GlobalPC

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The GlobalPC is a ROMDOS and PC / GEOS based home computer with embedded technology. It was produced in large numbers in 2000 and marketed mainly in the USA and Canada by MyTurn Inc.

As Internet-enabled desktop computer can, from 1987 equipped as a modern successor to the GEOS, C128 are considered and stood in direct competition with the 1998's Apple iMac and personal computers , with Pentium III - processors equipped with Windows Desktops were equipped.

Emergence

Robert Edward Turner IV., Son of CNN boss Ted Turner , and several other influential US personalities renamed the previously acquired police software company Compudawn to MyTurn.com on June 10, 1997, and founded the subsidiary e.TV -Commerce Inc. and in 1999 bought the recently founded manufacturer of a new type of home computer GlobalPC, as well as divisions of LocalNet Communication , in order to bring MyTurn.com to the US stock exchange as a public company. The aim was at the latest with the acquisition of GlobalPC, the worldwide marketing of the PC / GEOS 4.x computer for Internet, hobby and office, GlobalPC , which was then advertised as easy to learn and inexpensive .

The Internet platform www.MyTurn.com, which is part of the marketing of the GlobalPC and fed with CNN content, was an attempt by the "Ted Turner Empire" to compete with the then market leader AOL . In addition, MyTurn and AMD wanted to break the " Wintel " monopoly consisting of Intel and Microsoft with the GlobalPC and its planned successors .

Technical specifications

The GlobalPC had the following system configuration:

A power supply unit, PS / 2 keyboard and mouse were also part of the scope of delivery, as well as connection options for operation on a television according to the NTSC standard .

operating system

ROMDOS from Datalight version 6.22 was preinstalled as the operating system base , while GEOS 4 served as the graphical user interface . The optionally switchable surface for advanced users was called GEOS 2000 and was similar in appearance and use to Windows systems of that time.

marketing

After a professional market research analysis, the GlobalPC was first marketed in direct sales through a structured sales organization . However, this procedure was ended after a short test phase of just a few weeks when it was possible to place the computer in department store chains such as Walmart .

With an advertising campaign on CNN and their sales channel show with CNN Vice President Bella Shaw and NFL sports legend Terry Bradshaw , the former quarterback of the Pittsburgh Steelers , the GlobalPC should be made palatable to the 40% US households without computers. In various show blocks of the CNN sales channels, the simple operating concept was repeatedly emphasized and touted as the “Small is Beautiful” philosophy.

The commercial "No Exit", produced for the cinema support programs and the sales show, won the International Monitor Award 2001 from the Associated of Imaging Technology and Sound in the categories of Best Achievement and Best Editing . The commercial produced by Pictures in a Row for the GlobalPC launch caused a stir among Macintosh fans in the USA because of its similarities to the 1984 Macintosh commercial.

Decline

With the bankruptcy of MyTurn.com in 2001, which could not be prevented by a contract concluded with the Brazilian manufacturer TCE for 750,000 GlobalPCs at the end of 2000, in addition to the 100,000 devices stored in the USA, another 100,000 GlobalPCs produced in China remained in the bankruptcy estate.

literature

  • Neil Weinberg, "The Un-PC," Forbes Magazine, March 7, 2000
  • Rick Aristotle Munarriz, "Is It MyTurn.com's Turn?", The Motley Fool, April 10, 2000
  • Business Wire, "MyTurn Acquires State-of-the-Art Technology and Engineering Resources From Breadbox Computer Company," June 28, 2000
  • Linda Harrison, "$ 299 PC launches in Oregon," The Register, July 19, 2000
  • DPW Staff: "GlobalPC - Full Featured Internet Orientated PC", July 21, 2000
  • Eli Udell, "GlobalPC ad sparks outrage in Mac community," The Macintosh News Network - MacNN, August 4, 2000
  • Business Wire: “MyTurn Signs First Sublicensing Agreement for GEOS Operating System; Brazil's TCE Agrees to Produce 750,000 GlobalPC's for Distribution in Brazil ", August 23, 2000
  • Mark Gundersen, "Nasdaq Changes Status of Trading Halt in MyTurn.com and Requests Additional Information from Company," Nasdaq.com, January 31, 2001
  • Marcella Bernhard, "HBO Exec's PC For The Masses Is A Miss," Forbes.com, March 16, 2001
  • Millimeter.com: "ITS Announces Winners of 2001 Monitor Awards", August 17, 2001
  • Sandy Hunter, 2001 International Monitor Awards, Boardsmag Online, September 6, 2001

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ MyTurn.com Home Page . Onscreensystems.com. Retrieved July 13, 2010.
  2. ↑ Compu-DAWN to Usher in Era of Sub- $ 300 PCs - Signs GlobalPC Acquisition Documents; GlobalPC Product to Target 'Unconnected' Population Shopping at Kmart, Mass Merchant Retailers. - Free Online Library . Thefreelibrary.com. August 4, 1999. Retrieved July 13, 2010.
  3. ↑ Download the manual ( ZIP ; 3.0 MB) from GEOS-InfoBase.

Web links