PowerCD

Apple PowerCD was a US$499 CD player sold by Apple Computer in 1993 and discontinued several years later. It was a re-badged Philips-designed product which was sold in addition to Apple's speakers and also included a remote control. The PowerCD was capable of reading Kodak photo CDs, data CDs and audio CDs. It can connect to Apple Macintosh personal computers through SCSI and also to stereo systems and televisions. Today they are collectible items as they are relatively rare.

History

With the success of the Apple Newton, 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's Discman portable CD players of the time, however, unlike Sony's & 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 included a built-in CD-ROM for several more years. Its ability to be operated under battery power alone made it not only an excellent 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.cite book
last = Kunkel
first = Paul
title = Appledesign: The Work of the Apple Industrial Design Group
publisher = Watson-Guptill Publications
date = October 1, 1997
page = p. 246
isbn = 1888001259]

Legacy

Though Apple's foray into the growing consumer products market would ultimately fail, multimedia products such as the PowerCD would ultimately provide the legacy for the launch of the iPod 5 years later.

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 connection port on some models.

See also

* iPod
* Apple QuickTake
* Apple Interactive Television Box
* Bandai Pippin
* List of products discontinued by Apple Computer

References

External links

* [http://guides.macrumors.com/PowerCD Mac Guides]
* [http://popcorn.cx/computers/apple/peripherals/audio/ popcorn.cx - Apple PowerCD & AppleDesign Powered Speakers]
* [http://www.429bauhaus.no-ip.com/Apple/apple_powercd.html Apple PowerCD photos]
* [http://www.tarosworld.com/apple/old_peripherals/powercd/ Apple PowerCD (Japanese)]
* [http://www1.kcn.ne.jp/~gx770/portaudio.html#PowerCD Apple/PHILIPS CDP/PowerCD (Japanese)]