It’s difficult to really overstate the impact the first Macintosh left on the home computer
market.
While not the earliest implementation of a graphical user interface or windowing system,
the Mac was certainly the first successful mass-market computer with a mouse, windows,
and document previewing—ditching the premise of a command-line-driven interface.
Over the last 37 years the Mac has had high points and low points—from the SE/30 and
iMac G3 to the Performa x200 and trashcan Mac Pro.
Today, Apple’s products are more popular than ever and get this—the Apple accessory
market… just accessories for Apple products have created a more than $20B industry.
The Mac has *always* had a devout and loyal user-base—from day one, through thick and
thin—and while smaller than the market today, the 80s also housed a bevy of Apple-focused
software and hardware accessories.
One such accessory?
This.
The MacTable.
From the Garamond-guilded logotype to the thoughtful design, you’d be excused for
thinking Apple itself made this desk.
In fact, many individuals that have sold their MacTables online over the years have made
this mistake—or more cynically—intentionally misled potential buyers.
Even ZDNet in a 2013 article said “What about when you’re working from home?
The iPad and iPhone maker had you covered.”
Oh, but they didn’t because Apple didn’t make this desk—but that doesn’t make the
story behind it any less interesting.
A company under the name “Scandinavian Computer Furniture, Inc.” more colloquially known
as “ScanCo” was the brand behind MacTable.
The version I was able to get my hands on was the more common, pedestrian second revision.
The first MacTable was—in my humble opinion—significantly better designed and while I can’t state
the exact release date, the earliest evidence I was able to find of its existence was a
June 1986 release of MacWorld Magazine.
The design of the table was rather striking with an enamel painted steel frame with very
Scandinavian 90 degree feet.
The top of the table is very unique with the front half of the desk being a slope-adjustable
slab and the rear half of the desk having three panels that could be individually tilted.
The Mac was intended to fit in the center section and was actually height adjustable.
You see, the original Macintosh models didn’t ship with an internal hard disk but starting
in 1986 you could get external SCSI disks upon which your Mac would sit.
Obviously, this would make the Mac itself quite a bit taller and so the desk accounted
for this height discrepancy by allowing you to lower your machine a few inches.
The desk had a number of other well-considered niceties like cable management channels, a
platform for your continuous dot matrix printer paper ream, a lock-box for your valuable floppies,
and more.
If this design seems too well-thought out for the cocaine-laced 1980s there’s a reason
for that.
Possibly.
According to this first ad for MacTable, the desk was designed by the iconic Jacob Jensen
and Derek Dennis of Bang & Olufsen fame.
But here’s the thing…
I have a pet theory that this isn’t actually true and was a white lie to sell more MacTable
units.
Why?
Well, because by the mid 1980s, Jacob Jensen had long been considered one of the world’s
most renown industrial designers—amongst the likes of Dieter Rams and Philippe Starck.
With a long and storied history at Bang & Olufsen, the likelihood that he’d spend time designing
a desk for this unknown startup furniture company seems… suspect.
Especially when considering that in this advertisement his name is spelled wrong, the other designer,
Derek Dennis might exist but I couldn’t find anything about him ever being real or
working for B&O, and the fact that after this first advertisement, they never once mentioned
Jacob Jensen ever again—despite his extremely high profile and prestige as a designer.
I’m not saying they were scammers, but…
I mean… is it possible that they told a bit of a lie about a guy located halfway across
the world in an age before the widespread internet to sell a desk to an extremely niche
subset of already niche computer enthusiasts?
Ehhh…
We’ll never know how many of the original MacTables were ever sold but something in
1987 happened that messed everything up—a form factor change.
Since the Macintosh was new, nobody knew how long Apple would retain the classic all-in-one
form factor and while they did until 1992 with specific models like the Macintosh SE,
SE/30, and Macintosh Classic, the Pro Macs shifted to a more PC-looking form factor with
the Snow White design language.
Back in the 80s before the era of Johnathan Ive and the pursuit of thinnness, Apple was
just a computer company.
A computer company with a better-than-average sense of design, but just a computer company.
In the mid-80s, Apple wanted outside help to create a design language for future Apple
products that would transform them from a small Silicon Valley company to a “global
brand.”
There were 7 products (it was actually eight—but eight dwarves doesn’t sound as compelling)
Apple had whipped up and a bunch of design firms came up with ideas for each of the 8
products.
Frog Design was ultimately determined to have been the best and Apple adopted their style.
Distinguishing characteristics of the Snow White computers was the following: gone was
the warm beige color of the 70s and adopted was an off-white “fog” which was eventually
changed to a gray “platinum” to reduce fingerprints.
Each product had an in-laid 3D Apple logo, an expensive and new (at the time) injection
molding process called “zero-draft” which allowed for a subtle but impressive precision
on the exterior but also one that could fit components more tightly thus decreasing overall
case size, and most distinctly, they added shallow horizontal and vertical lines.
Not only did this allow for hidden ventilation but it also gave the illusion that the computer
enclosure was smaller than it really was.
While Snow White designs may look a bit dated today, it help set design trends industry-wide
and molded the perception that computers could transcend beyond mere utility.
The first snow white machine to break the 1984 Macintosh form factor was the Macintosh
II—a machine designed for professionals.
Rather than opt for an all-in-one design, the Macintosh II was modular and much larger
in size.
This computer was obviously too big for the MacTable’s precision-engineered all-in-one
Macintosh cavity.
Thus, ScanCo got to re-designing it.
I reckon this time they did so without external design help because—while nice—it’s
clearly less refined and sophisticated as the original design.
The metal subframe is ditched for a beechwood one making the table significantly lighter,
the heavy 90 degree legs have taken on a more traditional “table” form, and those modular
panels?
Well, they’ve just been moved to the front.
In the second revision, where the computer and your printer and your accessories fit?
That’s all a single slab of wood and frankly, of no benefit over a standard table.
The front panels can now adjust but I kinda wonder beyond maybe tilting down the keyboard
what benefit having angled panels would be for.
Your mouse obviously needs to remain on a flat plane and what are you going to put on
the left?
That’s space near your arms which you’d likely want to leave open.
The revised design is confusing but it came with a massive price cut: from $399 to $289.
With inflation that makes it about 639 2021 dollary-dos.
Not a cheap table to be sure, but also not entirely unreasonable I don’t think.
It’s not made of the nicest materials—just melamine and beechwood, but it is mostly solid
hardwood, it’s sturdy, and it has a heft you wouldn’t find in, say, IKEA furniture.
That said, IKEA desks are a lot cheaper than $650.
With this price cut subtracted the included cabinet—that would’ve run you an extra
$139—and it wasn’t really part of the table either.
It just had rollable casters on the bottom.
Disappointing to say the least.
What’s not disappointing is that they upgraded the surface-top to a Platinum Gray color—very
similar to the Macintosh computers that were employing use of it.
Pretty classy to have your table compliment your computer’s color.
Over the years it seems ScanCo branched out into other general office furniture as indicated
by the last ad I could find online for MacTable posted in 1989.
They began selling a lateral filing cabinet, bookshelves, and a two door cabinet, oh, and
they also sold an office chair.
Gone was the beautiful, forward-thinking design of the first MacTable and what remained was
merely bland, cheap, dated Scandinavian-style office furniture.
For all six pieces you’d be looking at a total of $1,214 plus shipping and handling.
Interestingly, in this ad it seems that they reversed their decision on panel placement
moving the adjustable panels back to the rear half of the desk with a solid slab on the
front.
My desk doesn’t officially allow you to change orientation but we tried anyways and
yeah, uh, it doesn’t really work with the pitch of the slabs and the logo finds itself
upside down.
I’ve never seen a second-revision MacTable in the configuration presented by this ad.
Maybe they never sold any.
And that brings us to the question: what happened to MacTable after 1989?
In short?
I don’t know.
The downtown Seattle office they occupied from day one actually seems to have gone by
the wayside while the company was still active with later ads mentioning only a Redmond P.O.
box.
The company had a trademark for the MacTable name which expired in 2002 and was never renewed.
The agent on file—aka the owner—Soren Stohm is a tricky man to find.
A distinctly Danish name, there are a lot of references I found to him back in the 80s
and he seemed pretty involved in the community.
The book “Macintosh II Repair and Upgrade Secrets” by Larry Pina thanks Soren Storm
of ScanCo in the foreword.
I was able to locate the home he owned until 2001 in Seattle and the home that he and his
wife allegedly relocated to in Florida—presumably for retirement—however, after messaging
who I believe to be his children on social media, I only heard back from one who told
me she didn’t know a Soren Storm.
Soren, if you’re watching this, thanks for making this cool table.
Sure, it might not be super integral to the history of Apple or the Mac but it just goes
to show how devout and tightly-knit the Mac community was in its infancy.
While that community is long gone and the new one is comprised of millions of people,
I still feel in a way that new Apple Silicon Macs hearken in some ways to the early days
of the Macintosh.
There’s excitement in the air, the prospect of new technologies, and I’m excited to
see what other people make (1) as a result of ARM Macs and (2) for ARM Macs.
Even if it’s just a desk.