If you have a music library on your computer, you probably use iTunes. It might not be by choice – there’s not much out there. But before iTunes, there was another app. An app that was beloved by many. An app that was quirky and strange and delightful. An app called Audion.
Today: a story about one of the Mac’s first big music players, and what it means to break with the mold of Silicon Valley and forge your own distinct, creative identity.
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Audion had some very experimental, and just truly bizarre "faces" you could use. Designers really took advantage of the transparent interfaces, for better or for worse (sometimes for worse).
In the members-only extra for this episode, Cabel & Steve play with Audion in a Mac OS 9 emulator. Hidden easter-eggs, karaoke mode, and more shenanigans from their rivalry with SoundJamMP.
Music in this episode is by the mysterious Breakmaster Cylinder. Theme music is by Terique Greenfield. Editing by Tish Stringer and Rob McGinley Myers.