Probably the most famous Apple II manual ever is the January 1978 "Red Book," an 8.5x11 perfect bound volume whose contents looked like someone photocopied all the notes that could be found in Woz's desk drawer: some typewritten, some handwritten, with hand sketches too.

Even 6 years later in 1984, Apple's developer documentation for Macintosh had not changed much from the appearance of the Red Book. But to be fair, documenting the Apple II was a drop in the bucket compared to the monumental undertaking of explaining the entire Macintosh Toolbox, User Interface Guidelines, hardware implementation, and much more, so that programmers could develop new software for it.

Remember, in 1984, basically no one had ever programmed a computer that used windows, icons, and a mouse.


Documentation for Programming the Macintosh in 1984

The two main sources of printed documentation for Macintosh programming in 1984 were Inside Macintosh and the Macintosh Software Supplement. Both were distributed via 3-ring binder. Inside Macintosh cost $150, and the Software Supplement cost $100. This latter price also put you on the subscription list so Apple sent you Software Supplement updates as they became available. Both packages were available to anyone who sent in the money; they were not limited to Apple Certified Developers.

Inside Macintosh was eventually published as a softcover "Promotional Edition" in spring 1985, and as a finished hardcover by Addison-Wesley later that year. It is well-remembered and will be explored in a later blog article.

The Macintosh Software Supplement, on the other hand, seems to have been largely forgotten in the past three decades.