Macintosh TV

Not to be confused with Apple TV.
Macintosh TV
Also known as Mac TV
LD50
Peter Pan[1]
Release date October 25, 1993 (1993-10-25)[2][3][4][5]
Introductory price US$2,097 (equivalent to $3,441 in 2015)[6]
Discontinued February 1, 1994 (1994-02-01)[7]
Units shipped 10,000[8][9]
Operating system System 7.1-System 7.1.1, System 7.1.2 (PowerPC upgrade), System 7.5-Mac OS 7.6.1(with Enabler 404), or with PowerPC upgrade, Mac OS 9.1
CPU Motorola 68030 @ 32 MHz
Memory 5 MB RAM (80 ns 72-pin SIMM), expandable to 8 MB, 1 MB ROM
Storage 160 MB Hard Disk Drive,
Floppy Disk Drive 1.44 MB SuperDrive
Display built-in 14" Sony Trinitron CRT
Graphics video: 512 KB VRAM; supports 640 x 480 at 8-bits
Dimensions 17.9" x 13.5" x 16.5"
Weight 40.5 lb.
Website support.apple.com/kb/SP217

The Macintosh TV is Apple Computer's first attempt at computer-television integration. It shared the external appearance of the Macintosh LC 500 series, but in black.[10] The Macintosh TV was essentially a Performa 520 that could switch its built-in 14" Sony Trinitron CRT from being a computer display to a cable-ready television. It was incapable of showing television in a desktop window, although it could capture still frames to PICT files.

It came with a small credit card-sized remote control that was also compatible with Sony televisions. It was the first Macintosh to be made in black and came with a custom black keyboard and mouse. Later Apple would issue a custom black Performa 5420 in markets outside the United States with many of the features of the Mac TV. Apple's similar TV tuner card was a popular option for later LC, Performa series, and select models of Power Macintosh G3 beige computers.

Only 10,000 were made in the model's short time on the market.[8]

Specifications[11]

References

  1. Macintosh TV, The Apple Museum, Interesting Facts: As I said, the Mac TV's code name was "LD50". In the medical field, this means "lethal dosage 50%", which means half the people that take it will die. Apple developers probably didn't know this, but others must've because it caused some contraversy. [sic]
  2. APPLE UNVEILS MACINTOSH TV; MACINTOSH COMPUTER COMBINES TELEVISION AND STEREO CD PLAYER IN SINGLE, LOW-COST UNIT (Product Announcement), PR Newswire > October 25, 1993 - Free Online Library
  3. Apple rolls out Macintosh TV, Oct. 25, 1993 - UPI Archives
  4. The Information Appliance, By Catherine Arnst, November 22, 1993 - Bloomberg, ...Apple has recently introduced a similar machine, the Mac TV, that looks like a television set with a keyboard attached. The Mac TV can accept CD-ROM computer disks and display captions on the TV programs....
  5. Mac TV, LEM Staff - 1993.10.25, Low End Mac, This was perhaps the oddest Macintosh ever. It was the last desktop Mac with a 68030 processor, the first with a built-in TV tuner, the first black desktop Mac, and the first Mac to ship with a remote control. It is the only model in the “500 Series” that doesn’t have an available PDS (Processor Direct Slot) – that gave way to the TV tuner. The built-in 14″ Trinitron monitor displays 16-bit TV images, but only 8-bit computer graphics. Software allows it to capture a single TV frame as a PICT file.
  6. Black Enterprise, Apr 1994, Page 41, By Carolyn M. Brown, HOT PRODUCT Mac TV What Apple got when it crossed a Macintosh with a television It's an electronics dream come true: a computer, television and stereo all in one.
  7. Macintosh TV Specs - VAW (Vectronic's Apple World) at the Wayback Machine (archived February 15, 2013)
  8. 1 2 Macintosh Switcher's Guide, By Robert Standefer, Page 26, Failure #3: Mac TV - ...Only 10,000 units shipped before it was terminated...
  9. The Macintosh TV was a cul de sac off the road to converged video, by Eric Bangeman - Oct 26, 2013, Ars Technica
  10. The power to be your best, Get a computer, a television, and a CD player. All in one desktop system. $2079 ... New. Macintosh TV., Fall 1993, The Apple Catalog
  11. Macintosh TV apple-history.com

See also

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