Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh
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The Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh (or "TAM") is a limited-edition
personal computer A personal computer (PC) is a multi-purpose microcomputer whose size, capabilities, and price make it feasible for individual use. Personal computers are intended to be operated directly by an end user, rather than by a computer expert or tec ...
released in 1997 to mark
Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...
's 20th birthday. The machine was a technological showcase of the day, boasting a number of features beyond simple computing, and with a price tag aimed at the "executive" market.


History

April 1, 1996, marked 20 years since the day that
Steve Jobs Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American entrepreneur, industrial designer, media proprietor, and investor. He was the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Apple; the chairman and majority shareholder of Pixar; a ...
,
Steve Wozniak Stephen Gary Wozniak (; born August 11, 1950), also known by his nickname "Woz", is an American electronics engineer, computer programmer, philanthropist, inventor, and technology entrepreneur. In 1976, with business partner Steve Jobs, he c ...
, and
Ronald Wayne Ronald Gerald Wayne (born May 17, 1934) is a retired American electronics industry businessman. He co-founded Apple Computer Company (now Apple Inc.) as a partnership with Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs on April 1, 1976, providing administrativ ...
came together to form Apple Computer. As this milestone arrived and came to the attention of Apple's then-current executives, the decision was made to release a limited edition Macintosh computer to celebrate—and so the "Spartacus" (or "Pomona", or "Smoke & Mirrors") project was born. The normal time-span to develop a new Macintosh computer was 18+ months, although available time was less. However, the design team had already been working on several "dream" concepts, and soon settled on the most feasible of those: the (almost)
all-in-one All in One or All-in-One may refer to: Computing * All-in-one PC, a desktop computer with the monitor and computer in the same case * All-in-one printer or multifunction printer * ALL-IN-1, an office automation software package from Digital Equipm ...
LCD-based design. To reduce development time, many off-the-shelf components were used on the new computer's internals. The TAM was announced almost 20 years to the day after Jobs and Wozniak incorporated the company, in January 1997 at MacWorld Expo, San Francisco. It was given a release date of March 20, 1997, with a retail price of £5,545 or €6,637. Originally intended as a mainstream product, the marketing group turned it into a pricey special edition. Upon its unveiling, the TAM was predicted to cost , which would include a direct-to-door
concierge A concierge () is an employee of a multi-tenant building, such as a hotel or apartment building, who receives guests. The concept has been applied more generally to other hospitality settings and to personal concierges who manage the errands of ...
delivery service. At release the price was reduced to . In the middle of the machine's sales lifespan Apple dropped the price further to around , and finally upon discontinuation in March 1998 the price was set to . Customers who paid full price for the TAM, and then complained to Apple when the price was so drastically cut, were offered a free high-end PowerBook as compensation.


Specifications and design

The TAM featured a 250 MHz
PowerPC 603ev The PowerPC 600 family was the first family of PowerPC processors built. They were designed at the Somerset facility in Austin, Texas, jointly funded and staffed by engineers from IBM and Motorola as a part of the AIM alliance. Somerset was opened ...
processor and 12.1"
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powered by an
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3D Rage II video chipset with 2 MB of VRAM capable of displaying up to 16-bit color at either 800x600 or 640x480 pixels. It had a vertically mounted 4x SCSI
CD-ROM A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains data. Computers can read—but not write or erase—CD-ROMs. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold both comput ...
and an Apple floppy SuperDrive, a 2 GB ATA hard drive, a TV/FM tuner, an S-Video input card, and a custom-made
Bose Bose may refer to: * Bose (crater), a lunar crater * ''Bose'' (film), a 2004 Indian Tamil film starring Srikanth and Sneha * Bose (surname), a surname (and list of people with the name) * Bose, Italy, a ''frazioni'' in Magnano, Province of Biella ...
sound system including two "Jewel" speakers and a subwoofer built into the externally located power supply "base unit". A thick "umbilical" cable connects the base unit to the head unit, supplying both power, and communications for the subwoofer. The umbilical connects via a multi-pin connector, which is a possible cause of the TAM's one major fault: the " speaker buzz". Inspections of units that received a repair by Apple due to the speaker buzz found one or more extra resistors had been installed in the umbilical. Ensuring the connectors are free of dust/dirt has also been known to resolve the "buzz", though the buzz ultimately only affected a small percentage of machines. An Apple Engineer noted that the thick umbilical was intended to power a higher end CPU, however that option was ultimately curtailed, though the diameter of the umbilical remained. The TAM came with a unique 75 key ADB keyboard which featured leather palm-rests and a
trackpad A touchpad or trackpad is a pointing device featuring a tactile sensor, a specialized surface that can translate the motion and position of a user's fingers to a relative position on the operating system that is made output to the screen. Touchp ...
instead of a mouse. The trackpad could be detached from the keyboard if desired, with a small leather insert found underneath the keyboard ready to fill the gap. When not required, the keyboard could slide under the TAM's head unit, leaving the trackpad exposed for continued access. The TAM also came with a remote control (standard with the Apple TV/FM Tuner card), but also featured buttons on the front panel that could control sound levels, CD playback, brightness, contrast, and TV mode. The pre-installed operating system was a specialized version of Mac OS 7.6.1, which allowed control over those features. It is the last Macintosh model able to boot and run
System 7 System 7, codenamed "Big Bang", and also known as Mac OS 7, is a graphical user interface-based operating system for Macintosh computers and is part of the classic Mac OS series of operating systems. It was introduced on May 13, 1991, by Apple Co ...
natively. Expandability was offered via a 7-inch
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slot and Apple Communication slot II for the addition of Ethernet. Later G3 upgrade options offered by Sonnet and NewerTechnologies made use of the TAM's Level II Cache slot, which allow the computer to reach speeds of up to 500 MHz. All of these options come at the price of the TAM's slim profile. The back panel must be removed, and replaced with an (included) "hunchback" cover that adds several inches to the depth of the machine. The TAM featured a unique startup chime, which is not used on any other Macintosh models. This chime can also be heard on
Mactracker Mactracker is a freeware application containing a complete database of all Apple hardware models and operating system versions, created and actively developed by Ian Page. The database includes (by no means exhaustive) the Lisa (under its later n ...
, a freeware application for
macOS macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and lapt ...
,
iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...
, and
iPadOS iPadOS is a mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc. for its iPad line of tablet computers. It is a rebranded variant of iOS, the operating system used by Apple's iPhones, renamed to reflect the diverging features of the two product l ...
that provides a detailed database of current and historic Apple products.


Production and release

The TAM was only released in the USA, Japan, France, Germany, and the UK. Both of Apple's founders,
Steve Wozniak Stephen Gary Wozniak (; born August 11, 1950), also known by his nickname "Woz", is an American electronics engineer, computer programmer, philanthropist, inventor, and technology entrepreneur. In 1976, with business partner Steve Jobs, he c ...
and
Steve Jobs Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American entrepreneur, industrial designer, media proprietor, and investor. He was the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Apple; the chairman and majority shareholder of Pixar; a ...
, received a TAM. When "Woz" allowed people to see into his office via webcam in the late 1990s, his TAM was visible on his desk. Due to the scarcity of scale, rather than training all Apple authorized technicians in repairing the TAM, Apple opted to ship faulty units to three central locations worldwide: one per continent. The US location was the Eastman Kodak Company's service center in Rochester, New York. Apple's Service Source CD, containing information for authorized technicians in the repair of Apple computers, lists the TAM as a "closed unit", to be returned to said repair locations for all repairs. It does not contain a "take apart" guide for the TAM.


Websites

Rather than a simple page on Apple's website, the TAM was given its own website, albeit one of only six brief pages. This was a departure from Apple's standard advertising practice for its other Macintosh computers of the time. The website was shut down by Apple in 1999 and redirected to the main Apple website. Not long after the TAM's release, a community website was created by Bob Bernardara, a TAM owner in the U.S. He created the site for TAM owners and it featured news and information about the TAM, along with links to useful software and a forum for discussions. Apple had an active link to the site shortly before the last TAM rolled was made.
Welcome to The 20th Anniversary Macintosh Web Site—the "Official" home of the TAM user community. This is the place where 20th Anniversary Macintosh owners can share a wealth of information on this "insanely great" product. The TAM (Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh) is a unique machine in the world of computers and this site will help you get the most out of yours.
The TAM site actively ran for several years and it eventually had to shut down when Bernardara could not contact Axon, the Australian hosting company who hosted the site, to make critical updates. A number of newer TAM community websites have appeared over the years.


Discontinuation

Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997. In March 1998 he made sweeping changes, including scrapping the
Newton MessagePad The MessagePad is a discontinued series of personal digital assistant devices developed by Apple Computer for the Newton platform in 1993. Some electronic engineering and the manufacture of Apple's MessagePad devices was undertaken in Japan ...
. It was at this time that the TAM was discontinued, and remaining stocks reduced to . The timing itself was not conspicuous, most Apple computers only feature a 1-year production run, and the TAMs began in March 1997. However Jobs stated that he hated the TAM. Dealers in the US ran out of stock within 14 days of the final price drop.


Reception

The TAM was criticized for being too pricey compared to other computers.
PC World ''PC World'' (stylized as PCWorld) is a global computer magazine published monthly by IDG. Since 2013, it has been an online only publication. It offers advice on various aspects of PCs and related items, the Internet, and other personal tech ...
placed the TAM as 25th in their "Worst Tech Products of All Time" feature in 2006, citing it as one of the priciest listed personal computer with played-out specs. Furthermore, Steve Jobs himself has also stated in 1997 that he hated the TAM.


Legacy

While the Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh may not have been a well-known machine for its time, nor a big seller, it did have a lasting influence on personal computers.
Jony Ive Sir Jonathan Paul Ive (born 27 February 1967) is a British industrial and product designer, as well as businessman. Ive was the chief design officer (CDO) of Apple Inc. from 1997 until 2019 (known as senior vice principal of industrial desig ...
refined the original concept of the TAM. He then became director of the Industrial Design Group, in charge of designing later computers. Like the TAM, Apple's modern
iMac iMac is a family of all-in-one Mac desktop computers designed and built by Apple Inc. It has been the primary part of Apple's consumer desktop offerings since its debut in August 1998, and has evolved through seven distinct forms. In it ...
, starting with the G5 model, uses a vertically mounted removable drive (i.e. SuperDrive) behind the screen. Even the removable trackpad has been replicated with Apple's Magic Trackpad. External power supplies were also used in later Apple computers such as the
Power Mac G4 Cube The Power Mac G4 Cube is a Macintosh personal computer sold by Apple Computer, Inc. between July 2000 and 2001. Designed by Jonathan Ive, the Cube was conceived by Apple chief executive officer (CEO) Steve Jobs, who held an interest in a power ...
and
Mac Mini Mac Mini (stylized as Mac mini) is a small form factor (desktop and motherboard), small form factor desktop computer developed and marketed by Apple Inc. , it is positioned between the consumer all-in-one iMac (Intel-based), iMac and the profes ...
. Joint efforts with speaker manufacturers (originally Bose but later
Harman Kardon Harman Kardon (stylized as ) is a division of US-based Harman International Industries, a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics, and manufactures home and car audio equipment. Harman Kardon was originally founded in 1953 by business partners, Sid ...
) have become common for several Apple computers.


In popular culture

Due to its unconventional design, the TAM has featured in numerous films and television series, including: * ''
Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld. It aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, over nine seasons and List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It stars Seinfeld as Jerry Seinfeld ( ...
'': Several episodes of the ninth and final season in
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's apartment. * ''
Friends ''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting ten seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa ...
'': Behind Chandler's office desk in the fourth season, in the episode "The One With the Worst Best Man Ever". * '' The Real World: Seattle'': Present on the desk in the Pier 70 office. * ''
Sabrina Sabrina may refer to: * Sabrina (given name), a feminine given name, including a list of persons and fictional characters with the name People * Sabrina (actress), stage name of Norma Ann Sykes (1936–2016), a British glamour model and actres ...
'' (1995): A prototype TAM is on the desk of Linus Larrabee. The TAM prototype sits on the far right side of Linus, on a dedicated side desk. The CD player has a see through port in the middle of the door that allows for the CD to be inserted and removed, this see through feature was removed in the production version that has a solid dark grey plastic door. The actual unit that Linus had on his desk was Apple's in-house development model that Apple lent to the studio. * '' Batman & Robin'' (1997): Used by
Alfred Alfred may refer to: Arts and entertainment *''Alfred J. Kwak'', Dutch-German-Japanese anime television series * ''Alfred'' (Arne opera), a 1740 masque by Thomas Arne * ''Alfred'' (Dvořák), an 1870 opera by Antonín Dvořák *"Alfred (Interlu ...
to write a CD (a capability the real computer did not have). * ''
Serial Experiments Lain ''Serial Experiments Lain'' (stylized as ''serial experiments lain'') is a Japanese anime television series created and co-produced by Yasuyuki Ueda, written by Chiaki J. Konaka and directed by Ryūtarō Nakamura. Animated by Triangle Staff ...
'' (1998): The first computer Lain has is a red-colored TAM. * ''
Children of Men ''Children of Men'' is a 2006 dystopian action thriller film co-written and directed by Alfonso Cuarón. The screenplay, based on P. D. James' 1992 novel '' The Children of Men'', was credited to five writers, with Clive Owen making uncredi ...
'' (2006): A TAM is used in Jasper's hideout to show video feeds of intruders breaking in. In this movie it would be 30 years old, as the film is set in 2027.


References


External links


Apple TAM Tech Spec page

Enthusiast Website - Forums, Pictures and Videos
404! {{Apple hardware Macintosh all-in-ones Macintosh case designs PowerPC Macintosh computers Computer-related introductions in 1997