, and ended up hoarse in the morning anyway. It was great to see (in no particular order):

Karin Bloomstrand, Barbara Bowen, Harvey Lehtman, Katie Povejsil, Chris Espinosa, Joy Mountford, Greg Kimberly, Jerry Morrison, Harry Chesley, Tom Conrad, Doug Solomon, Bill Grotzinger, Harald Striepe, Bill Atkinson and Sioux Lacy, Michael Arendt, John Sculley, Sheila Brady, Eric Ringewald, David Nagel, Andy Hertzfeld, Hugh Martin, Abbe Don, Kristee Rosendahl, Harry and Laurie Vertelney, Rich Williams, Linda Stone, Martin Haeberli, Bob Glass, Ron Lichty, Gordon Garb, John Scull, Rod Perkins, Hugh Dubberly, Tom Gruber, Ruth Hennigar, Ted Kaehler, Dan Kottke, Raines Cohen, David Eisenberg, Larry Tesler, Bryan Stearns, Bennett Marks, Avril Hodges, Ike Nassi, Dave Yost - phew! - and I'm sure a couple I forgot and will be embarrassed for later.

What an amazing collection of people. Only in retrospect can one appreciate the sheer intellectual firepower that Apple managed to assemble. (Sometimes we shot too much at each other, rather than the competition). It's hard to believe I've been out of there nine years, and I've had to accept that I'll probably never see the like again in my career. Like the song says - you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone.
4:33:45 PM