Apple Pippin

Information about Apple Pippin

Enlarge picture
Apple Pippin logo
Apple Pippin
Enlarge picture
Apple Pippin (Atmark Player)

Enlarge picture
Front and rear views of the Apple Pippin (Atmark Player)
ManufacturerApple Computer, Inc. (now Apple Inc.) & Bandai
Type multimedia player
GenerationFifth generation (32-bit era)
First available1995 – 1997
System storage6 MB combined memory
Controller input"Applejack": control pad with embedded trackball
Connectivity14.4 kbit/s modem
Online servicePSINet/@World
Release Date(s) March 28 1995
(Atmark Player)
September 1 1996
(@World Player)
Units soldless than 42,000
Top-selling gameunknown


The Apple Pippin was a technology for a multimedia player platform marketed by Apple Inc. (then Apple Computer Inc.) in the mid 1990s. It was based around a 66-MHz PowerPC 603e processor, a 14.4 kbit/s modem and ran a cut-down version of the Mac OS. The goal was to create an inexpensive computer aimed mostly at playing CD-based multimedia titles, especially games, but also functioning as a network computer. It featured a 4× CD-ROM drive and a video output that could connect to a standard television monitor. The platform was named for the Newtown Pippin, an apple cultivar, related to the McIntosh apple (which lent its name to Apple's Macintosh computer).

Apple never intended to release its own Pippin. Instead it intended to license the technology to third parties, a business model similar to that of the ill-fated 3DO; however, the only Pippin licensee to release a product to market was Bandai.

By the time the Bandai Pippin was released (1995 in Japan; 1996 in the United States), the market was already dominated by the Nintendo 64 and Sony PlayStation, game machines that were much more powerful than the more general-purpose Pippin. In addition, there was little ready-to-use software for Pippin, the only major publisher being Bandai itself. Costing US$599 on launch, and touted as a cheap computer, the system, in reality, was commonly identified as a video game console. As such, its price was considered too expensive in comparison to its contemporaries.

Only a few thousand Pippins were manufactured; production was so limited that there were more keyboard and modem accessories produced than actual systems.[1]

Ultimately, Pippin as a technology suffered because it was a late starter in the 3D generation of consoles, and was under-powered as a gaming machine and personal computer. Bandai's version died quickly, only ever having a relatively limited release in the United States and Japan.

In May 2006, the Pippin was selected for an article entitled "25 Worst Tech Products of all Time" by PC World Magazine.

Technical Specifications

Hardware

  • 66MHz PowerPC 603 RISC microprocessor
  • Superscalar, three instructions per clock cycle
  • 8KB data and 8KB instruction caches
  • IEEE standard single and double precision Floating Point Unit (FPU)
  • 6MB combined system and video memory, advanced architecture
  • Easy memory expansion cards in 2, 4 and 8MB increments
  • 128K SRAM store/restore backup
  • 4x CD-ROM drive
  • Two high-speed serial ports, one of which is GeoPort ready
  • PCI-compatible expansion slot
  • Two ruggedized ADB inputs
  • Supports up to four simultaneous players over Apple Desktop Bus (ADB)
  • Supports standard ADB keyboards and mice with connector adapters

Video

  • 8-bit and 16-bit video support
  • Dual frame buffers for superior frame-to-frame animation
  • Support for NTSC and PAL composite, S-Video and VGA (640x480) monitors
  • Horizontal and vertical video convolution

Audio

  • Stereo 16-bit 44kHz sampled output
  • Stereo 16-bit 44kHz sampled input
  • Headphone output jack with individual volume control
  • Audio CD player compatibility

Software

  • Runtime environment derived from Mac OS
  • PPC native version of QuickDraw
  • Reduced system memory footprint (computer specific features removed)
  • Disk-resident System Software stamped on CD-ROM with title
  • System boots off of CD-ROM
  • Pippin System Software upgrades released through CD-ROM stamping operations
  • 68k emulator
  • Macintosh Toolbox intact

See Also

References

1. ^ Assembler. Apple Bandai Pippin. Retrieved Nov. 30, 2006

External links

 •  • [ e]
Selected home game consoles
First generation
Magnavox Odyssey • Pong • Coleco Telstar
Second generation
Fairchild Channel F • Atari 2600 • Interton VC 4000 • Odyssey • Intellivision • Arcadia 2001 • Atari 5200 • ColecoVision • Vectrex • SG-1000
Third generation
NES • Master System • Atari 7800
Fourth Generation
TurboGrafx-16 • Mega Drive/Genesis • Neo Geo • SNES
Fifth generation
3DO • Amiga CD32 • Jaguar • Saturn • PlayStation • Nintendo 64 • Virtual Boy
Sixth generation
Dreamcast • PlayStation 2 • GameCube • Xbox
Seventh generation
Xbox 360 • PlayStation 3 • Wii
 •  • [ e]
Apple hardware before 1998
ApplesApple I Apple II family (II, II Plus, II Europlus, IIe, IIc, IIGS, IIc Plus) Apple III, III Plus
LisasLisa Lisa 2/5 Lisa 2/10
Macintosh desktopsCompact Macintosh family (128K, 512K, XL, Plus, 512Ke, SE, SE/30, SE FDHD, Classic, Classic II, Color Classic, Color Classic II) Macintosh II family (II, IIx, IIcx, IIci, IIfx, IIsi, IIvi, IIvx) LC family (LC, LC II, LC III, LC 475, LC III+, LC 520, LC 550, LC 575, LC 580, LC 630, 5200 LC, 5260 LC, 5300 LC, 5400 LC) Performa family Macintosh TV Quadra family (700, 900, 950, 800, 840AV, 610*, 650*, 660AV*, 605, 630) Centris family (610*, 650*, 660AV*) Power Macintosh family (6100, 7100, 8100, 6200, 5200, 9500, 7200, 7500, 8500, 6300, 5260, 5300, 5400, 7600, 6400, 4400, 5500, 6500, 7300, 8600, 9600, G3) 20th Anniversary Mac
LaptopsMacintosh Portable PowerBook family: 100 series (100, 140, 170, 145, 160, 180, 165c, 145B, 180c, 165, 150) Duo series (210, 230, 250, 270c, 280, 280c, 2300c) 500 series (520, 520c, 540, 540c, 550c) 190, 190cs 5300, 5300cs, 5300c, 5300ce 1400c, 1400cs 3400c 2400c G3
ServersApple Workgroup Servers (95, 60, 80, 6150, 8150, 9150, 7250, 8550, 7350, 9650) Apple Network Servers (500, 700)
Other projects and accessories80 column card Adjustable Keyboard AppleCD Disk II, Disk IIc Apple Fax IIe Card Interactive Television Box Newton, eMate 300 Paladin Pippin PowerCD (Color Printer, Dot Matrix Printer, ImageWriter, LaserWriter, Scribe Printer, SilenType, StyleWriter, Portable StyleWriter) QuickTake
A console manufacturer is a company that manufactures and distributes video game consoles. It is also known as a first-party video game publisher. Historically, some of the most recognized console manufacturers include:

..... Click the link for more information.
Apple Inc.

Public (NASDAQ:  AAPL , LSE:  ACP , FWB: APC )
Founded California (April 1 1976, as Apple Computer, Inc.)
Headquarters 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, California

Key people Steve Jobs, CEO & Co-founder
Steve Wozniak, Co-founder
..... Click the link for more information.
Bandai Co., Ltd.

Private (subsidiary of Namco Bandai Holdings)
Founded July 5 1950
Headquarters Tokyo, Japan

Key people Kazunori Ueno, President
Industry Toy Maker, Software & Programming, film production
..... Click the link for more information.
Video games were introduced as a commercial entertainment medium in 1971, becoming the basis for an important entertainment industry in the late 1970s/early 1980s in the United States, Japan, and Europe.
..... Click the link for more information.
In the history of computer and video games, the 32-bit / 64-bit /3D era was the fifth generation of video game consoles. It featured both 32-bit and 64-bit
..... Click the link for more information.
A gamepad, also called joypad or control pad, is a type of game controller held in the hand, where the digits (especially thumbs) are used to provide input. Gamepads generally feature a set of action buttons handled with the right thumb and a direction controller
..... Click the link for more information.
A trackball is a pointing device consisting of a ball housed in a socket containing sensors to detect rotation of the ball about two axes—like an upside-down mouse with an exposed protruding ball.
..... Click the link for more information.
March 28 is the 1st day of the year (2nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 0 days remaining.

Events


..... Click the link for more information.
19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1960s  1970s  1980s  - 1990s -  2000s  2010s  2020s
1992 1993 1994 - 1995 - 1996 1997 1998

Year 1995 (MCMXCV
..... Click the link for more information.
Eastern (Byzantine) Catholic Church, the new Liturgical Year (Indiction) also begins.
  • Church of England - Saint Giles.
  • Cameroon - Jour d'Union Nationale Camerounaise.
  • Libya - Revolution Day (1969).
  • New Zealand - National R.A.K.
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    • 19th century - 20th century - 21st century
    1960s  1970s  1980s  - 1990s -  2000s  2010s  2020s
    1993 1994 1995 - 1996 - 1997 1998 1999

    Year 1996 (MCMXCVI
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    This is a list of video game console and handheld game console sales. See List of best-selling video games for figures on video game sales.

    Total sales ranking


    Company Platform Released sm=n Sales
    Sony PlayStation 2 2000
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    Apple Inc.

    Public (NASDAQ:  AAPL , LSE:  ACP , FWB: APC )
    Founded California (April 1 1976, as Apple Computer, Inc.)
    Headquarters 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, California

    Key people Steve Jobs, CEO & Co-founder
    Steve Wozniak, Co-founder
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    hertz (symbol: Hz) is the SI unit of frequency. Its base unit is cycle/s or s-1 (also called inverse seconds, reciprocal seconds). In English, hertz is used as both singular and plural.
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    This article relates to both the original "Classic" Mac OS as well as Mac OS X, Apple's more recent operating system. See the Mac OS X article for information directly relating to this current Macintosh operating system.

    ..... Click the link for more information.
    Compact Disc

    The closely spaced tracks on the readable surface of a Compact Disc cause light to diffract into a full visible colour spectrum
    Media type: Optical disc
    Encoding: Various
    Capacity: Typically up to 700 MB
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    Network computer (abbreviated NC) is a trademark of Oracle Corporation. It was used (c. 1996 - c. 2000) by Oracle, and an alliance of businesses including Sun and Acorn, to mean a diskless desktop computer - or in some cases a set top box[1]
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    CD-ROM (an abbreviation of "Compact Disc read-only media") is a Compact Disc that contains data accessible by a computer. While the Compact Disc format was originally designed for music storage and playback, the format was later adapted to hold any form of binary data.
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    Television (often abbreviated to TV, T.V., or more recently, tv; sometimes called telly, the tube, boob tube, or idiot box in British English) is a widely used telecommunication system for broadcasting and receiving moving pictures
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled due to vandalism.
    If you are prevented from editing this page, and you wish to make a change, please discuss changes on the talk page, request unprotection, log in, or .
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    cultivar is a cultivated plant that has been selected and given a unique name because it has desirable characteristics (decorative or useful) that distinguish it from otherwise similar plants of the same species. When propagated it retains those characteristics.
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    McIntosh Red (McIntosh, Mac) is an apple cultivar with red and green skin, a tart flavor, and tender white flesh. It becomes ripe in late September. It is traditionally the most popular cultivar in New England, well known for the pink sauce unpeeled McIntoshes make.
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    Apple Inc.

    Public (NASDAQ:  AAPL , LSE:  ACP , FWB: APC )
    Founded California (April 1 1976, as Apple Computer, Inc.)
    Headquarters 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, California

    Key people Steve Jobs, CEO & Co-founder
    Steve Wozniak, Co-founder
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    Macintosh, commonly known as Mac, is a brand name which covers several lines of personal computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. Named after the McIntosh variety of apple, the original Macintosh was released on January 24, 1984.
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    3DO Interactive Multiplayer (commonly referred to as the 3DO) is a line of video game consoles which were released in 1993 and 1994 by Panasonic, Sanyo and Goldstar, among other companies.
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    Bandai Co., Ltd.

    Private (subsidiary of Namco Bandai Holdings)
    Founded July 5 1950
    Headquarters Tokyo, Japan

    Key people Kazunori Ueno, President
    Industry Toy Maker, Software & Programming, film production
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled due to vandalism.
    If you are prevented from editing this page, and you wish to make a change, please discuss changes on the talk page, request unprotection, log in, or .
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    Motto
    "In God We Trust"   (since 1956)
    "E Pluribus Unum"   ("From Many, One"; Latin, traditional)
    Anthem
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    This section needs additional to facilitate its .
    Please help [ improve this article] by adding reliable references
    Unverifiable material may be .
    This article has been tagged since May 2007.

    ..... Click the link for more information.
    PlayStation (プレイステーション
    ..... Click the link for more information.

    This article is copied from an article on Wikipedia.org - the free encyclopedia created and edited by online user community. The text was not checked or edited by anyone on our staff. Although the vast majority of the wikipedia encyclopedia articles provide accurate and timely information please do not assume the accuracy of any particular article. This article is distributed under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License.