Unicorn internal HD for Mac and Mac+? Micah Drive AT

H

Huguenot

6502
IMG_0747.jpeg
Has anyone ever encountered one of these in the wild? I worked on this project as a consultant in late 1985, my task was to design the sheetmetal support frame and make it fit inside. I actually still have the drawings -hand done on vellum, as this was pre CAD.
Micah was a group of fast talking marketing guys, the assembly and fulfillment was done by Logistix Corporation in San Jose, CA. I do know that parts were ordered for at least 2000 units but the whole project blew up later due to some of the personalities involved. Logistix is long gone, though they did work with Apple for years -the Super Bowl seat cushions at the Stanford game (SB XIX, IIRC) was one of their deals.
I can find -zero- information online about Micah or the staff guys I dealt with. Many of them, and some of their Logistix counterparts, were EST people, an odd group for sure and it made for a weirdly competitive environment.
I took my check and bailed early on, heard rumors of patent trolling and financial mismanagement afterwards but lost both track and interest. And yet... all those parts on order had to wind up somewhere. IMG_0746.jpeg
 
I remember seeing the ads, but I never saw an actual unit. In my view, the sheet metal design is the most impressive part! I would have bought one of those frames even without the drive.
 
Thanks, I was pretty proud of it. The one in the pic is a prototype, I changed the way it bolted to the chassis a bit for production. The flat bar and nuts were replaced by 2 flanged delrin "nuts" that entered through those holes in the Mac chassis.
If anyone wants to have some made I can supply the drawings. I also did similar work for Radius and a bunch of model shop type modification work for Next. Was a great time to live in the valley...
 
olePigeon said:
Looks like a cleaner implementation than the HyperDrive, especially the fan.
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As I had come from the 128k project at Apple I was well aware that getting the heat out of that box was a major problem. The vent design in the top was in flux till the very last minute. The UL "paper clip test" caused us to redesign with a chevron shaped cross section, which further restricted the already meager outflow of heat. This lead to last minute mold changes and ultrasonic welding of the vent inserts.
That zero draft rear housing made for super expensive molds, all because Steve figured the expense would deter competitors from copying us. In those days the competition was actually Taiwan and 2 of our major suppliers (CRT and power supply) were located there.
 
I think Apple underestimated the PC market when it came to "good enough." People are willing to compromise a lot on design features if it meant a cheaper computer.
 
Huguenot said:
That zero draft rear housing made for super expensive molds, all because Steve figured the expense would deter competitors from copying us. In those days the competition was actually Taiwan and 2 of our major suppliers (CRT and power supply) were located there.
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Thats interesting - have you seen the modern reproduction SE / SE/30 cases?

I bet the guy that got them made would like a sharp word about that after they had to make the new tooling. It hadn't occured to me that they had zero draft on the vertical sides and bottom. I'd not thought about it.
 
olePigeon said:
I think Apple underestimated the PC market when it came to "good enough." People are willing to compromise a lot on design features if it meant a cheaper computer.
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"Good enough" and Steve Jobs never existed in the same universe... We had battles over stuff like the little rubber feet on the case bottom, the original design had the Apple logo in the mold. Even the design of the EPS foam packing caused big drama, one day I'll write that one up.
 
Huguenot said:
the original design had the Apple logo in the mold
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Yeah, some of them turn up. I'm in the UK so don't see much early Macintosh hardware here (numbers didn't really pick up until the Plus) - I assume the apple feet were just prototypes?

The regular 3M feet are hard enough to match - the ones you can find tend to be white, black or clear (I use clear, because they go with any colour). For ages we struggled to work out what they were, until it was realised they'd gone squat from 35 years of a Mac sat on them, and actually they were taller and smaller diameter when new 🤣
 
Phipli said:
Thats interesting - have you seen the modern reproduction SE / SE/30 cases?

I bet the guy that got them made would like a sharp word about that after they had to make the new tooling. It hadn't occured to me that they had zero draft on the vertical sides and bottom. I'd not thought about it.
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Actually I was unaware there are reproductions around. The zero draft thing was a big deal for (...some of...) us, in retrospect it was a huge waste of engineering time and tooling $.
But you had to pick your battles, I did win the one about the rubber feet (mentioned above).
There were 6 mold sets for the case and bezel (as of '84). The first went to AB Plastics in LA, the second to Trend Plastics in San Jose. When John Scully came on board we managed to convince him we needed even more so I ordered a lot of 4 to be built by Deluxe Die Mold in Chicago. IIRC the total for all 4 was just under $1mm (in 1983!).
 
Huguenot said:
Actually I was unaware there are reproductions around. The zero draft thing was a big deal for (...some of...) us, in retrospect it was a huge waste of engineering time and tooling $.
But you had to pick your battles, I did win the one about the rubber feet (mentioned above).
There were 6 mold sets for the case and bezel (as of '84). The first went to AB Plastics in LA, the second to Trend Plastics in San Jose. When John Scully came on board we managed to convince him we needed even more so I ordered a lot of 4 to be built by Deluxe Die Mold in Chicago. IIRC the total for all 4 was just under $1mm (in 1983!).
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They're always sold out, but here :

maceffects.com

MacEffects Clear Case for Macintosh SE & SE/30

Here it is, the first production transparent front and rear for the Macintosh SE and SE/30. Peer inside at the Mac's marvelous engineering. Whether on display or in use, make a bold statement! Color cases are all sold out.
maceffects.com maceffects.com
 
Phipli said:
Yeah, some of them turn up. I'm in the UK so don't see much early Macintosh hardware here (numbers didn't really pick up until the Plus) - I assume the apple feet were just prototypes?

The regular 3M feet are hard enough to match - the ones you can find tend to be white, black or clear (I use clear, because they go with any colour). For ages we struggled to work out what they were, until it was realised they'd gone squat from 35 years of a Mac sat on them, and actually they were taller and smaller diameter when new 🤣
Click to expand...
Details of this can be found on folklore.org if you are interested. I don't believe any logo'd ones ever made it near production.
 
finkmac said:
definitely a fun little tale

I think most people here would very much appreciate anything you're willing to release @Huguenot :)
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I saw this as a mostly technical site and did not want to get bumped by the mods. Wish I had added more to the folklore site but that is now locked. I'll post a few more here and see what happens. They will be in the "compact" forum as they are more general than peripheral related.
 
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