Secret Mac

>> Wow, a unique machine that Sellam *doesn't* have! >> >> http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,51670,00.html > >It sounds like a lot of guessing and assuming, with no >documentation. They claim it is the only Apple-produced >Tempest Mac known, but there's no proof that the system >was actually made by Apple and not some third-party.

The article is a bit fantastical with the black helicopters and all. My guess was that the SE/30 was built by Candes Systems (if I properly read the label on the back), under license from Apple. ?If the Mac were an Apple prototype (like Owen suggests), it would almost certainly be labeled as such and would not have the Candes label. If it were an official Apple product (as Bruce apparently believes), we'd know about it. Claiming it was a confidential Apple product produced for the CIA or some such agency sounds like fun, but is pretty unlikely. First, it is unlikely Apple would have wanted to engage in the production of such a low-production product. More probably, having recognized the existence of this niche but not wanting to actively persue it, they would have granted a smaller third party permission to build cases around Macintosh motherboards Apple could have supplied. Apple has done similar (sort of) with Dynamac and Outbound. Second, making a tempest Mac isn't hard. If the military really wanted a tempest Macintosh and wanted the project to remain confidential, they could have just slapped some metal around the inside. There would have been no need to involve Apple. This licensing theory has the potential to explain both the Apple logo and the lack of awareness at Apple of the machine's existence. Tom Applefritter www.applefritter.com