Remembering the TAM

I worked at an Ad agency that bought 5 of these when they were EOL'ed at Apple. They were set up in conference rooms (and I think the manager took one home). I got to set 'em up (this was post Concierge at this point).
They were BEAUTIFUL compared to the standard computers of the day- except for the brand new (color) iMacs which were just starting to propagate.

Truly the beginning of the end of beige started with apple's laptops and this
First Flat panel desktop machine- The only other subwoofer included model (if you ignore the iSub) was the 6500- I think i was the only person who utilized that subwoofer

Hey, watch one get unboxed and set up/booted up for the first time by me and my friend Al here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaOyJ5FUjSw (Not spam, this video has been listed on TUAW before, I think.) Skip the first six minutes if you like, that's mostly dealing with something "extra" the guy who Al bought it from put in the box.

Yikes. The Twentieth Anniversary Mac. Absolutely the wrong thing for Apple to be doing in 1997.

Sure, it was a design statement. And I might have appreciated it too, if Apple hadn't expected everyone else to buy stuff like the Power Mac 4400. Or if the Mac platform had not been dying.

This isn't to say, of course, that the TAM wouldn't make a fine collector's item someday. But back then, a $9000 boutique desktop with concierge service was a painful reminder of Apple's lack of focus in the middle of a crisis.

The TAM was my very first Mac! It was all souped up with big HD, G3, Ethernet.
Only recently replaced with an iMac. I wanted to use it as a monitor and speakers for a Mac Mini, but there was no easy way to do it.
The TAM and the IBM PC110 are the only computers I was ever able to sell for what I paid for them.

" the 90's ultra-modern design doesn't look out of place at all today"

Are you kidding? It's hideous.

Last time I was at apple headquarters (?jan 2008) there was still at least one TAM around being used for cd playback.

I have one also. When he means a statement computer, at the time it was the Mercedes of computers. The sound system blew away everything, for it's day it was fast, and the design was WAY ahead of it's time.

At the time, it was the FIRST computer I had seen that could do video AND it had built in TV Tuner. People coming into my office could not believe I was watching TV on a computer in high quality.

The only mistake they really made is not making it upgradable... Owners like us had to go to third parties companies to add ethernet and upgrade the processor.

I still have one (without a buzz). It forms part of my bedroom entertainment system as it sounds wonderful.

It has been updated with a G3 chip, USB ports but still features the original tiny hard drive. I run a wonky version of iTunes with the library on a USB drive.

I love it and wouldn't part with it for a gold pig.

You can fix the buzz yourself. I "fixed" mine 6 years ago and it has just come back. It's the power connectors inside the bass unit. They get coated and just require an eraser to remove the build up. I have mine connected to the audio out on my airport express and it sounds wonderful. I also use it for my legacy data formats.

Call me stupid, but how can it be the 20th anniversary Mac in 1997-or is that the 20th anniversary APPLE computer?

1984 is the Mac Launch date-20 anniversary would have been about the time of the intel transition.