[digitdean]

Remember that thing a few years ago? I remember it looked like a 1950s era mic, was supposed to run at gigahertz in the era of megahertz, and was going to save the Mac platform.
Now, (and then) it is (was) a textbook example of vaporware.
Anyone remember what it was called?

[effgee]

Originally Posted by digitdean

Remember that thing a few years ago? I remember it looked like a 1950s era mic ...

I do, I do! T'was the XtremMac. 1.2GHz G4, active cooling system at a time (2000) when all Apple (Moto, respectively) pumped out was measly 500MHz G4s - cool stuff!

[production_coordinator]

Ha ha.... I remember it... I still think it's an interesting design...

[SirCastor]

I remember it too. Does anyone know what the deal was on that?

[effgee]

Originally Posted by production_coordinator

Ha ha.... I remember it... I still think it's an interesting design...

Most definitely! Had it ever reached a market (any market, really), I'd have bought one ... like I'm going to buy my very own copy of Duke Nukem Forever.



They should have known better, though ...



... everyone knows that any successful product introduction in the computer market will require blue ambient lights, not green. That being said, I found the "specs" for that monster ... look at the weight!

Processor :

• 1200 MHz G4 Processor (over-clocked)
• 1MB backside level 2 cache (ratio not yet final)
• 150 MHz bus supporting up to 1200-MBps data throughput
• Full 128-bit internal memory data paths

Memory :

• Four DIMM slots support up to 1.5GB of PC166 5.5ns SDRAM (999MB maximum per application) using the following DIMMs: 32MB, 64MB, or 128MB DIMMs (64-bit-wide, 64-Mbit technology), 128MB or 256MB DIMMs (64-bit-wide, 128-Mbit technology), 512MB DIMMs (64-bit-wide, 256-Mbit technology)

Storage :

• One of the following RAID controllers: ATTO ExpressPCI UL3D, Data Transfer Rates up to 320 MB/sec. Supports up to 30 SCSI Devices, PCI 2.2 Compliant, Adaptec PowerDomain 39160, Data Transfer Rates up to 320 MB/sec. Supports up to 30 SCSI Devices, PCI interface., Support for up to 30 internal, 30 external SCSI devices
• Five 3.5-inch drive expansion bays for up to 367 GB hard disk capacity internally
• Five of the following hard disk drives: 9.2 GB 10K-rpm/5.2ms Ultra160 SCSI, 18.35 GB 15K-rpm/3.9ms Ultra160 SCSI, 36.7 GB 10K-rpm/5.2ms Ultra160 SCSI, 73.4 GB 10K-rpm/5.85ms Ultra160 SCSI
• Three 5.25-inch drive expansion bays for removable drives
  One of the following DVD drives : 16x DVD-ROM drive with DVD-Video playback, DVD-RAM drive with DVD-Video playback

One of the following internal CD(R) drives :

• 72x ATAPI CD-ROM drive
• 12x10x32x ATAPI CD-RW drive

One of the following internal magnetic removable drives :

• 250 MB Iomega Zip drive, SCSI-2
• 2 GB Iomega Jaz II drive, SCSI-2
• 2.2 GB Castlewood ORB drive, SCSI-3

Peripheral connections :

• Three 400
• Mbps FireWire ports (one internal)
• Two USB ports (12 Mbps each; 24 Mbps total)

Expansion :

• Three full-length 64-bit, 33-MHz PCI slots
• One AGP 2X slot

Graphics Card - One of the following :

• ATI RADEON AGP 2x
• Voodoo5 5500 PCI
• NVIDIA GeForce2 MX
• ATI RAGE 128 Pro AGP 2x

Enclosure :

• Made out of polished cast Aluminum that also works as an integrated part of the Active Cooling System (ACS)
• Super Silent Drive (SSD). Reduces noise from motor driven parts to near silence.
  Cooling System
• Active Cooling System (ACS) for sub-zero cooling of CPU and Level 2 cache. The ACS also includes cooling of vital parts of the motherboard

Size and weight:

• Height: 21 inches (53.3 cm)
• Width: 11 inches (27.2 cm)
• Depth: 20 inches (50.8 cm)
• Weight: 63.0 pounds (28.6 kg)

[Railroader]

I think they took a stock Mac and overclocked it. They put it into a special case with powerful cooling so they could justify the added markup.

[MaxPower2k3]

Originally Posted by effgee

... everyone knows that any successful product introduction in the computer market will require blue ambient lights, not green. That being said, I found the "specs" for that monster ... look at the weight!

...

Size and weight:

• Height: 21 inches (53.3 cm)
• Width: 11 inches (27.2 cm)
• Depth: 20 inches (50.8 cm)
• Weight: 63.0 pounds (28.6 kg)

A bit chunky, but the G5 towers are just under 50 pounds, and smaller than the proposed XtremMac, so i guess it's not that outrageous, considering also that the case is part of the cooling system. It definitely would've been pretty far ahead of its time, though.

[Ratm]

That looks so sexy....I would edit out the lines on top tho. And I never heard a word about this thing. Nice surprise.

[CharlesS]

Was that thing actually real? I seem to remember a bunch of people accusing it of being nothing more than a Photoshopped microphone.

[analogika]

It was nothing more than a re-rendered Shure microphone.

It was never demoed; it was never released; it never existed.

[moonmonkey]

It was a publicity stunt to promote the unexciting processor upgrades they were about to start selling. Very smart trick, until you tried to buy it.

[JoshuaZ]

Looks like something out of Fallout.