iJustine and Pulenaz bring old computer software back to life

iJustine: a computer that can work again

Justine Ezarik, known online as iJustine, makes videos about technology and Apple products. That interest in how people use devices makes her a natural guide to a working Macintosh.

References: iJustine · iJustine

She brings a compact Macintosh back into use by cleaning the case and keyboard, replacing a worn mouse, and working with a repairer to get the machine running again. Once it starts, she opens its original MacWrite software, types a short letter, saves it and opens it again to change the closing line. The useful ending is not just the startup screen: it is a document she can find and edit.

In her collection, iJustine puts a Macintosh Plus beside a Macintosh Classic and uses the Plus to show the letter-making job. She points out the two compact machines before returning to the saved document: the collection gives the viewer a way to compare the objects, while the work on screen shows why someone kept a computer on a desk. The mouse and menus give the letter its route from a blank page to a revision.

Pulenaz tries a letter and a budget

Pulenaz approaches old software as a first-time user. She types an invitation, changes the heading and saves the document to a disk. When she comes back to correct the time, finding the file again is part of the job. The finished page makes the steps concrete: write, save, reopen and revise.

Next she enters a household budget into an old spreadsheet, putting expenses in one column and their costs in another. She changes one amount and watches the total update. A letter asks for careful wording and layout; the budget asks for a set of numbers that can be tested again when a cost changes.

The pleasures are different too. A word processor lets someone revise a page without retyping a clean copy; the spreadsheet makes it possible to try a new figure without adding the whole list by hand. Pulenaz leaves the moment of discovery visible, which makes her a welcoming follow for someone who has never used either kind of program.

The people around a program

HyperCard organizes information into stacks of cards. Cards can hold text and pictures, while buttons can link one card to another; the program also supports searching information in a stack.

References: Library of Congress

In a video about a small group of HyperCard users, Pulenaz follows the stacks they exchange, collections of linked cards made inside the program. One person shares a recipe stack, another adds a button to move between cards, and a third repairs a link that leaves an ingredient entry stranded. Pulenaz opens the revised stack and follows the button herself, so the exchange has a visible result.

The group debates whether to preserve the original arrangement or add a search button. Keeping the layout preserves how its maker organized the recipes; search makes a larger stack easier to use. Members trade copies and explain their changes so that someone else can try either version. The appeal is being able to open a little collection, understand its structure and make it your own.

This is a community around the program itself: people share files, fix one another’s links and disagree about how a stack should work. Watch iJustine for the machine returning to use, and Pulenaz for the ordinary work and the exchange that keeps a piece of software interesting after its original working life.

Sources and attribution

1. iJustine

   About iJustinePublication date not listed · Recorded Oct 30, 2026

2. iJustine

   iJustinePublication date not listed · Recorded Oct 30, 2026

3. Library of Congress

   HyperCard Stack File FormatPublication date not listed · Recorded Oct 30, 2026