Apple TV Prototype from 1995 ends up on eBay

The year’s 1995, and Apple’s working on an interactive television box. Fast-forward another 12 years into the future and Apple Inc. releases the AppleTV. If you ever need proof that Apple has big plans for the AppleTV the prototype may be what you’re looking for.

The original AppleTV (actually called the Interactive Television Box) device was designed to connect to a remote server and download content to the box, and then display the video on the television. Sound familiar? Almost a decade before iTunes successfully brought the world digital content distribution and television downloads (Oct. 2005), Apple was planning to bring content to the living-room. How astounding is that?

If there was ever a moment to give thanks to industry innovators now would be the time.

Apple has the foresight to bring content into the living-room long before anyone was even talking about the possibility. It really makes you pause for a moment and think about the things consumer electronics companies could be working on today with the intention of changing the world tomorrow.

Now for the real news

Some guy who goes by the user name Macsales on eBay had put the Television Box from 1995 up for auction. It sold for $46.00. Something tells us he would have gotten a lot more for it had he got word out a little earlier.

Photo Gallery of the device

Joshua is the Content Marketing Manager at BuySellAds. He’s also the founder of Macgasm.net. And since all that doesn’t quite give him enough content to wrangle, he’s also a technology journalist in his spare time, with bylines at PCWorld, Macworld… Full Bio