DogCow Answer Page

What is a DogCow ?

Everyone asks me " what the heck is a DogCow " ? To answer that question I have to explain to people that I use a Apple Macintosh computer and have since 1988.

When Apple was developing the Mac system software it was designed from the ground up to have a GUI (Graphical User Interface) that involved clicking on icons instead of typing commands at the DOS prompt in systems running Microsoft's CLI (Command Line Interface).

Apple developed all sorts of tiny pictures that represented files, most of which opened something when they were clicked. There were pictures of people, things, animals, et. al. One icon provoked a bit of controversy. Was the picture that of a bovine (cow) or that of a canine (dog). It has a tail like a dog, but spots like a cow... and the head could have passed for either.

Well... the answer wasn't quite so cut and dried. Apple, in the days before genetic engineering was commonplace, developed a hybrid species... a DogCow. It was both a dog and a cow. This lead to new questions such as how should we refer to a group of DogCows... DogCattle of course. What is the DogCow's name... Klarus (remember Apple's Claris software division, now FileMaker). What sound dose the dogcow make... Moof!

The DogCow has become the semi-official mascot of Macintosh computer nerds. Apple has finally started to use the symbol on tee shirts and watches (I found them a few years back at the MacExpo in Boston). I started using the handle DogCow on local computer BBS (Bulletin Board Systems) before the internet took hold in western Pennsylvania. When I needed a e-mail address I choose dogcow@nauticom.net because I had been using it all along on local BBS that had national conferences like WWIV.

There's a picture of a DogCow at the top of the page if you'd like to see just what one of these animals looks like. You'll find links to some DogCow sites below. If you're interested in more Macintosh trivia you might start looking at some of these sites. Still the Dogcow remains the Unofficial Mascot of Mac Geeks Everywhere.

AppleDesigns - Here you can purchase all sorts of DogCow merchandise. I have a polo shirt, a couple of T shirts and a watch. They also offer other Apple related novelties.
Apple Technote 31 - The Dogcow
AppleTechnote 1031 - History & Peregrinations: The Dogcow Goes QuickTime VR in pdf format and Apple/Claris Works format.
The Church of the Dogcow-
Clarus The DogCow - The official mascot of Apple Computing.
DogCow.Com -
Dogcow.org - The DogCow conspiracy.
DogCow Files - Put a DogCow on your boss' Windoze machine.
DogCow Lore - Nest of DogCattle
A DogCow Poem -
Foley & Associates Media Gallery - Find a Quicktime DogCow here.
History of the DogCow - The history of DogCow straight from Apple.
Moof In Mind - The Official DogCow Website
Rainbow DogCows - Diversity?
What is... A DogCow? -

Downloads

DogCow Merry-Go-Round with sound (1.1 MB) -
DogCow Merry-Go-Round without sound (1 MB) -
DogCow icon picture (1k) -
DogCow picture at Apple R&D (37k) -
DogCow Roll with sound (829k) -
DogCow Roll without sound (649k) -
Moofie.MOV (32k) -
Technote 1031 in Adobe Acrobat format (360k) -
Technote 1031 in Apple/Claris Works format (48k) -

Click here to hear what a DogCow sounds like.

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