Most (all?) Macs did at that time. Internal SCSI bus anyway, though I think generally external as well. Can't recall if the Powerbooks did. I know my old Peforma 6100 had an external scsi port in '94.
All PowerBooks had SCSI, including the Duos with a SCSI dock connector, up until the PowerBook G3 Pismo model in 2000.
The Macintosh TV was an experiment to see if a TV tuner would be popular. Apple only made 10,000 of them to see if it would be a viable product. It turned out to be positive since Apple then released the Apple TV/Video System for the LC/Performa 630 and similar models. The TV tuner card for the LC/Performas was quite popular.
I have seen that Apple prototype Interactive TV device on eBay quite a few times. None of them have any value, even as a collector's item. I am surprised it sold for $46.
Most (all?) Macs did at that time. Internal SCSI bus anyway, though I think generally external as well. Can't recall if the Powerbooks did. I know my old Peforma 6100 had an external scsi port in '94.
my first mac (a mac II) had scsi in 1987. all the powerbooks did too.
I tried one of these when I went to my first MacWorld conference. The TV was playing and seemed like a normal TV, except that it had a mouse cursor on the screen.
I tried moving the mouse around and clicking. "That doesn't do anything," the rep said. "It's... kind of experimental technology."
The killer app that the AppleTV needs is an app store.
An HDTV with an AppleTV built in would not sell.
People don't want to upgrade their HDTV every two years.
However, if the AppleTV brains were modular and could be removed and upgraded separately then it might.
I don't see Apple getting into the TV business. On the TV, the UI is just not that important and getting a premium price would be hard.
I could, however, see Apple licensing Mac OS X to LG or Samsung for use on big screen TVs. Since Apple doesn't make TVs, it wouldn't be competing with Apple products, but it would add one more leg to the iDevice ecosystem.
Ahh, Pippin. In my view, this is one of the worst failures EVER at Apple. Not the product, but the fact that they didn't do anything with it. At the time, it could have been huge if properly promoted. As it was, Bandai never did anything with it. For a very modest price, you got a game console, computer, and media delivery device - all in one. I have to wonder what would have happened if Apple had kept responsibility for this to themselves instead of letting Bandai do it.
The logic board and case setup kinda reminds me of the LCII. Seeing a 68040 processor puts it squarely in the LC580 era however. Quadra 605 I believe is the Mac model most similar to this box.
Once I saw the square SCSI connector I knew it was an Apple product, as the early PowerBooks all had that connector and we even used an Asanté adapter to provide Ethernet via SCSI.
I don't know about the Apple TV. Just think if it came with MacOS X, or if they weren't so restrictive with the formats they play. As a result people are hacking it up to run Leopard or installing 3rd party software just to play AVI files. The price is good but the limitations are what is holding it back.
It reminds me of my PowerMac 6100 with TV card that I had loooong ago. I think its basically a Quadra 610 (or was this a Centris 610?). Good old times...
Oh I hated these SCSI connectors. Adapters cost millions, and it was difficult to plug it in and even more difficult to unplug it without breaking the motherboard. :-)
"Apple also in the early '90s released the unsuccessful Macintosh TV, an integrated computer and TV with a 14-inch CRT display. First introduced in October 1993, the product was discontinued just a few months later in February 1994. It carried an introductory price of $2,097."
I actually saw one of these things. It was on display at a Fry's Electronics in Silicon Valley. I vaguely recall thinking "What a crazy idea. Those guys at Apple are insane. I'm sure Silicon Graphics will get it right..."
I still love my Apple TV... Does anyone know why Apple is keeping safari OFF the device?
Because Apple would prefer that you do your web surfing, emailing, texting, tweeting, and Facebooking on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac. Why? Because those products have higher profit margins than Apple TV? Just a guess here.
Apple TV, on the other hand, is the most convenient way to enjoy your iTunes rentals and purchases on a big screen. So why hasn't Apple TV taken off like iPhone / iPad? I think it's because it's basically just a DVD / Blu-Ray replacement. It doesn't have a PVR feature like TiVo, which would no doubt help its sales immensely.
But that's the last thing Apple would ever want to do. Apple would never want to sell an appliance that can record general cable, satellite, or broadcast TV. This would undercut iTunes movie sales and rentals.
So, on one hand, you can argue that Apple's revenues come mostly from hardware sales. On the other hand, iTunes is what drove iPod sales and made iPod the dominant mobile entertainment device. Apple was probably expecting the same thing to happen for Apple TV, but it hasn't. If Apple TV had become extremely popular as a stand-alone box, we would probably already have seen Apple TV built into modern flat-screen TVs.
Maybe a future version of Apple TV will let you play games. That could be Apple's way of breaking into the living room big-time. Think about it: the App Store and iTunes are already firmly in place. Apple TV can already be used to purchase movies, TV shows, and music. It's just another medium-sized step to add big-screen HD games and apps to the iTunes Store.
I suspect that Apple is letting game developers get familiar with Objective-C and Cocoa, building the game developer stable until it reaches a tipping point. Once enough mindshare among developers and gamers has been built up from all the iPod Touch / iPhone / iPad games, it will be an inevitable and obvious next step to add big-screen games to Apple TV.
Two products came out of this trial just many years later and independently of each company. It could have been due to internet speeds being mainly dial up in the days of 1995.
Comments
Haha I might put that thing under my TV as an ironic conversation piece.
Right next to your Apple Pippin Games Console
http://www.macgeek.org/museum/pippin.../apt_front.JPG
rear end
http://www.macgeek.org/museum/pippin...s/apt_rear.JPG
Most (all?) Macs did at that time. Internal SCSI bus anyway, though I think generally external as well. Can't recall if the Powerbooks did. I know my old Peforma 6100 had an external scsi port in '94.
All PowerBooks had SCSI, including the Duos with a SCSI dock connector, up until the PowerBook G3 Pismo model in 2000.
I have seen that Apple prototype Interactive TV device on eBay quite a few times. None of them have any value, even as a collector's item. I am surprised it sold for $46.
The problem is that even if it's modular Apple would still change the connector every two years making it obsolete.
Those SCART connectors are the European standard for A/V use.
Most (all?) Macs did at that time. Internal SCSI bus anyway, though I think generally external as well. Can't recall if the Powerbooks did. I know my old Peforma 6100 had an external scsi port in '94.
my first mac (a mac II) had scsi in 1987. all the powerbooks did too.
I tried moving the mouse around and clicking. "That doesn't do anything," the rep said. "It's... kind of experimental technology."
The killer app that the AppleTV needs is an app store.
An HDTV with an AppleTV built in would not sell.
People don't want to upgrade their HDTV every two years.
However, if the AppleTV brains were modular and could be removed and upgraded separately then it might.
I don't see Apple getting into the TV business. On the TV, the UI is just not that important and getting a premium price would be hard.
I could, however, see Apple licensing Mac OS X to LG or Samsung for use on big screen TVs. Since Apple doesn't make TVs, it wouldn't be competing with Apple products, but it would add one more leg to the iDevice ecosystem.
Right next to your Apple Pippin Games Console
http://www.macgeek.org/museum/pippin.../apt_front.JPG
rear end
http://www.macgeek.org/museum/pippin...s/apt_rear.JPG
Ahh, Pippin. In my view, this is one of the worst failures EVER at Apple. Not the product, but the fact that they didn't do anything with it. At the time, it could have been huge if properly promoted. As it was, Bandai never did anything with it. For a very modest price, you got a game console, computer, and media delivery device - all in one. I have to wonder what would have happened if Apple had kept responsibility for this to themselves instead of letting Bandai do it.
Please don't give up on this hobby. I love mine and would buy a second if a new model was released.
Once I saw the square SCSI connector I knew it was an Apple product, as the early PowerBooks all had that connector and we even used an Asanté adapter to provide Ethernet via SCSI.
I don't know about the Apple TV. Just think if it came with MacOS X, or if they weren't so restrictive with the formats they play. As a result people are hacking it up to run Leopard or installing 3rd party software just to play AVI files. The price is good but the limitations are what is holding it back.
Oh I hated these SCSI connectors. Adapters cost millions, and it was difficult to plug it in and even more difficult to unplug it without breaking the motherboard. :-)
Dear Apple,
Please don't give up on this hobby. I love mine and would buy a second if a new model was released.
Hooray - someone who thinks the same as I do!
I love my Apple TV, but think it could do so much more, like connecting into the Video On Demand that the likes of the BBC do these days.
I actually saw one of these things. It was on display at a Fry's Electronics in Silicon Valley. I vaguely recall thinking "What a crazy idea. Those guys at Apple are insane. I'm sure Silicon Graphics will get it right..."
L.O.L. at myself.
I still love my Apple TV... Does anyone know why Apple is keeping safari OFF the device?
Because Apple would prefer that you do your web surfing, emailing, texting, tweeting, and Facebooking on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac. Why? Because those products have higher profit margins than Apple TV? Just a guess here.
Apple TV, on the other hand, is the most convenient way to enjoy your iTunes rentals and purchases on a big screen. So why hasn't Apple TV taken off like iPhone / iPad? I think it's because it's basically just a DVD / Blu-Ray replacement. It doesn't have a PVR feature like TiVo, which would no doubt help its sales immensely.
But that's the last thing Apple would ever want to do. Apple would never want to sell an appliance that can record general cable, satellite, or broadcast TV. This would undercut iTunes movie sales and rentals.
So, on one hand, you can argue that Apple's revenues come mostly from hardware sales. On the other hand, iTunes is what drove iPod sales and made iPod the dominant mobile entertainment device. Apple was probably expecting the same thing to happen for Apple TV, but it hasn't. If Apple TV had become extremely popular as a stand-alone box, we would probably already have seen Apple TV built into modern flat-screen TVs.
Maybe a future version of Apple TV will let you play games. That could be Apple's way of breaking into the living room big-time. Think about it: the App Store and iTunes are already firmly in place. Apple TV can already be used to purchase movies, TV shows, and music. It's just another medium-sized step to add big-screen HD games and apps to the iTunes Store.
I suspect that Apple is letting game developers get familiar with Objective-C and Cocoa, building the game developer stable until it reaches a tipping point. Once enough mindshare among developers and gamers has been built up from all the iPod Touch / iPhone / iPad games, it will be an inevitable and obvious next step to add big-screen games to Apple TV.
British Telecom came out with "BT Vision" - http://bit.ly/9DJ2ny
and
Apple came out with "Apple TV"
Scsi!!!!!
Weird. You can't do all caps on AI?
A sucker is born every Apple-sale!