In a dark era, far removed from iPods and the success of the iPhone, Apple was betting its future on decidedly strange projects. One of them was Pippin, something like a hybrid between a video game console and a platform for multimedia content. Apple's original plan was to license the technology to interested companies, but the combination of an excessive price, a terrible marketing effort, and tough market rivals formed the perfect storm that doomed the Apple Pippin to failure.
A Gamble on PowerPC
The year was 1995. Steve Jobs was planning his revenge like a Montgomery Burns hiding in the shadows (well, that's an exaggeration... or maybe not?), and Apple wasn't doing very well, to say the least. At that time, it placed most of its chips on PowerPC, trying to counteract Microsoft's dominance and strengthen its position. But other ideas also emerged involving entertainment, especially video games and television.
The Birth of Pippin
The story tells us that in 1993, the folks at Bandai wanted to launch a bespoke platform focused on playing games and multimedia content via CD-ROM. Bandai approached Apple with its idea, and after several exchanges, the result was the Pippin console.
It is necessary to apply the term "console" lightly. After all, it was a mini-Macintosh with a PowerPC 603 chip, built-in modem, and the ability to connect to the internet, which at the same time ran games and encyclopedias, but could also be used as a terminal.
A Market Debut Doomed to Fail
In March 1995, the Apple Bandai Pippin debuted in the Japanese market, and six months later it did the same in US stores. Bandai had come to the curious conclusion that it would sell 200,000 units in twelve months, which supposedly would spark interest from other companies to license the technology behind Pippin.
The "reality check" was merciless. Apple's efforts to promote Pippin were nil (it is said that Bandai burned more than $90 million to handle the marketing), its price in the US was an unacceptable $599, the game catalog was very limited (I think the video says it all), and as if that weren't enough, the original PlayStation had already invaded the market.
The Pippin adventure ended in 1997, with barely 42,000 units sold by Bandai. Things went so badly that the accessories available for Pippin (keyboards, etc.) far outnumbered the consoles themselves. Another company, Katz Media, marketed a variant of the Apple Pippin, and today it is highly prized by collectors.
https://old.neoteo.com/playdia-la-consola-de-los-otakus/
