Jim Reekes

Infobox_Celebrity
name = Jim Reekes


occupation = Product Management

Jim Reekes was a programmer at Apple Computer for 12 years. His work has significantly affected operating systems, most notably Mac OS 7 and QuickTime. He also is responsible for creating many of the system sounds for the Apple Macintosh operating system. Some of the most famous creations during that time were the Macintosh OS startup sound and the system sound "sosumi".

Biography

Reekes graduated from California State University Fullerton in 1981 with a degree in Music Composition and Theory. Despite Reekes significant achievements in the field of computer science, he did not take any computer science courses in college but opted to teach himself programming on the Apple II and then on the Macintosh 128k. During this time, Reekes could not afford the high cost associated with the Apple Lisa development system.

In April 1988, Reekes began working at Apple Computer Inc. in the Developer Technical Support group (also know as MacDTS). His work at the time encompassed developing the beta version of Mac OS 7 and the Sound Manager control panel. He also created the startup chime used on every Macintosh since 1991.Whitwell, Tom (26 May 2005) [http://musicthing.blogspot.com/2005/05/tiny-music-makers-pt-4-mac-startup.html "Tiny Music Makers: Pt 4: The Mac Startup Sound"] , "Music Thing"] Reekes said, "The startup sound was done in my home studio on a Korg Wavestation. It's a C Major chord, played with both hands stretched out as wide as possible (with 3rd at the top, if I recall)."

Patents

Jim Reekes has earned several patents from the various work he has done in the past 20 years:
*Sound Manager
*Quicktime

Accomplishments

*Created the client-server tuning Web Service for Kerbango, the world's first standalone internet radio, a tuning method later adopted by Apple Computer’s iTunes.
*Designed a jog wheel and hierarchical menu interface predating the popular iPod.
*Responsible for porting the Real Networks RealPlayer to an Internet appliance.
*Original member of the QuickTime team.
*Responsible for numerous releases of operating systems and hardware products.
*Supported the development of multimedia products such as Mercer Mayer’s Just Grandma & Me, Myst, Macromedia’s SoundEdit, Bias Peak, Intelligent Music M, Great Wave ConcertWare, Articulate Systems Voice Navigator, Rainmaker Research Thunder, Adobe Premiere, Opcode Vision, QuickTime Movie Player, HyperCard, Final Cut, and the enhanced Audio CD.

Trivia

*In 1989, Apple Corps sued Apple Computer as part of long-running trademark litigation (see Apple Corps v. Apple Computer). The System 7 operating system was then under development for the Macintosh. System 7 was to include the new Sound Manager program, which Reekes had written and patented. He created a sound that he says was initially called "Chime", though he says it may have been named "Xylophone". In either case, Apple's legal department felt the name seemed too musical, and therefore might give Apple Corps more grounds to sue; Reekes had to change the name.

*As he worked with Apple Computer's music and sound programs, Reekes often had to deal with legal scrutiny due to the ongoing lawsuits about his company's legal rights to market music-related products. In response, he says he first thought of the name "Let it Beep" (parodying the title of "Let it Be", a song by The Beatles, who founded Apple Corps). Told that the name might create new risks for his company, Reekes claimed he replied, "So sue me." He decided to use that phrase for the sound's name instead, but spell it "s-o-s-u-m-i" and claim that it was an actual word in Japanese. The plan worked and the name "sosumi" was used for the sound.

Citations

References

* [http://www.boingboing.net/2005/03/24/early_apple_sound_de.html Early Apple sound designer Jim Reekes corrects Sosumi myth] (Xeni Jardin, "Boing Boing", 24 March 2005)
* [http://apple.computerhistory.org/stories/storyReader$242 Apple Computer History Weblog 1976-1993] (24 March 2005)
* [http://www.projectbarbq.com/bbq97.htm Project Bar-B-Q (Lists Reekes bio)] (Project Bab-B-Q", 27 February 2006)
* [http://blogs.oreilly.com/digitalmedia/2006/08/origin-of-the-ipodshall-we-hav-1.html Kerbango DNA Within iTunes]
* [http://www.reekes.net/ Jim Reekes' Website]