Hard Cider Index

by William Tell

As habitual readers of this column are aware, I have a Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh - TAM for short. Apple manufactured these elegant machines in the summer of 1997 to highlight this milestone in the Macintoshes history. Although not really cutting edge in terms of technology when it debut, the TAM was far and away the most exquisitely designed and conceptualized computer Apple or any other manufacturer had come out with before or since. The compter stands upright, is contained in a curved casing and has a 12" flat panel display in the front. The body of the TAM is only a few inches thick and is held upright by a heavy curved brushed aluminum foot in the back. Inside Apple used mainly stock parts from already existing machines. It has the same logic board as the one found in the 6500 machines, a PowerBook type hard & floppy drive. It is somewhat expandable, having one PCI slot and one Comm II slot. As far as performance goes the best that can be said of the machine is that it was the "high-end of the low-end" at the time of its manufacture. Because of heat considerations the TAM sported Apple's second tier processor of the time, the 603e@250Mhz, rather than the 604e that Apple was using in its high-end and professional machines. But the Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh was about making a statement rather than being a workhorse. It was meant for the board room and office, not the production shop. However due to Apple's reliance on standard parts there are now three upgrade manufacturers working on G3 cards for the machine which will run up to 400Mhz - and G4 cards may be a possibility.

The TAM makes its statement with style. Aside from its stunning looks, which always draws attention to the machine (and the predictable comment "there's a computer in that"), and the fact that you can watch your favorite TV program on it, the most dramatic thing about it is its incredible Bose Acoustimass sound system and sub-woofer, which are integrated stylishly into the computer. Unfortunately the fantastic sound system (that will blow many home stereo systems away) has turned out to be one of the TAM's Achilles heels - but more on that further down. There are few things as enjoyable as listening to a well mastered CD though the TAM's sound system or piping a video through the S-video connector and watching a full-throated movie curtesy of the TAM's rich sub-woofer.

Apple, by design, made only a little over 10,000 of the Twentieth Anniversary Macintoshes. They were to be collector's items and were initially delivered in person by a specially designated Apple technician who would set the machine up for you and answer any questions you might have. Interestingly the TAM did not sell all that well. They were initially pretty expensive -$7,500 - but were later reduced to just under $2,000 which cleared out the remaining inventory pretty quickly - and was when I bought mine. MacAddict recently dubbed the TAM "Apple's Edsel". While I think that is going a bit far (especially since they gave the machine such a glowing recommendation when they first reviewed it) there is a certain parallel.

In some senses the fact that the TAMs were not such a big hit, and probably the vast majority of them were bought by little Macintosh enthusiasts like you and me instead of corporate CEOs, was probably a blessing in disguise for Apple given the problems that have cropped up with them. Better some Mac-heads doing a little griping than company heads laughing Apple out of the office. It could have been a much bigger public relations problem for Apple than it has been. Actually, aside from owners of the machines, it has been pretty quiet even within the Macintosh community about the glitches with Apples "little Porsche".

The genesis of the problems with the TAM stem from the fact that they were engineered during the pre Amelio/Second Coming of Jobs era at Apple when quality control was the equivalent of what you would find in a Maquilladora south of the Rio Grande.

The problem is with the TAM sound system. Just when you are relaxed, listening to a beautiful passage of music - booming base, rich mid-tones, sublime high register sounds, you accidentally tap the machine (or sometimes just look at it the wrong way) and the resplendent sounds that had been pouring from the machine are marred by what sounds like Sid a block away trying to tune into Upper Mongolia on his shortwave, and not having too much luck.

Apple has tried several methods of dealing with this speaker static. First they sent out replacement sub-woofers to people complaining of the problem. They sent me one. Cleared up the problem for a few weeks, then it came back -in full force. Next they had people send in the whole machine and they replaced some board in the machine (they didn't tell me which one). This fixed things fairly well for a certain period of time. Now instead of constant buzzing it only creeps out once in while to tease me and let me know that it is still there. I think that it is only a matter of time before the cacophony returns completely.

I am not sure, even given the significant resources and time Apple has poured into trying to solve the problem (I am sure they did not make a penny on these machines), that Apple knows what is causing the problem. Perhaps it has more than one cause. It would be nice if the company would be more forthcoming with information so that we TAM owners (we hapless few) would have a better idea of what is going on and what Apple's current thinking on the issue is. There are plenty of forums to do this in, only the will is missing. I sure hope that they do not think that they have the problem licked because going by my machine they have not.

I think that you'll find that most TAM owners, despite the buzz problem, are very attached to their machines and think it was one of the best computer purchases they have ever made. I am no exception and feel that buying the computer for $2,000 was a bit of a steal. When the computer is working and sounding as designed (as it is right now - Mozart on the TAM - sounds like Mozart is conducting the concert right in the room with you) you couldn't ask for more. When the the TAM decides to sound like a $15 car radio without an antenna - well let's just say Spindler's name gets mixed in with a lot of fancy Swiss cuss words. In any case it is time for Apple to come out with some definitive statement on the issue.

If you've had a TAM and it has been buzz-less since the day you have owned it, I'd like to hear about it (I have always wondered how many of these machines were effected by the problem). If you had the buzz problem and it is absolutely, truly gone (this means that you have been buzz free for a significant number of months) I'd like to know what kind of magic Apple worked on your machine.

If you'd like to sign my letter to Apple threatening to yodel continuously outside Apple's corporate headquarters until we are met with definitive information on the issue, let me know.

Also if you have any information or thoughts on whether the TAM will accept future generations of processors please share that with us. Ideally I would like to hear from you on MacReviewZone's Community Bulletin Board so that other readers can benefit and participate, but if you would like to email me directly you'll find my address above.

Willam works for a large Internet company and divides his time between Silicon Valley and Bern Switzerland. He feels qualified to comment on all things Macintosh because he often takes potshots at his son's Apple.