it was 1990. the internet was just a gleam in al gore's eye. the skin trade of the day wasn't mp3s. it was pirated amiga software, and floppies. putting a face to a bbs id, cabel sasser and steven frank met at a suburban library just outside of portland to exchange said software. years later, the friends reunited to form the alliance known as panic. together they have published mac software, transmit (ftp) and audion (mp3), that has literally come out of nowhere to achieve a cult like following in the saavy mac user world.

the success of audion has been astounding. numbers from download.cnet.com help to tell the story:

audion 1.5 came out on february 22, 2000 and it has been on the chart ever since.

out of 851 votes, 94% of people give audion a thumbs up. when was the last time 94% of 851 people ever agreed on anything? cabel muses, "i'd say it was the finale of seinfeld, which 96% of people thought sucked."

when they first launched audion in japan they were actually selling more product than norton utilities and photoshop and the mac os itself. a feat sasser describes as "surreal".