1977 – 1993retired
Apple II
“It put color graphics and VisiCalc in a plastic case, and never stopped being useful.”
“All in black, all in one, ahead of the couch-potato curve.”
The Macintosh TV was Apple's first attempt at blending computer and television, released in 1993. It looked like a Macintosh LC 500 series machine, only in black — essentially a Performa 520 whose 14-inch Sony Trinitron CRT could switch from computer display to cable-ready TV. It was the first black Macintosh, complete with matching black keyboard and mouse, and came with a tiny credit card-sized remote that even wor
It couldn't show television in a desktop window, only capture still frames to PICT files, and only 10,000 were made during its brief run, ending in 1994. But its spirit lived on: Apple later issued a custom black Performa 5420 overseas with many of its features, and its TV tuner card became a popular option for later LC, Performa, and beige Power Macintosh G3 models.
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“It put color graphics and VisiCalc in a plastic case, and never stopped being useful.”
“Enhanced in name, eternal in our hearts — lowercase letters never looked so good.”
“Named for the number four, gone by 1994 - even its ending was on brand.”