Apple PowerCD is a

CD player A CD player is an electronic device that plays audio compact discs, which are a digital audio, digital optical disc data storage format. CD players were first sold to consumers in 1982. CDs typically contain recordings of audio material such a ...

sold by

Apple Computer Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, in Silicon Valley. It is best known for its consumer electronics, software, and services. Founded in 1976 as Apple Computer Co ...

in 1993 and discontinued several years later. It was a re-badged

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), simply branded Philips, is a Dutch multinational health technology company that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, its world headquarters have been situated in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarter ...

-designed product (Philips CDF-100) which was sold in addition to Apple's speakers and also included a

remote control A remote control, also known colloquially as a remote or clicker, is an consumer electronics, electronic device used to operate another device from a distance, usually wirelessly. In consumer electronics, a remote control can be used to operat ...

. The PowerCD was capable of reading

Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company, referred to simply as Kodak (), is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in film photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorporated i ...

photo CD Photo CD is a system designed by Kodak for digitizing and saving photos onto a CD. Launched in 1991, the discs were designed to hold nearly 100 high quality images, scanned prints and slides using special proprietary encoding. Photo CDs are d ...

s, data CDs and

audio CD Compact Disc Digital Audio (CDDA or CD-DA), also known as Digital Audio Compact Disc or simply as Audio CD, is the standard format for audio compact discs. The standard is defined in the '' Red Book'' technical specifications, which is why t ...

s. It can connect to

Macintosh Mac is a brand of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 1984. The name is short for Macintosh (its official name until 1999), a reference to the McIntosh (apple), McIntosh apple. The current product lineup inclu ...

personal computer A personal computer, commonly referred to as PC or computer, is a computer designed for individual use. It is typically used for tasks such as Word processor, word processing, web browser, internet browsing, email, multimedia playback, and PC ...

s through

SCSI Small Computer System Interface (SCSI, ) is a set of standards for physically connecting and transferring data between computers and peripheral devices, best known for its use with storage devices such as hard disk drives. SCSI was introduced ...

and also to stereo systems and

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

History

With the success of the

Apple Newton The Newton is a specified standard and series of personal digital assistants (PDAs) developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple Computer, Inc. from 1993 to 1998. An early device in the PDA categorythe term itself originating with the Newtonit w ...

, in mid-1992 Apple Industrial Design Group created a division called Mac Like Things which was to focus on what they saw as a whole new market for Apple in consumer electronic devices. The PowerCD marked Apple's first stand-alone consumer-oriented product brought to market, which did not require a computer for use. It was analogous to

Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...

Discman was a brand name used by Sony for their portable CD players. The first Discman, the Sony D-50 or D-5 (depending on region), was launched in 1984. The Sony brand name for Discman changed to CD Walkman, initially for Japanese lineups launched ...

portable CD players of the time, however, unlike Sony's and most others, Apple's could also be used as computer peripheral as well. And while most desktop Macs at the time included built-in CD-ROMs, the PowerCD was designed to match the PowerBook series which would not include a built-in CD-ROM for several more years. Its ability to be operated under battery power alone made it not only a portable drive for computers, but gave it the added ability to be marketed as a stand-alone portable CD player. However, Mac Like Things was short-lived and by September 1992, it was folded into Apple's New Media Group having only brought to market the PowerCD and AppleDesign Powered Speakers series.

AppleDesign Powered Speakers

Along with the PowerCD, Apple released two versions of their desktop speakers: the ''AppleDesign Powered Speakers'' and the redesigned ''AppleDesign Powered Speakers II'' a year later. The original speakers came in Platinum gray to match Apple's desktop line, while the second generation were curvier and also came in a darker gray color designed to match the PowerBook line and PowerCD. Both were powered with an AC adapter and could be attached to any audio output source, with two separate inputs for the computer and an external CD player. Both had a headphone jack in the front of one speaker along with the volume control and an optional

subwoofer A subwoofer (or sub) is a loudspeaker designed to reproduce low-pitched audio frequencies, known as bass and sub-bass, that are lower in frequency than those which can be (optimally) generated by a woofer. The typical frequency range that is ...

connection port on some models.

Timeline of Apple products

References

External links

Mac Guidespopcorn.cx - Apple PowerCD & AppleDesign Powered SpeakersApple PowerCD

{{DEFAULTSORT:Powercd Apple Inc. hardware Apple Inc. peripherals Compact disc players Computer-related introductions in 1993

History

AppleDesign Powered Speakers

Timeline of Apple products

See also

References

External links