The programming team at Apple knew their project was doomed. By the time the bosses cancelled the project in August 1993 they were all actually relieved. But Ron Avitzur didn’t want to stop. Ron wanted to finish the project, a graphing calculator program that was intended to work on the new PowerPC computer the Apple planned to ship in early 1994.
World’s Strangest, via MacDailyNews:
Most of his fellow programmers were reassigned to other projects within Apple. The company offered Avitzur a job, too, but it didn’t interest him. Avitzur, then 27, had been freelancing at tech companies since he was a student at Stanford—to him, the work wasn’t worth it if it wasn’t interesting. And what interested him was finishing the graphing calculator program that had just been canceled.
Avitzur knew the project was worthwhile, everyone he mentioned it to said, “I wish I’d had that in school!”
World’s Strangest: “If he could just get the program preinstalled on the new computer, teachers across the country could use the tool as an animated blackboard, providing visuals for abstract concepts. The program could simultaneously showcase the speed of the new machine and revolutionize math class. All he needed was access to Apple’s machines and some time.”
Avitzur spent the next few months sneaking around the Apple facility working wherever he could find an unattended office with a computer. He’d gain access to the building each morning by finding someone he knew, saying good morning to them, and following them into the building. He was a familiar face and still wore a badge. As long as he kept his cancelled badge away from the sensors no alarms would sound, and he was in for another day.
He also had a list of phone numbers of programmers who sympathized with his cause. If he couldn’t sneak into the front door, he’d call someone who would let him in a side door. Some of the sympathizers also pitched in on the project, quality assurance specialists would show up to test the software, a 3-D graphics expert spent his weekends helping to perfect the program.
By November, the calculator was ready to demo. For the rest of the story, head over to World’s Strangest and check out the article. It’s a great story of a programmer who believed in his project so deeply, he was willing to work without pay, and even run the risk of being arrested as a trespasser to complete the project he loved.
