Prototype Apple TV predecessor from 1995 sells for $46 on eBay

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Comments

  • Reply 21 of 37
    paxmanpaxman Posts: 4,729member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by acslater017 View Post


    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
  • Reply 22 of 37
    hillstoneshillstones Posts: 1,490member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Tulkas View Post


    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.
  • Reply 23 of 37
    hillstoneshillstones Posts: 1,490member
    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.
  • Reply 24 of 37
    neilmneilm Posts: 985member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bigdaddyp View Post


    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.
  • Reply 25 of 37
    tofinotofino Posts: 697member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Tulkas View Post


    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.
  • Reply 26 of 37
    jamiecjamiec Posts: 42member
    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."
  • Reply 27 of 37
    jragostajragosta Posts: 10,473member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Johnny Mozzarella View Post


    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.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by paxman View Post


    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.
  • Reply 28 of 37
    richlrichl Posts: 2,213member
    Dear Apple,



    Please don't give up on this hobby. I love mine and would buy a second if a new model was released.
  • Reply 29 of 37
    goldenclawgoldenclaw Posts: 272member
    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.
  • Reply 30 of 37
    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. :-)
  • Reply 31 of 37
    paulmjohnsonpaulmjohnson Posts: 1,380member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by RichL View Post


    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.
  • Reply 32 of 37
    sockrolidsockrolid Posts: 2,789member
    "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..."



    L.O.L. at myself.
  • Reply 33 of 37
    sockrolidsockrolid Posts: 2,789member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by swinge View Post


    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.
  • Reply 34 of 37
    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.



    British Telecom came out with "BT Vision" - http://bit.ly/9DJ2ny



    and



    Apple came out with "Apple TV"
  • Reply 35 of 37
    cubertcubert Posts: 728member
    Scsi!!!!!
  • Reply 36 of 37
    cubertcubert Posts: 728member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Cubert View Post


    Scsi!!!!!



    Weird. You can't do all caps on AI?
  • Reply 37 of 37
    ballmersteveballmersteve Posts: 138member
    Really!

    A sucker is born every Apple-sale!
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