Apple Software Dispatch from 1994

[DrWebster]

This is a pretty obscure piece of Apple-branded software that I haven't been able to find much information about. It was a CD-ROM that contained encrypted versions of commercial Mac software, and when you called a toll-free number and paid for it, they'd give you a code to unlock your purchase. It debuted in early 1994, but didn't seem to last for long -- there were apparently plans for multiple "editions" of the CD with different software, but as far as I can tell only one edition was ever released. I actually had a copy of it way back then, but it's long gone. Apple gave away the discs for free (I remember mine just showing up in the mail one day), but strangely they're seemingly impossible to find now.

I've been searching all over for months now. None of the Mac software repositories I've found have a copy of it, and it hasn't shown up on eBay either. Would anyone happen to have a copy they could send my way (I'd be happy to pay for it), or provide more information?

 

[dcr]

I am pretty sure I have that CD somewhere.  I'm not ready to sell it, but I'll provide whatever info I have if/when I find it.

I don't remember the full purchase routine.  As you mentioned, there was a number you called and they gave you an unlock code but I don't remember how the process worked.

I do know your purchases were collected in a folder that had a shopping bag icon and was called "Purchases" (unless I renamed the folder "Purchases" in which case I don't know what the original name might have been).

As far as I know, we only purchased four packages off of the CD.  All four have folder dates of November 19, 1993, which I imagine could be the date the master CD was assembled and/or burned.  Unless you're wrong about the release date in which case those could be the dates we purchased those packages.  The various ReadMe files for the packages have dates in September 1993.

The packages (at least the ones I have) included the software you purchased, a ReadMe file and a manual.  In the four packages I have, three manuals are software applications and the fourth is a text file.

It seems to me there might have also been a similar competing service called "Software on Call" or "Fonts on Call" or something.

 

[trag]

With all the software being updated on different schedules, they probably decided it was too much trouble to keep up such a disk.  Remember, this was in the days before ubiquitous internet.  You might be sophisticated enough to download an update from a BBS or Gopher or even FTP, but usually, back then, updates came on new disks.

 

[dcr]

Back then, it seemed like updates were held off until the next version which might be a year or two away.  So if Apple released a new CD quarterly, there'd be plenty of time to get new versions on there.  Plus, although I don't remember all the packages on the disk, I don't think they tended to have big titles.  For example, I'm pretty sure you couldn't have bought something like Aldus PageMaker on there.  I could be wrong, but I think it was largely smaller apps, font packages and maybe clip art packages--stuff that wouldn't have been getting a lot of updates.

Also, again I don't remember what all was available on the disk, but three of the four packages we purchased were font packs.  It's possible that Adobe stopped adding their fonts to Software Dispatch when they released their own Type On Call product.  I haven't found any dates for the early versions of Type On Call, but version 4.1 was released in April 1996 and version 4.2 was released in 1997.  So it's possible Adobe decided to do their own thing rather than share a piece of the pie with Apple and that might have reduced the pool of packages on the CDs, making less worthwhile for Apple to do.

Additionally, we don't know the consumer response to buying software that way.  For one thing, the manuals were electronic in a time when most manuals were still printed books included in the software box.  So, it could have been ahead of its time too, where people just weren't ready to buy software that way.  It could have proved popular for stuff like fonts and clip art which don't require much in the way of manuals.  So, it could be that Apple decided to drop it.  Maybe Adobe even did their own thing after Apple dropped the program because it did work better for stuff like fonts.  I think Adobe kept doing Type On Call until something like 1998 by which point the Internet probably supplanted the CD-in-the-mail method.

 

[DrWebster]

I'd tend to agree that the software titles were likely smaller ones. I remember buying something off of the CD back then, and I think it was a font pack. That said, I also think there were some well-known titles on there, like After Dark, so it wasn't all shareware titles -- I'm pretty sure Apple managed to get some of the "big name" software companies on board.

dcr, I understand not wanting to sell the disc. Would you be willing to provide me with a disc image, and maybe some scans of the sleeve it came in?

 

[dcr]

Sorry.  I was thinking "smaller" in the terms of the software itself, not the manufacturer.  Screensavers, like After Dark, would be "smaller" in that vein, because it wasn't a large software package in terms of capabilities.  That is, it was smaller compared to something like PageMaker or Photoshop.  I should have probably said "less complex" or "simpler" or something along those lines.

dcr, I understand not wanting to sell the disc. Would you be willing to provide me with a disc image, and maybe some scans of the sleeve it came in?

Finding the CD will be the obstacle here.  I am nearly 100% certain I still have it.  Where I have it is another matter entirely.  Making matters worse is that I don't think it came in anything larger than the CD and its sleeve.

 

[NJRoadfan]

Apple Software Dispatch was included in Performa CD-ROM bundles starting with the Performa 600 if I recall. The CD had demo versions of software to try as well. I have a Windows equivalent called Softbank On Hand, that one is already on archive.org.

 

[DrWebster]

Apple Software Dispatch was included in Performa CD-ROM bundles starting with the Performa 600 if I recall.

I've read the same thing elsewhere, though which specific model seems to vary (some say it was the Performa 630). I've been even going so far as to just rolling through eBay auctions of miscellaneous Mac CD-ROMs, hoping that a Software Dispatch disc would be among one of them. It's strange that, for something that was freely given away, how few copies seem to remain.

Thanks for the heads-up about Softbank On Hand; downloading it from archive.org now. I'm curious as to how it compares.

 

[dougg3]

That disk looks really familiar. I think the Performa 550 my family had when I was growing up might have come with it. There's a chance I still have the disc somewhere, but I'm not sure. If I happen to find it I will definitely share an image of it.

 

[tanaquil]

Huh, I had a Performa 630 bought new back when but I don’t remember having a disk by that name. My old Performa stuff is pretty scattered. If I ever come across something like that I will take note. 

I have an Apple CD Software Demo disk but that doesn’t have an option to purchase codes, just a clunky HyperCard brochure. 

 

[dcr]

I never had a Performa until I bought a used Performa 6200 in the late 90s or early 2000s.

I wonder if either the disk was included with all computer purchases around that time?  At work around that time, we upgraded from a Macintosh IIci to a Quadra 800.  I don't remember if we bought the Quadra when it was first released or later in the year.  If it was late in 1993, the CD could have been included in the box.

Another alternative is that they might have mailed CDs to registered Macintosh owners.  I vaguely recall what might have been a Software Dispatch mailer.

Then again, they could have mailed CDs and included CDs with computers.

 

[flexo]

Found this - has screenshots and all. (Seems to be the UK version though, has £ signs all over it)

I've been seeing a lot of fully packaged Performas on eBay lately, maybe one of them might have them (if you are willing to pay $300-400 for a Performa though )

 

[dougg3]

I did some digging tonight to try to find the stuff that came with my family's Performa 550. First I looked in the "Compact Discs" booklet but only found stuff like Time Almanac, The Animals, Kids Read, Multimedia Encyclopedia, etc. So then I moved on, and a little cardboard pamphlet caught my eye....



Opening it up, I think this might be what you're looking for. I knew it looked familiar!





I'm pretty sure it came with the Performa, but I can't be 100% sure because I was a kid at the time, and I wasn't the one who opened it. It was right alongside all of the manuals for stuff like the Performa itself, At Ease, Quicken, Mario Teaches Typing, etc. that was bundled with it. I'm not wanting to sell this or anything, but I will definitely image the disc and upload it.

 

[dougg3]

Here is a link to a 7-zipped ISO of the disc:

http://www.filehosting.org/file/details/752430/AppleSoftwareDispatch.7z

I tried to run the main program in Basilisk II (I have a complete stock Performa 550 install in it) but it caused a complete freeze of Basilisk. Here are a couple of screenshots leading up to that point:





Anyway, have fun!

 

[DrWebster]

Thank you so much! I'm glad you included photos of the inside, as when I fired up the application in SheepShaver it prompted me for that CD code and wouldn't proceed without it. This is definitely feeling familiar, and I think it was the Apple Font Pack that I bought way back when.

 

[dougg3]

No prob! Glad to help out. Thanks for pointing out that it works in SheepShaver. Works for me too.

Hmm...how hard would it be to figure out what the unlock codes are? Was their encryption good back in the day?   Probably not really worth the effort it would take to figure out. Looks like most of the actual content is stored in an invisible file called VENDO180 on the root of the CD. There's also an extension called SWDispatch in an invisible folder called Tools on the root of the CD, containing a driver called ".Vendor42". It also has some interesting strings such as "Cthe Vendor System © 1989-93 the AND group inc. All rights reserved."

 

[DrWebster]

I suspect the unlock codes are generated algorithmically, using the "CD code" string as a seed. This makes sense as a piracy-detection mechanism, since anyone publishing a working CD code and unlock key pair could easily be traced back to the original transaction. How easy this would be to reverse-engineer, I'm not sure. I found that VEND0180 file too, and interestingly enough, if you use ResEdit to make it visible then start the Software Dispatch application, it'll refuse to run as it sees the file as having been modified. So there's at least some amount of sophistication there.

It looks like the software used was licensed from Rainbow Technologies, who was known at the time for various license-enforcement products (most notably those parallel, serial or USB license dongles, like those for QuarkXPress and others). I'm not sure who "the AND Group" is or what their role was.

 

[mac2612]

Hi y'all, anybody have a copy of this still? The filehosting.com link appears to be broken  @Dougg3 any chance you'd be willing to upload it again?

 

[dougg3]

Hi @mac2612, here you go!

https://www.filehosting.org/file/details/826434/AppleSoftwareDispatch.7z

If someone has an idea for a place to put this file more permanently, I'm all ears!