Headless iMac article. My thoughts, exactly.

[srobert]

—>_Click for Whole Article <—

Extract from the article:

So what to do about the iMac? Cut off its head. This suggestion has been floating around the Apple community for a while, and it's time for Apple to listen.

The whole article is well enough written with interesting facts and numbers.

I've personally been wishing for a consumer priced headless mac for a while.

 

[Dont Hurt Me]

I had seen this earlier myself and the author is right on the money, I was just over at the dell site and they have stuff that hardware wise simply blows away Imac/Emac. hardware spec after hardware spec no comparison at all. not even same ballpark. Lets face it Imac/Emac is old outdated underperforming hardware that has only 2 things going for it. Better style, and Superior software. I really feel the software guys at apple have been saving the sorry hardware division for last 4 stagnating G4 years. Makes me almost sick at what the otherside has hardware wise.
If not for Ibm's 970 Apple would be sunk.
I wonder how long it will take before Apple has enough of those G5s to start putting them in other products. Almost ashamed at Apple still pushing slow G4s with 133/167 busses when the otherside is giving away P4s that leave G4 in the dust. Pathetic.

 

[Megaquad]

I agree, only concern is that too many models could possibly create confusion for customers now that there's iMac, eMac.. Apple had the problem in the past.
Anyway it is a great idea, they should call it Xmac

 

[gwuMACaddict]

eh... i still don't get what all the fuss is about. i dont think most people are about upgrading the machine once they buy it.

slap a g5 in it, make it cheaper...

thats all

 

[srobert]

The iMac is perfectly fine. It's just that it does'nt appeal to everybody.

Many people with a thighter budget don't like to spend money for a all in one system when the computer attached to the LCD could be "obsolete" in 3 years (make that 1 or 2 with the current iMac config). They'll have a perfectly good LCD attached to a somewhat struggling computer.

By seperating the LCD from the computer. People could either purchase the computer and attach it to a display they already own. (savings)

or

Purchase Both the computer and LCD separatly and, in a few years, repalce only the computer, keeping their fine display. (savings)

This concept does'nt appeal to everybody (and it does'nt have to) but many many of us would love to see it happen.

 

[altair]

Originally posted by srobert
Many people with a thighter budget don't like to spend money for a all in one system when the computer attached to the LCD could be "obsolete" in 3 years (make that 1 or 2 with the current iMac config). They'll have a perfectly good LCD attached to a somewhat struggling computer.

Obsolete? Yeesh, this is the one thing that is bothering me the most these days with computer users. If you mean that in 1 or 2 years the machine will be slower than the current ubah models, than you are correct, however for the average user, ie, the people the 'i' line is aimed at, a 1 or 2 year old iMac is going to be fine. For instance, my parents are using my old iMac rev B, which is 333mhz with like 512mb of ram. This is fine for them, all they do is email, internet, quicken, word and iPhoto. That machine is five years old now, and they are not going to need a new machine essentialy ever.

Sooooo, I dont think it makes much sense. The last thing the average user needs is a 2ghz G5 iMac w/ a gig of DDR ram and a 128mb video card. If you want to do hardcore gaming, or photoshop, buy a G5 tower and use your old monitor.

/rant

edit: typo

 

[jrv3034]

Originally posted by altair
Obsolete? Yeesh, this is the one thing that is bothering me the most these days with computer users... Sooooo, I dont think it makes much sense. The last thing the average user needs is a 2ghz G5 iMac w/ a gig of DDR ram and a 128mb video card. If you want to do hardcore gaming, or photoshop, buy a G5 tower and use your old monitor.

Thank you, altair. I don't think the iMac should be headless. Maybe they should make a new product separate from the iMac that doesn't have a display, but the appeal of the iMac is that it IS all-in-one. I think they should put a low power G5 (1.6 or 1.8 GHz) into it, and maybe change the case a little (colored aluminum like the iPod mini, perhaps?) and leave well enough alone. There is a market for the iMac alongside a G5 Cube + detachable monitor, IMO.

 

[Sun Baked]

Originally posted by gwuMACaddict
eh... i still don't get what all the fuss is about. i dont think most people are about upgrading the machine once they buy it.

slap a g5 in it, make it cheaper...

thats all

Removing the screen does not solve the problem people have with the iMac, especially if there is not fundamental design change.

Since the machine would still become obsolete just a quick as the screened cousin.

Something along the lines of the old Cube/Perfoma 6400, would probably be what people are asking for.

1 optical bay, 1 HD bay, 1 PCI slot, AGP slot and easy access to all the memory slots. Even if the processor isn't on a daughtercard.

Problem is the machine probably wouldn't be too much less than the iMac -- hopefully at 999.

 

[TimDaddy]

Maybe Apple should consider assembling headless iMacs, but not selling them that way. By a headless iMac, send in your old iMac, and they put the screen on your new one! The 20" lcd sells for $1300 on the web store. I paid $2200 for my 20" iMac. So, if you could buy the headless iMac for $900-$1300, and pay a nominal fee for the screen transfer, it could still be quite a bit cheaper.