Apple Celebrates 20th Anniversary of Steve Jobs Unveiling the iMac

[Yonizzle]

Extreme nitpick time

The original iMac pioneered many industry firsts such as USB, FireWire, and quiet fan-less operation

I’m pretty sure (and Mactracker seems to confirm) that FireWire debuted in the blue and white Power Mac G3 a few months before it appeared in any iMacs. The original iMac models definitely didn’t have it. The quote doesn’t exactly claim that the iMac was the first Apple product with FireWire, but it could easily be construed that way!

 

[bluecoast]

It's really sad to see watch what's happening to Apple.

In all fairness to Apple:

About a year or so before the iMac launched, Wired magazine did a cover feature on them that seriously asked if this really was the end for them.

People honestly thought that they were going to go under and that Jobs just wouldn’t be able to turn them around, no matter how hard he tried.

Now they are the most valuable public company in the world.

 

[doctor-don]

My classroom had Mac Classics, then I had an iMac with the CRT - heavy and took up a lot of room on the desk. My first Mac for home was a Performa with a 250 MB HDD which I upgraded to a 4 GB HDD. It also had a tiny RAM - 5 MB maybe, and I upgraded to 20 MB, effectively ruining my ability to program in BASIC (since Microsoft only published the first issue - no updates).
When I bought my igloo iMac in 2002, it was supposed to last longer. Maybe it would have had the internal HDD not failed. Never got around to replacing the HDD, but bought a Mac Pro instead because I didn't want to be stuck with another all-in-one. That was 2008, and my Mac and Apple Cinema Display are still functioning well.

The current design of the iMac is feeling a bit long in the tooth, particularly the bezels and chin since many displays are nearly edge to edge nowadays.

Those are unimportant, aesthetics only, unless you show off your display to everyone who passes by your computer.

 

[WarHeadz]

The G4 was my favorite. I have one on display in my repair shop.

 

[justperry]

That is impressive. I had one of those machines too -- it was NOT cheap!

I was lucky, got it for half the price, I found out soon after that it was discontinued, didn't care though, it was one of the best Laptops Apple ever made.

Absolutely LOVED my PismoBook!

Had a Wallstreet too. It was nice, when it worked...

Pismo was reliable, was it the wallstreet which was unreliable?

 

[MacFather]

Deleted.

 

[Dave245]

Wrong. The first aluminum unibody design was released in late 2009. No major redesign since then.

The last redesign was the thin 2012 iMac

 

[WarHeadz]

"had a bloated product lineup with over a dozen Macintosh models, and seemed to lack a clear plan forward" Much like with Timmy's Apple today.....

Only difference is "Timmy's" Apple is worth almost a trillion dollars. Haters gonna keep hating!

 

[flyinmac]

Remembering the days when an entirely new product line could be designed and corporate restructuring could take place in 8 months.

Like a caterpillar transitioning from floundering and ugly to something everyone loved and thriving.

If only they could figure out how do generate that level of innovation and excitement again.

But the design innovation appears to be floundering to a point of being as active as a rock.

 

[krause734]

Let's face it. Apple is wisely a phone company first now based on profits.

 

[efktd]

I get more excited for Apple's older products than the new ones.

 

[Santabean2000]

"had a bloated product lineup with over a dozen Macintosh models, and seemed to lack a clear plan forward" Much like with Timmy's Apple today.....

Exactly. Bloated, confused, but makes prefect sense... to an accountant.

 

[Defthand]

The iMac did not gain momentum on its own merits. The iPod was responsible for the iMac’s success. The iPod’s popularity swayed Joe Public to explore Apple’s other offerings. Prior to that, Apple catered predominantly to creative professionals and academia, whose occupations justified the premium cost. The initial sales of iMacs was probably to families of the professionals who knew the brand.

It’s interesting that Apple was struggling financially prior to Apple’s transition from a computer manufacturer to a consumer electronics and media company. Considering Steve’s reputation as a business idol, it’s revealing that he invested so much passion in a company that was essentially invisible to the masses. Clearly he did it for ego—to demonstrate the inferiority of the products embraced by the status quo. Had he lowered his standards, the iPod would have been another me-too mp3 player, and Apple’s other products would have remained a niche club. It’s why I have doubts that Steve would be satisfied with Apple’s financial success alone.

 

[DeepIn2U]

Always wanted an iMac, but couldn't/can't cause I mostly move around the world, therefore I always bought portable ones, first one was a Powerbook G3 Pismo, followed by a PB G4 next a MacMini which stays at one place and then the MBP which I use now.
Great hardware overall, the Pismo lasted for 8 years mostly in humid and hot Indonesia until it finally gave up after ~20.000 hours, YES Twenty-thousand hours.

Pismo’s where true kings for power users! A great upgrade to the Lombards.

Ah yes. That mouse. Trivially easy to replace. Your point? The PowerPC was very fast. Remember we're talking about the intro of the iMac. The PowerPC at that time was faster than intel's offerings. Any poor performance browsing was due to the browser. Remember which one? Internet Explorer. That was the reason Apple had to make Safari. So remember to place blame where it was due.

Even Apple admitted to that horrible mouse lol. Recall most mice was over $69US at that time.

I recall PPC was horrible for a while after Pentium3 debuted or Pentium4s. Yet the G5 crushed everything on the market for at least a year, forcing intel to bring Xeons to the desktop lineups.

My first Apple computer was the Apple II+ way back when most of you guys were not yet even a twinkle in your daddy's eyes! I got a Macintosh SE while in graduate school in 1986. I loved my Macs back then and had several over the next decade. But by the mid-1990s Apple had lost its way, had too many models, and they were too underpowered with Motorola 680x0 chips to compete any more, plus they had a really aging OS that was long passed its prime. So I bailed out on Macs as soon as Jobs returned and stopped the licensing of Mac computers to 3rd party companies. Some of those 3rd party boxes were the best ever offered in that era. Certainly better than the junk Apple was then offering. I didn't return until they dropped those garbage PowerPC chips and started using Intel. I returned to using Macs in 2012 and love them again like I did in the 1980s. But seriously Apple, get your software for Macs and iOS thingies back up to tip top shape before you end up repeating the 1990s fiasco!

Mine was the Apple IIe at School in Gr4; 1984. My first home computer was the Commodore VIC20 despite my dads friend urging him and supplying him software I alaready began to use. (Bad dad era), yet he needed to learn computers too so we had great father son time. Next was the IIc great times. When I had my son working in IT when he turned 3 I had a Compaq lappy yet got iMac for home. When MBA Gen 2 debuted purchased 2.

Been bouncing back n forth ever since. Finally with corporations offering choice now - I’m finding it hard to see value for dollar with the current maxed out MBP 13” vs Lenovo X1 Carbon 5th gen.

 

[justperry]

Those expansion bays were sweet! You could run two batteries, one battery and a ZIP or floppy drive -- or, if I recall, you could run off AC with zero batteries and both expansion bays used for other things. I know modularity adds bulk but man was it useful.

I am almost sure you could only use the right bay for options, left one was battery only.

Edit: Yup

 

[WarHeadz]

I get more excited for Apple's older products than the new ones.

I don't. I'm excited for the next Apple Watch and new AirPods with built in hands free "Hey Siri" functionality.

Couldn't care less about the computer line. I'm still rocking my 2009 iMac and 2013 MacBook Air. Most of my computing these days in done on my iPhone X.

Times have changed, so has Apple. The one thing that hasn't changed is that they continue to make products that people adore. Hence their stock price.

When they dropped the "Computer" from their name....they weren't joking.

 

[44267547]

If only they could figure out how do generate that level of innovation and excitement again.

But the design innovation appears to be floundering to a point of being as active as a rock.

And the AirPods and Apple Watch are all products that are not considered innovative anymore? (Rhetorical) Both examples of Highly successful products, So that makes this company less innovative according to you Because they don’t Meet your own expectations.

 

[neuropsychguy]

I will never forget the first time I used a Mac. I was in kindergarten in fall 2004...

Now I'm starting to feel old.

 

[ignatius345]

The last redesign was the thin 2012 iMac

Seems like more of a refinement than a "redesign" really -- especially when you look at it in the context of the iterations of iMac form that came before it.

Once the iPhone took off, it seems like all of Apple's desktop design evolution went on "maintenence" mode (if that). As nice as the 5K iMac and iMac Pro are, they are still taking all their design cues from that same 2009 iMac. It's fine, it's a good design, but it does show you where Apple's priorities are these days. Their only truly new design for desktops in many years has been the Mac Pro, and we all know how well that went.

 

[BODYBUILDERPAUL]

I still have one! It's never been connected to the Internet or had its OS updated, so it runs as fast as day one. That is to say - perfectly. It got me through university and art school. I had QuarkXpress, Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop software on it.
Sadly it's hard drive died half way through uni and half way through my dissertation. It cost £200 to replace the damn hard drive at the time. A lot of money for a student. It still sits in a corner in my room. And it works. The plastic case has no longevity to it and has cracked in a lot of places for some reason.
It was the computer that made computers chic and sexy - a bit like the 12" MacBook of today
I remember saying to a colleague, wow no floppy disc drive and he said "Well, one day, we'll simply send things to each other over the Internet like PDFs". I was amazed Great times

 

[truthertech]

I was born in '98; my dad had a blue original iMac and it was the first computer I ever used My elementary school's computer lab was outfitted with iMacs.

I've never owned an iMac myself, but I'm thinking it may be my next computer.

You'll love the reliability. I have a 2008 that just hums along. It's now past being able to take the latest updates, but I use it in the kitchen to watch movies while I cook. I am typing on my 27" iMac 2011 that has had one problem in over 7 years, the hard disk drive starting making a periodic clicking noise two years ago. Long past any warranty, I took it in to the Genius Bar, and they checked it out for free while I waited (no one offers such customer service in the tech industry). To no surprise the software showed the HDD was in process of failing. They told me it would be about $200 to have them fix it, but asked me to wait for a minute. The support person came back to tell me that he had spoken with the manager and since they had a problem with some of these drives, if I wouldn't mind leaving it for a few days, they would replace it for free. Again, amazing customer service that you can't find anywhere else. I'll update when this version no longer can be updated with the latest OS.

 

[ignatius345]

Couldn't care less about the computer line. I'm still rocking my 2009 iMac and 2013 MacBook Air. Most of my computing these days in done on my iPhone X.

Cool. Go take a look in literally any office where people are doing actual work and report back on what everyone has on their desk.

 

[pl1984]

You'll love the reliability. I have a 2008 that just hums along. It's now past being able to take the latest updates, but I use it in the kitchen to watch movies while I cook. I am typing on my 27" iMac 2011 that has had one problem in over 7 years, the hard disk drive starting making a periodic clicking noise two years ago. Long past any warranty, I took it in to the Genius Bar, and they checked it out for free while I waited (no one offers such customer service in the tech industry). To no surprise the software showed the HDD was in process of failing. They told me it would be about $200 to have them fix it, but asked me to wait for a minute. The support person came back to tell me that he had spoken with the manager and since they had a problem with some of these drives, if I wouldn't mind leaving it for a few days, they would replace it for free. Again, amazing customer service that you can't find anywhere else. I'll update when this version no longer can be updated with the latest OS.

Wasn't there a model or two with a graphics card issue?

 

[WarHeadz]

Cool. Go take a look in literally any office where people are doing actual work and report back on what everyone has on their desk.

Your point? Apple has picked their market and are wildly successful in their chosen market. Sorry that their area of focus isn't the one you prefer for them. What they're doing is working, and the proof is in the pudding....or rather in their stock price.

Meanwhile, my entire small business is ran on iOS devices. Go figure.

 

[newyorksole]

I get more excited for Apple's older products than the new ones.

I hate reading things like this. Apple’s new products are awesome.