The Twentieth Anniversary Mac (TAM) was discontinued 20 years ago, in March 1998. To remember it in all its 90's glory, we're resurfacing this article commemorating the 15th anniversary of the TAM's retirement. Now we're all five years older, so a little refresher is warranted! The post originally ran on March 15, 2013.
When the first iMac was introduced in 1998, it started a new era of computing for those who didn't need all the power (and expense) of a tower or expandable desktop. But while the Bondi blue all-in-one got a lot of attention, it wasn't Apple's first dalliance with unconventional design. Before the iMac was the Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh, first introduced in 1997 and discontinued 15 years ago this week, on March 14, 1998—five months before the iMac came out. (Editor's note: Actually 20 years ago as of March 2018!)
The Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh (or TAM) came with a PowerPC 603e CPU clocked at 250MHz and a 12.1-inch active matrix LCD display. It also came with a built-in TV and FM tuner so the user could easily flip between computer mode and television, along with a massive Bose subwoofer. Apple introduced the machine as a way to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Apple's first computer, which occurred in April of 1996. At the time, most of Apple's offerings were boring beige boxes, so the TAM's design was especially unique due to its nearly flat, all-in-one nature and its metallic green-gold paint job.
During the TAM's short lifetime, it was only introduced in five countries (USA, Japan, France, Germany, UK), while a handful of machines were sent to Apple Australia. When Apple first unveiled the device at the Macworld Expo in January of 1997, the company predicted it might cost as much as $9,000, with concierge service included. When it was released in March of 1997, though, the price had been "reduced" to a mere $7,499—several thousand dollars more than the PowerMac 6500, which was priced at $2,999 with specs similar to the TAM.
If $7,499 has you reeling, just imagine seeing that price tag in 1997. It's no surprise the machine was killed after only a year—when Apple announced the TAM's discontinuation in 1998, it reduced the price to $1,995. But because the unique PC existed for such a short time, it has become a bit of a collector's item: it's easy to find people selling them on eBay for low, low prices ranging from $8,000 to $15,000 for new, untouched machines.
If you want to get an idea for how Apple marketed the Twentieth Anniversary Mac, there's a promotional video led by Apple designer Jony Ive available on YouTube. Check it out below for your vintage Apple fix:
20th Anniversary Macintosh Promo
Read on Ars Technica | Comments
No comments:
Post a Comment