Jim Reekes
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jim Reekes was a programmer at Apple Computer for 12 years. He primarily worked with operating systems and the QuickTime team. He also is responsible for creating many of the system sounds for the Apple Macintosh computer. He is best remembered for creating the Macintosh startup sound, and for the story behind the naming of the system sound sosumi.
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.
