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Performa 410 In-Store Demo
Posted by: dougg3 on 2025-03-29 20:12:30
I recently bought a Performa 410, and found a couple of cool things on it.

First of all, it's running System 7.1P3 and has barely been customized. All of the original software is there and nothing new was added except for a few fonts. The machine appears to have only been used for ClarisWorks. That's exciting because 7.1P3 is a version that hasn't actually been preserved by anyone yet. I'm going to clean it up a tad bit more to get it totally back to stock state and then run Apple Backup and share it so that we have a clean reference install of 7.1P3.

1743304122387.png

Okay, so I lied. There was one extra piece of software added, which is something that actually makes this computer interesting. At the end of the Applications folder after all of the bundled software, I spotted this folder in the bottom right, created in July 1993 and last modified in September 1993:

1743303277175.png

Huh, that's interesting. Let's take a closer look:

1743303354683.png

Unfortunately it hangs when I run it in MAME, but it works in Basilisk II. I immediately realized that this machine must have originally been an in-store demo unit. This is the kiosk software that would have been running on the demo machine in the store. It has a repeating intro thing trying to catch people's attention. It tells you to press the return key if you don't know how to use a mouse, or you can click the mouse to enter the main menu. It has a comparison between the Performa 410 and 466, info about what's included, a bunch of demo videos for bundled and additional software, and info about the AppleDesign Powered Speakers, StyleWriter II, and AppleCD 300.

1743303629650.png

1743303653619.png

1743303671822.png

1743303754207.png

It took me a while to figure out how to exit it. It was created with MacroMind Director, and I found this little chunk of Lingo code in most screens:

  -- look for small 'p' and Option together
  if the keycode = 35 and the optionDown = TRUE then
    -- go frame "quit"
    shutDown
    QUIT
  end if

Sure enough, option-p is how you exit.

Here is some attribution info I also found in the code:

-- ©1993, Apple Computer, Inc.
-- Developed by re:Source Marketing, 7/93

Does anybody remember this demo actually being in stores back in the day? I uploaded it to the Macintosh Garden so anybody can play with it. As a heads up, if I try to run it in Infinite Mac, it seems to have trouble finding one of the support files. I suspect it's because the filename has a / in it. Works fine in Basilisk II with the resolution set to 640x480.
Posted by: Fizzbinn on 2025-03-30 08:43:40
So cool! I do remember seeing these demos in stores (Computer City, CompUSA, Sears?), as I recall there was also coordinated info signage attached to the monitors.

I wonder if there are marketing CD-ROMs out there that have demos for more machines?
Posted by: dougg3 on 2025-03-30 09:35:57
So cool! I do remember seeing these demos in stores (Computer City, CompUSA, Sears?), as I recall there was also coordinated info signage attached to the monitors.

Nice! In my head I'm envisioning something like this recreation of the Macintosh TV's original advertising.

I wonder if there are marketing CD-ROMs out there that have demos for more machines?

I was wondering the same thing. I'm sure there's similar stuff out there somewhere for the other models, if it hasn't been lost to time. Maybe there are some un-dumped CDs out there containing in-store demos from this era. Although the 410 didn't have a CD drive...but I guess they could have attached one to install the demo. Or maybe there was a set of Apple Backup floppies specifically for the store demo units.

BTW, I assume this means that the retailer that sold the 410 also sold the 466...it would be weird if the in-store demo was helping someone choose whether to buy the Sears model or the Walmart model!

I figured out how to get the demo working in Infinite Mac. I just run System 7.6 with a 640x480 screen as the only customization, upload the .sit file, extract it, copy the extracted folder to the hard drive, and then run the demo. It has trouble locating the support files unless I copy the extracted folder to the hard drive first. I had trouble trying earlier system versions too.

Edit: It seems like the magic solution is to copy the .sit file to Saved HD first before extracting. I think there's something funky going on with "The Outside World" if the extraction happens inside of there.
Posted by: Fizzbinn on 2025-03-30 11:07:33
Found this which jibes with my memory:
1743358007415.jpeg

appleinsider.com

The next ten years of Apple Retail | AppleInsider

Apple celebrated three ten year anniversaries in 2011, making this year its first full year in its second decade of Mac OS X development, iPod devices and iTunes, and its retail operations, even as the company takes on new business categories ranging from iAd to iCloud to Siri. Here's a look at...
appleinsider.com appleinsider.com
Posted by: dougg3 on 2025-03-30 21:11:10
Found this which jibes with my memory:

Nice find! I wonder if there are any similar other pictures of other models hiding around on the internet somewhere...
Posted by: adespoton on 2025-03-31 16:59:31
Hah... we could create a set of marquees, even have them available via Infinite Mac, or have templates people could print to demo their Performas at gatherings 😀
Posted by: Fizzbinn on 2025-03-31 19:37:36
1743475032232.png

From:
https://www.reddit.com/r/VintageApple/comments/ixz3vi
Posted by: dougg3 on 2025-03-31 22:18:00
Apple Campus Store Oct 1993....more pix
by u/Jaxermd in VintageApple

Ahhh, nice! Here's the CD it came from. I also found the Performa 575 in there, and the Power Mac 6100/60 and 8100/80:

575.jpg
6100.jpg
8100.jpg
Posted by: nathall on 2025-03-31 22:48:17
Nice! I love it.
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