Watch for falling links!
Apple's newest addition to the Macintosh line, the Macintosh Toaster, is its first offering in this new arena. It's an 030-based system sporting an 80-megabyte hard drive, a 25-megahertz bus, and two slots for bread. It is rated at two slices per minute.
"We're really pushing to bring higher technology into the home," says John Sculley, Apple president. "The toaster seems like a great place to start. After all, everybody has one, toaster technology really could use a boost, and everyone thinks the Color Classic looks like a toaster anyway."
In a revolutionary step for a computer company, Apple also plans to provide a peripheral food processor attachment for the system. "Now users will be able to combine the power of word processing with a handy device that can blend milkshakes and dice onions with ease," adds Sculley. A software enabler shipped with the product will allow users to mince their words.
Two new advertising campaigns, "The Toaster For The Rest Of Us" and "The Toaster To Be Your Best", are already underway. The products are scheduled to ship next month, but due to the high demand expected for them, insiders say that orders probably won't be filled until sometime after the year 2000.
A competitor, NuCook, is already planning to market a clone of the MacToaster. It will be compatible with the same kinds of bread, but will also come with a wok and a detachable set of Ginsu knives. "We're not worried about that at all," states Mike "Ro" Soft, project leader for the Toaster. "If their toasted bread comes out looking anything like our toasted bread, we'll sue their pants off."
If this initial offering is popular, Apple intends to introduce a vacuum cleaner and a dishwasher, both based on Apple's popular graphical user interface. Sculley refused to confirm or deny rumors that plans are in the works to port this interface to 486-based Sears Kenmore brand appliances.
--Brian Kendig bskendig@netcom.com
May 15, 1994 - Robert Lentz
(ralentz@ralentz.com)
