Welcome to Performa Month

From 1992 to 1997, Apple shipped over 40 Macintosh models wearing a Performa badge. In the years since, the word has become an anathema to many Mac users who were around in that era.¹

Throughout August, I will be exploring the world of this computer line in a new series:

And what a confusing world it is!

At its heart, the Performa line is the fruit of badge engineering. This is often found in the car market, perhaps most famously in the Chrysler K-car platform that debuted in 1981. Over 14 years, Chrysler, Dodge, and Plymouth shipped a dizzying array of front-wheel drive cars, all based on the same platform. Features, options, and prices ranged between them, but under the covers, these were all the same car, more or less.

Apple did something similar with the Performa, taking Macs from other lines, tweaking their features, and selling them under the Performa lineup.

In the car world, companies do this sort of work to reach different market segments without needing to create a new product for each type of consumer. In the case of the Performa, Apple wanted to sell computers to reach new users.

The Performa’s Market

Here’s a bit from the company’s press release announcing the new computer line:

Apple Computer, Inc. today introduced a new family of Macintosh computers targeting the consumer marketplace.

Initially available only in the U.S., the new Apple Macintosh Performa series of computers is designed to reach first-time buyers and new users in the home, offering specific solutions for families with school-age children.

It goes on:

“Research suggests more than half of the families in our target market have not yet found a computer solution compelling and flexible enough to meet their needs at home, though many have used a computer either at work or at school,” said Keith Fox, vice president of Consumer Markets for Apple USA.

“With the needs of those customers in mind, we developed the Macintosh Performa. Performa simplifies both the purchase decision and the buying process. We believe the Performa offers the right combination of technology and support to appeal to the estimated 7 million American families which, research tells us, have the buying power but have not yet adopted a PC for their homes.”

To make adopting their first computer easy, Apple shipped Performas as complete systems, complete with their own special edition of System 7.

Performa System Software

The original Performas — which we will discuss next time — shipped with System 7.0.1P. This version of System 7 could run on other Macs, but it came with software created with inexperienced users in mind, including Launcher.

This user interface could be managed on behalf of inexperienced or young users, giving them access to only the applications they needed.

Launcher would wind up shipping in all versions of System 7, Mac OS 8, and Mac OS 9. The screenshot above is from the latest of those releases.

This support document outlines the “progressive changes made to system software versions” for the Performa line. With the advent of Mac OS 8 in 1997, Apple did away with the “P” variants of the operating system. However, Performa hardware would still be bundled with third-party software titles to help keep costs down.

Branding

While the model numbers appended to the Performa name are true nonsense in places, the overall branding of the line was meant to be fun, friendly, and approachable. This video came out in the Mac OS 8 era, but I think it provides a good idea of what Apple was trying to portray to potential customers:

To meet these potential customers where they were, Apple put these machines for sale in big-box stores like Circuit City, Sears, and beyond. This is from a press release outlining the strategy:

“Apple will market the new line through major retailers and not its traditional resellers because some consumers are gun-shy when it comes to computer stores,” Bob Puette, president of Apple USA, said.

“First-time buyers don’t buy in computer stores because they don’t feel comfortable,” he said.

The new computers were pilot-tested for 24 weeks in Sears Roebuck & Co., Silo, Office Depot and OfficeMax, said Keith Fox, vice president of consumer markets for Apple USA. He said the distribution had now been extended to Montgomery Ward, Circuit City, Dayton Hudson, Lechmere, Staples, Tops and Tandy’s Incredible Universe.

Sears said it will offer the Performa line at its Brand Central and Office Center departments at 650 retail stores nationwide.

Despite its sales channel, Apple was insistent that the Performa was a full-blooded Macintosh:

“Performa gives you the full power of Macintosh and the ability to perform any home-based assignment, whether it’s a spreadsheet brought home from the office, a child’s homework or entertainment for the whole family,” said Eric Harslem, vice president for desktop computing.

Welcome to Performa Month

Over the next several weeks, I’ll be winding my way through Performa history. If you want to follow along, I have set up a single page to gather all the posts I’ll publish in this series.

Up next: the Performa 200, 400, and 600/600CD. See you tomorrow!