A Touchscreen iMac G3?!

[classof2011]

Yeah right.

Found on eBay when I was looking for parts for my iMac :

Link here


I seriously doubt they have a touchscreen CRT monitor in there, and just for $95


Just thought it would be worth a post.

 

[dpaanlka]

I sent that ebay seller a question about it.

 

[mad jew]

So prove them wrong. Buy it, touch the screen, and watch as nothing happens. Okay, maybe don't.

I've seen a few touch screen iMac G3s around the place. I've got no idea how much people'd be charging for them, but I'm guessing it's not terribly much. Touch screen pricing has come way down in the past five years or so.

 

[thebrain74]

I call shananigans

 

[classof2011]

So prove them wrong. Buy it, touch the screen, and watch as nothing happens. Okay, maybe don't.

I've seen a few touch screen iMac G3s around the place. I've got no idea how much people'd be charging for them, but I'm guessing it's not terribly much. Touch screen pricing has come way down in the past five years or so.

Hmm...but how would they get the screen to work with it? Possibly a touchscreen CRT? That's weird.

 

[Scannall]

I call shananigans

Burger King used iMacs inside their video game things at their stores for many years, and those were all touch screen.

 

[localoid]

Touchscreen technology isn't as new as some people seem to believe. It's been common since the '90s for use in kiosks, etc.

You can retro-fit just about any Mac with a touchscreen if you so desire.

 

[iW00t]

Touchscreen technology isn't as new as some people seem to believe. It's been common since the '90s for use in kiosks, etc.

You can retro-fit just about any Mac with a touchscreen if you so desire.

MULTI touch is new however.

 

[mad jew]

Nah we've always had ten fingers.

 

[Tsurisuto]

We used to have a touchscreen iMac G3 at university when I was there.

 

[Zedsdead185]

The fist iMac i ever saw was a touchscreen g3. From that day onwards i thought that all imacs were touchscreen

 

[rainydays]

MULTI touch is new however.

No it's been around for a long time. It just hasn't been cheap/good enough to sell it to consumers.

 

[classof2011]

I believe the fact that iMac G3's can be touchscreen, but what I don't believe is that he's letting it go for $100. Of course, if he has proof of that specific iMac being a touchscreen, I'll take it .... if it's not over yet.

 

[headhammer]

hey, i read about the LARGE! 20gb hard drive, and i'm sold! wow!

 

[dpaanlka]

hey, i read about the LARGE! 20gb hard drive, and i'm sold! wow!

That is a pretty big drive for those. It's not that funny.

 

[MIDI_EVIL]

This is legit, it's for educational purposes or for people with special requirements.

I've seen them on eBay in the UK, too.

A quick google brings an advert for a competition to win one through DealMac,

http://www.macobserver.com/news/99/september/990928/dealmaciamccontest.html

Here is a link to the company website, of the manufacturer of touch screen displays, namely the one in the G3

http://www.elotouch.com/

Rich.

 

[bogdanw]

Touchscreen iMac G3 now on video
Michael MJD - The Prototype TOUCHSCREEN iMac… From 1999

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZGswRH4wbM

Action Retro - That's No Ordinary iMac G3...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvkaAqCaduE

Ars Technica - Unearthed touchscreen iMac G3 prototype evokes a very different era of Apple
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/202...ototype-evokes-a-very-different-era-of-apple/
Related threads
Touchscreen iMac G3 adventures https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/touchscreen-imac-g3-adventures.1393978/
iMac G3 touchscreen tray-load https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/imac-g3-touchscreen-tray-load.597668/

 

[3922434]

Yes I can confirm that touchscreen iMacs do exist there’s actually g4 touch screen as well. They were used primarily for interactive demos in stores particularly partner stores..if those of you who are old enough to remember when Mac’s were sold at sears and other brand store like circuit city…they used a third party panel that was not produced or designed by apple and were only produced for retailers and never available to order as a consumer device. Because it was never meant to be a consumer device they designed it in a janky way because it would not be viewed by the public…they used a wire to connect to the outer usb port not a design that apple would’ve ever shipped. Action Retro posted a good video of a break down. We had one in our sears store running a custom application that basically allowed the customer to touch the screen and flip fact sheets about the different apple products that were offered at our store…basically prices and there specs and accessories that were available . It was designed as more of a sales tool than anything else. At this time apple was just on the brink of going bankrupt so they were looking for anything they could do to spice up the Mac lineup and stand out because not many retailers at the time wanted apple in there stores…was a lot harder back then to partner with providing retail space to apple because the writing had been on the walls that they may go out of business. And not many partners wanted to sign multiyear contracts because they were afraid the company close while those contracts were still active. These were just one of the ways to attract retailer partnerships. There’s so many more of these types of projects apple did at the time it’s not even funny…they were going to offer themes that could that could change the look of the Mac interface on Mac OS 8.5 which these touchscreen Mac’s ran. Anyway just wanted to give you guys little explanation haha I have a family member that worked at next and then apple after it was acquired.

 

[svamethyst99]

funny how someone revived a 16 year old thread due to youtube techies discovering that these existed. i used to work at a school that got some imacs donated to them in the early 2000s and one of them had a touchscreen... i believe it was an edmark touchwindow which went in front of the tube. it was designed for educational games, i think.

 

[Old Man McGuggins]

Yeah right.

Found on eBay when I was looking for parts for my iMac :

Link here


I seriously doubt they have a touchscreen CRT monitor in there, and just for $95


Just thought it would be worth a post.

A third party company made these under Apple's blessing. Assuming he's not lying about it being one, it's a real one. Michael MJD made a video on it. You can watch it here.