Hacking the Apple Interactive Television Box #ReverseEngineering #Apple
Apple implemented a flashable Mac OS ROM volume in 1994, but hardly anyone noticed — because it was only ever used publicly in a minority subset of one of the most unusual of the Macintosh-derived systems, the Apple Interactive Television Box (a/k/a AITB or the Apple Set Top Box/STB).
The AITB/STB was Apple’s attempt to get into the early set-top box market of the 1990s. The dominance of the Apple TV today is a late phenomenon; Apple was in no position to launch such a product on their own in that era, though with the recent introduction of their QuickTime multimedia framework in 1991, they were a strong candidate for a technology partner. Apple forged an alliance with Oracle and parallel computing vendor nCube (Larry Ellison then being its single biggest stockholder), with Apple developing the front end client box and nCube boxes running Oracle Media Server handling the back end.
It was based on stripped-down 1993 Quadra 605 hardware with extra silicon for the media features but kept serial, ADB and SCSI connections to allow it to run compatible CD-ROMs, sort of a Pippin before the Pippin, with plans to sell it for $750.
Apple never ended up launching the hardware for retail sale, the existing trials were terminated, and most of the boxes were ultimately recalled and destroyed.
Various units have made their way into the hands of collectors and hackers. The Old Vintage Computing Research blog dives deep in finding the OS ROM and seeing what’s there and changing things up.
Adafruit publishes a wide range of writing and video content, including interviews and reporting on the maker market and the wider technology world. Our standards page is intended as a guide to best practices that Adafruit uses, as well as an outline of the ethical standards Adafruit aspires to. While Adafruit is not an independent journalistic institution, Adafruit strives to be a fair, informative, and positive voice within the community – check it out here: adafruit.com/editorialstandards
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7:30pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat and our Discord!
Python for Microcontrollers – Adafruit Daily — Python on Microcontrollers Newsletter: Open Hardware is In, New CircuitPython and Pi 5 16GB, and much more! #CircuitPython #Python #micropython @ThePSF @Raspberry_Pi
EYE on NPI – Adafruit Daily — EYE on NPI Maxim’s Himalaya uSLIC Step-Down Power Module #EyeOnNPI @maximintegrated @digikey
