Electronics 1996
Apple
How much more personal can a personal computer get?
FROM THE PRINTED PAGEOriginal ad copy
OCR transcription from the archived page. Scanning and reading-order errors may remain.
Your personal computer Your personal memories Your personal education. Your personal finances. Welcome Your personal interests. Your personal growth. Introducing the Macintosh Performa 6400. Don't be too surprised by how familiar the Macintosh Performa 6400 feels when you bring it home. After all, it is a Macintosh—still the only computer in the world designed from the very first chip to work the way people work. And it is a Performa—designed with families in mind to be easy to set up, easy to learn and easy to use. But now we've not only given it powerful new capabilities no other home computer has ever had before. We've also made the most personal computer of all more personal than ever. Thousands of learning, business and entertainment programs are available for Macintosh, and twenty-five popular titles come preinstalled with the Performa 6400. Like ClarisWorks 4.0, Grolier's Multimedia Encyclopedia and Quicken SE, just to name a few. Right out of the box, your kids can instantly find answers to questions, complete with video, animation and sound. And you can start working with a spreadsheet, financial tools, word processor and more. Every Performa model comes with MacinTalk PC Exchange, allowing you to read from and write to DOS disks. Add a program like SoftWindows or a PC compatibility card, and you can even bring work home from the office and run your Windows applications in the touch of a key. Of course, all work and no play makes Jack the world's dullest parent. That's why the Performa 6400 comes with today's most advanced multimedia features, including an 8x-speed CD-ROM drive for the smoothest game animation and 16-bit stereo sound for the clearest listening experience. And with the addition of Avid Cinema software, creating your own home movies becomes unbelievably easy. It also brings the Internet home with a 28.8 Kbps modem and all the software you need not only to get up and start surfing, but to easily create your own home page as well—right in your own home. And although the life span of some computers may appear to extend just beyond that of the average goldfish, we've loaded the Performa 6400 with ample power and plenty of expansion options so you and your family will enjoy it for years to come. It's everything a family computer should be. For the name of the Apple reseller near you, and for information on special holiday promotions, call 800-446-3000, ext. 100. Or visit us on the Internet at www.apple.com/. And bring home the most personal computer of all. Macintosh.
Commentary
Apple’s spread begins with a large machine and a scatter of small personal worlds: memories, education, finances, interests and growth. The computer is almost less important than the labels around it. The phrase “Your personal” repeats until the Performa feels like a household member with different jobs for different people.
The right-hand copy turns that emotional claim into a family inventory. Children can use encyclopedias and multimedia; parents can work with spreadsheets, Quicken and Windows files; everyone gets games, stereo sound, CD-ROM and Internet access. The ad is selling one beige tower as a peace treaty between domestic roles.
Its 1996 notion of “bringing work home” is revealing. The machine promises compatibility through PC Exchange, SoftWindows and a 28.8 Kbps modem, while the call to find a reseller still sits beside the web address. Home computing is becoming networked, but it is not yet frictionless or cloud-shaped.
For copywriters, the repeated adjective “personal” does the structural work. It converts a list of features into a ladder of identities, then the headline asks a question whose answer is implied by the crowded spread: more personal means more members of the family can see themselves in it.
Apple describes its current work as a broad ecosystem of hardware, software and services, a far more integrated model than the Performa’s expansion cards and bundled CD-ROM programs. The company’s present product direction is summarized in its current corporate materials.
The durable promise is accommodation: technology should fit the household rather than demand a specialist. The obsolete assumptions are the tower, modem speed, physical software bundles and reseller-led discovery. The emotional centre—one device making several kinds of life possible—still describes Apple’s ambition.