Happy 20th Launch Anniversary, iMac

[oldwatery]

Cook should be ashamed not celebrating. 14 years of the same basic design. No serious desktop or headless. But a new phone every time I turn around. No way under Steve.... no friggin way!
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I’ve owned iMacs non-stop since 2002. Can anybody beat that record?

I would think hundreds of thousands could. I’m one. (1998)
2002...... was the last great design. After that they became bland and without character.

 

[lishaoalox]

HBD.
And hopefully, we would see you reborn this year in 2018.
Best wishes.

 

[Sevendaymelee]

Back in 1998, my mom was going to buy our first computer. I begged her for an iMac, she went with a stock Compaq instead. I still give her crap for it.

 

[scubachap]

I had one of the stalk ones. Thought that was genius...

 

[green86]

You are right I will give you that, Jobs did that, but...
I used computers before 1998, most people didn't have computers, those who did had 1 computer at home. Sharing files was not a thing. No one needed to move his 5GB files from his laptop to his desktop to edit, and then plug it in his TV to watch it. Most software was downloaded online or had a -CD- release. Games like Quake which might have been 10MB might required maybe 8 1.44MB floppies, let alone stuff like Command and Conquer which is like 50MB.

Unless you were in work environment or for school/college, I see very little reason back then to put files on a floppy and move files from one computer to the other. As we see here, this is a consumer computer, and I don't remember people doing their homework putting it on a floppy and taking it to the computer's school.

I also will guess people were happy to abandon the ADB and SCSI for the plug and play USB, which I can't say the same for the USB-C which to most is just a different shaped port that does the same thing.

This is categorically FALSE. Although the Floppy was small, so were files back then... something you would know if you "used computers before 1998". No one used floppies for programs, but to save or backup a thesis they were perfectly fine. Many derided Apple for not using some form of rewritable storage, such as a Zip drive or a SuperFloppy. Apple knew the internet was the future, and stuck to their guns (THANKFULLY).

Why are you 'guessing' that people were happy to abandon ADB and SCSI if you were supposedly involved with computers back then? Quite a vocal MINORITY were unhappy. ADB was plug and play, and for the most part SCSI was too. The same things people are saying about USB-C today and the new MBPs were said twenty years ago. The irony is painful.

 

[MacBH928]

This is categorically FALSE. Although the Floppy was small, so were files back then... something you would know if you "used computers before 1998". No one used floppies for programs, but to save or backup a thesis they were perfectly fine. Many derided Apple for not using some form of rewritable storage, such as a Zip drive or a SuperFloppy. Apple knew the internet was the future, and stuck to their guns (THANKFULLY).

Why are you 'guessing' that people were happy to abandon ADB and SCSI if you were supposedly involved with computers back then? Quite a vocal MINORITY were unhappy. ADB was plug and play, and for the most part SCSI was too. The same things people are saying about USB-C today and the new MBPs were said twenty years ago. The irony is painful.

Zipdrive was a thing back then, I will assume so was external floppies-I never used one-I had cd-writer by 1999 IIRC. I can assume there was very little people doing backups back in 1998, in fact a 2017 study done by BlackBlaze showed that 60% or so of people still back up only on yearly basis or longer.

Did people use floppies to backup some files in 1998? Yes, but the question how many? In 1998 people's lives weren't revolving and saved digitally on their computers. Even Google barely existed.

I will let you know that I did have a lot of pleasure hooking all different types of ports to the back of PC towers with different sizes and shapes and the most fun I had was to do that screwing of the two screws with stuff like VGA wires. Trust me, USB insert-in-out is a lot better, USB used for everything unlike back then when the printer had a specific port, the mouse had a port, the monitor had a port, the modem had a port, the power had a port, the speakers had a port.

 

[bigpoppamac31]

I really expected the new iMac to be released on the 15th. Sigh.

Would have been awesome to see a 20th anniversary iMac which brings back the colours of the originals. Oh and make them affordable unlike the current ones priced only for the rich people.

 

[scubachap]

Did people use floppies to backup some files in 1998? Yes, but the question how many? In 1998 people's lives weren't revolving and saved digitally on their computers. Even Google barely existed.

Loosing the floppy from the iMac was a PITA. Floppy discs were still being used all other the place, and we used to use loads of them. We used to use them as 'sneaker-net' to transfer files from machine to machine (networks often weren't particularly fast), to take stuff home, back up files and create libraries that were portable and easily accesible of logos etc. Software installs often needed a floppy drive even if the bulk of it came on a CD. For working with larger files we used a range of things - SyQuests (ugh!), Zips, the other Iomega drive (the big one), and eventually CD Writers. The other options were quite expensive though and one would resist posting or biking them as you would never get them back if we could send a floppy instead. You knew that the person at the other end would have a floppy - but a zip dive if they weren't a printer or designer? Probably not..

Also we need to bear in mind Macs were used differently then. In the nineties the lack of compatibility between the Mac and PC (in terms of Office software) and the dominance of PC in both gaming and offices meant the Mac was really a creative machine. It was relatively unusual to see them domestically. The iMac success here seemed to be more about it's style rather than its capabilities and just about every business (from hairdressers to corporates) suddenly wanted their receptionists to be using one. It seemed as if overnight just about every company had a row of candy coloured computers in their reception areas. It's shortcomings ("How the devil are we going to get large files on and off the machine?" etc) didn't matter for that sort of use and Apple had finally started to pique the interest of non creatives with a 'You know that computer would actually look good in the corner of my living room' reaction.

 

[MacBH928]

Loosing the floppy from the iMac was a PITA. Floppy discs were still being used all other the place, and we used to use loads of them. We used to use them as 'sneaker-net' to transfer files from machine to machine (networks often weren't particularly fast), to take stuff home, back up files and create libraries that were portable and easily accesible of logos etc. Software installs often needed a floppy drive even if the bulk of it came on a CD. For working with larger files we used a range of things - SyQuests (ugh!), Zips, the other Iomega drive (the big one), and eventually CD Writers. The other options were quite expensive though and one would resist posting or biking them as you would never get them back if we could send a floppy instead. You knew that the person at the other end would have a floppy - but a zip dive if they weren't a printer or designer? Probably not..

Also we need to bear in mind Macs were used differently then. In the nineties the lack of compatibility between the Mac and PC (in terms of Office software) and the dominance of PC in both gaming and offices meant the Mac was really a creative machine. It was relatively unusual to see them domestically. The iMac success here seemed to be more about it's style rather than its capabilities and just about every business (from hairdressers to corporates) suddenly wanted their receptionists to be using one. It seemed as if overnight just about every company had a row of candy coloured computers in their reception areas. It's shortcomings ("How the devil are we going to get large files on and off the machine?" etc) didn't matter for that sort of use and Apple had finally started to pique the interest of non creatives with a 'You know that computer would actually look good in the corner of my living room' reaction.

Again I say, I am not saying they didn't exists or they didn't have their uses, but given that the iMac is a consumer machine for home uses, floppy disk uses were very limited. I really don't remember my friend writing a Word document and putting it on a disk to give it to me to open on my computer. I would be assuming that most businesses, offices, and universities were opting for the real work machine the PowerMac G3s.

If those businesses opted for the iMac because it looks good, I am sorry to say, I don't think Apple was targeting them and probably Apple didn't imagine these were going to be sold for office work. Either way I believe the CD burners were built into the iMac by next year or so, so it just leaves a very short gap in the iMac lifetime where it didn't have a way to export files. I know for sure 4 years later they had DVD burners.

I believe the internet was fast enough to send over 1MB files back then, so you can just use that because its faster than a real world meet up and transferring files.

 

[scubachap]

Hi - sure. I'm not trying to call you out or be clever, just remembering how it was for me and the people i knew really. Also, I'm in the UK and there was less penetration here of the domestic market for Apple at the time. Apple's history is full of products that took off through unintended serendipity. One of the biggest - the use of postscript wasn't a deliberate plan by them to dominate the graphics market for example. I do remember though that the very original iMac was a bit of an oddity and everyone I knew saw it as quite limited at the time. The internet was dial up for most people and occasional rather than always on. (For home use it was initially a relatively expensive machine with just a slowish modem and the then new usb standard but it looked fantastic!) I did know people who bought them for home use but most seemed to go into office receptions because they looked great etc (That ludicrous mouse though - OMG)

The second 'stalk' iMac was a fab machine - not only did it have the stalk but also firewire if I remember correctly as well as USB... Now that offered a lot more possibilities.

 

[kazmac]

Would have been awesome to see a 20th anniversary iMac which brings back the colours of the originals. Oh and make them affordable unlike the current ones priced only for the rich people.

My Bondi Blue was $2500 all said and done. Considering how much more I can get for $3000 now, not much of a price increase considering.

That said, it would be fun to see some of those colors again, and have a nicely specced base iMac that does not require BTO to get what is needed.

Won’t be surprised if we probably see a cash grab price hike if the MBPs and iMac Pro are anything to go by though.

 

[jsalda]

The first Mac I personally bought was a 2nd Gen Strawberry. Got my design business up and running on that thing. Great machines. I wish I still had it sitting around my office as a nod to the past.

 

[Horselover Fat]

Most computer users never upgrade; they get rid of their old computer by passing it on then get another one. That's the circle of life in the consumer industry. That's the upgrade cycle for iPads as well. In fact, I have a bunch of old iDevices from my family, because they're incredibly useful (even the 32-bit ones). As long as the last 32-bit version of the app still works the old-gen devices are still worth it. Heck, I know someone who's using their iPad 2 as a facebook live streamer.

Think about your TV. Do you ever throw it away? Not really. You move it to another room, or give it to your kids, or a friend, or to goodwill. That's basically what happens to older computers today.

Ok, I see. But how long do these really work? Software support, battery and component life are limited. Don't you have to have the batteries of all those iDevices swapped, every now and then? Maybe I'm spoiled by my 4,1->5,1 MP.

 

[orbital~debris]

Truly bold design.
(Mouse didn't work well.)

I still dispute that the mouse didn't work well. I think it worked really well, you just had to use it differently to most other mice… Instead of having the mouse under your palm/hand, I think it was designed to be held between thumb & fingers (using the coloured portions either side of the mouse), and with your index finger-tip on the button.

A Mac OS 9 -era "you're holding it wrong", in a way .