AAPL stock: Click Here |
|
| Tips and Deals ---- For Sale & Free Items ---- 'Friendly' Political Ranting |
You are currently viewing the 'Friendly' Political Ranting forum
|
March 22, 1993: Apple launches the PowerCD Date: March 24, 2020 07:42PM |
[www.cultofmac.com]
March 22, 1993: Apple launches the PowerCD, the first device from the company that doesn’t require a computer to work.
A portable CD player that also works as an external CD drive for Macs, it offers a glimpse of the extremely lucrative path Apple will follow a decade later. However, the PowerCD itself will ultimately fail in the marketplace.
The bad good old days at Apple
While the 1990s proved the least-profitable period in Apple’s history, I’ve always had a soft spot for the company’s products from that era. Part of this is, admittedly, nostalgia for the Apple devices I saw growing up. But part of it comes from the crazy level of experimentation Apple engaged in then. From the Newton MessagePad to the Macintosh TV to the Pippin game console to the QuickTake camera, Apple clearly didn’t feel afraid to try new things in the 1990s.
True, most of those products flopped. But it’s remarkable how many of them wound up, with a few tweaks, laying the foundations for Apple’s massive success in the following decade.
The PowerCD did exactly that. Launched for $499 in 1993, the standalone CD player also served as a Mac peripheral. Available alongside the AppleDesign Powered Speakers, the PowerCD reminded some of Sony’s portable Discman. However, it did much more. The PowerCD could read Kodak photo CDs and data CDs as well as playing regular audio discs. It even came with its own remote control.
PowerCD: Apple puts its spin on the CD player
The PowerCD, which worked without a computer when powered by six AA batteries, wasn’t actually manufactured by Apple. Instead, t was a rebranded Philips CDF 100 (which Kodak also sold as the PCD 880).
Still, Apple added a few neat touches that made the PowerCD memorable. If plugged into a Mac via SCSI, the device worked as a peripheral to provide an external CD-ROM drive. At a time when not all Macs came with CD drives, the device provided an easy option for upgrading a Mac’s functionality.
Sadly, like so many of the aforementioned great Apple products from the ’90s, PowerCD failed to catch on with consumers.
Ways to improve web conference image and sound quality. [forums.macresource.com]
March 22, 1993: Apple launches the PowerCD, the first device from the company that doesn’t require a computer to work.
A portable CD player that also works as an external CD drive for Macs, it offers a glimpse of the extremely lucrative path Apple will follow a decade later. However, the PowerCD itself will ultimately fail in the marketplace.
The bad good old days at Apple
While the 1990s proved the least-profitable period in Apple’s history, I’ve always had a soft spot for the company’s products from that era. Part of this is, admittedly, nostalgia for the Apple devices I saw growing up. But part of it comes from the crazy level of experimentation Apple engaged in then. From the Newton MessagePad to the Macintosh TV to the Pippin game console to the QuickTake camera, Apple clearly didn’t feel afraid to try new things in the 1990s.
True, most of those products flopped. But it’s remarkable how many of them wound up, with a few tweaks, laying the foundations for Apple’s massive success in the following decade.
The PowerCD did exactly that. Launched for $499 in 1993, the standalone CD player also served as a Mac peripheral. Available alongside the AppleDesign Powered Speakers, the PowerCD reminded some of Sony’s portable Discman. However, it did much more. The PowerCD could read Kodak photo CDs and data CDs as well as playing regular audio discs. It even came with its own remote control.
PowerCD: Apple puts its spin on the CD player
The PowerCD, which worked without a computer when powered by six AA batteries, wasn’t actually manufactured by Apple. Instead, t was a rebranded Philips CDF 100 (which Kodak also sold as the PCD 880).
Still, Apple added a few neat touches that made the PowerCD memorable. If plugged into a Mac via SCSI, the device worked as a peripheral to provide an external CD-ROM drive. At a time when not all Macs came with CD drives, the device provided an easy option for upgrading a Mac’s functionality.
Sadly, like so many of the aforementioned great Apple products from the ’90s, PowerCD failed to catch on with consumers.
Ways to improve web conference image and sound quality. [forums.macresource.com]
|
Re: March 22, 1993: Apple launches the PowerCD Date: March 25, 2020 05:24AM |
Why is Covid-19 now considered political? So no Covid-19 posts on the tips side? This is getting really absurd.
The arts are not luxuries but assets that give way more than they cost.
--Ronald Tucker on YouTube
A mind is like a parachute. It doesn't work if it is not open.
--Frank Zappa
The arts are not luxuries but assets that give way more than they cost.
--Ronald Tucker on YouTube
A mind is like a parachute. It doesn't work if it is not open.
--Frank Zappa
|
Re: March 22, 1993: Apple launches the PowerCD Date: March 25, 2020 09:51AM |
Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.
Online Users
DewGuy , Diana , Lizabeth , rgG , Rolando , SKYLANE , Todd's keyboard , vision63 , wave rider , Yoyodyne ArtWorks , zachdog , ztirffritz
Guests:
981
Record Number of Users:
186
on February 20, 2020
Record Number of Guests:
5122
on October 03, 2020