February 28, 1989: The Middle Stanza?

Name a company “Apple Computer” and you're likely to anger the Beatles label: "Apple records." Following the inevitable lawsuit, you'll agree to give them an undisclosed amount of cash and stay away from the music industry, which seems like an equitable solution for all parties involved. Well, equitable until you want to add MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) features to your operating system.

Since MIDI capabilities could easily be construed as a foray into the music industry, another lawsuit from Apple Corps was likely both expected and unavoidable. After another day in court and another transfer of cash between corporate coffers the issue was once again settled.

While Apple lost the case there was one bright side for the Macintosh fans. Feeling heat from the legal department, programmer Jim Reekes changed the name of a system beep from “xylophone” to “sosumi.” While Mr. Reekes claimed the name was a Japanese word it was, in fact, a pun. To get in on the joke utter the name aloud. The lawsuit that sparked a fairly subtle yet great gag was launched this month in 1989.