Apple’s Macintosh TV in 1993. (Macrumors)
Now Manzana Has a diverse list of devices released on the market. from iPhonegoing iPad, Mac, apple watch, in addition to others that are in development and will soon see the light of day, such as mixed reality glasses. However, the company founded by Steve Jobs has had several releases in its history that were not well received by consumers, forcing them to discontinue them.
In 1993, the company released a device known as Macintosh TV which Apple said combined the functions of a computer monitor, TV and CD player to compete with other technology brands that sell each of these products separately.
product Manzana It also included a series of accessories such as a keyboard and mouse to perform the functions of a desktop computer, as well as a remote control that worked when used as a TV.
Apple’s Macintosh TV commercial in 1993. (Arstechnica)
Because of the features that televisions had at the time and what current devices have, in Macintosh It can be considered one of the first smart TVs because it had options to adapt to people’s needs and the predecessor of the Apple TV device, allowing users to watch their favorite programs available in the catalog. Manzana.
According to an ad published by Jobs’ company catalog, T in Macintosh It also included some pre-installed software, as well as programs that could be installed via CD, such as World Atlas, Kodak Photo, among others, which were part of the device package.
However, one of the reasons that led to the failure of these devices was the high price of $2099 at which it reached the stores. The same company had a $1,500 Mac monitor with the regular features of an artifact of the time, and key differentiators like a remote control, TV tuner, and color screen didn’t justify the $500+ price tag. The difference between the two prices. . Because of the different applications it has had and although it is more expensive, Macintosh TV It didn’t perform better than the Macs, but it was slower to perform activities.
Apple’s Macintosh TV in 1993. (Arstechnica)
It was as a result of this that two years later, when the sales of this product did not reach the necessary standards for the company to appear profitable, the monitor Macintosh TV stopped Manzana and was pulled from stores after selling only 10,000 units in the period up to February 1995, making it one of the company’s biggest failures since its inception.
It was because of this bad experience that during the 2004 Macworld event, Steve Jobs, who was the company’s CEO at the time, said he did not welcome the idea of ​​combining the functions of a computer and television. “We don’t think TVs and computers will merge,” he said. “We think a person watches TV to turn off their brain, and when they’re working, it’s on,” he added.
However, currently you can buy subscription packages on streaming sites, from which you can watch different content not only using a computer, but also a smartphone, tablet or laptop.
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