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iMac G4 With Revolutionary Floating Display Announced 20 Years Ago Today

I was holding off buying my first Mac waiting for OS X to mature a bit more. I lusted for one of these G4 systems, then BAM, they were gone. I did get a first-gen G5, but it just wasn't the same. Regretted holding off ever since. A beautiful machine.
 
kemal said:
I set up a room of 30 of these. Had them all running the visualizer in iTunes and one playing jazz. Lights out. Yes, they all had their displays facing the door to the room. It was quite a shock to those entering that room!
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Do you still have a picture of that room @kemal ? I'd love to see it.
 
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CooperBox said:
Pretty easy - no way! Extremely complex - yes. See post #47, using a Mac Mini motherboard probably. The first difficult steps would be to convert the screen for video signal compatibility with modern Intel/M1 Silicon, and that's no mean task.
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Indeed.

Mac mini guts would easy fit into that base.

Ports you could almost very short jumper cables to the case holes.
And I was thinking actually about moving the display from a Macbook into the screen in this desktop.
After all the macbook screen is probably a lot thinner and should fir into this casing.
 
Still have mine. Haven't turned it on in ages, but the best iMac speakers ever!

PS: We call it the Manapua
 
CalMin said:
Ah the iLamp. It was my first Mac! I still have it and still works.

It was such a talking point back in the day. I kept it in my living room and used it as a sort of digital jukebox. It was the gateway drug to MacOS for me and the next computer I got was a PowerBook. Mind you, if I'd bought the stock instead of the products I'd long be retired!
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I think all of us here would be retired if we owned apple stock circa 2002!
 
yup, before Apple became dystopian. It was the fun computing company. Now black and silver, very corporate, and "keep bumping them as long as they are buying them". Awesome awesome, machine I had one.

although I have to give it to them, when the coloured iMacs they kind of wanted to go a bit back. So good step.
 
I have to say I've never liked it. I saw one in 2003 in a shop in London and the base looked over-sized and it screamed gimmick/executive toy as opposed to a computer that I would actually want. I eventually bought the G5 iMac in summer 2005.
 
I really feel like Macrumors is dropping the ball on this one...I mean it was announced 20 years ago and they are only writing about it now?!
 
I have been wondering about buying one and putting a recent raspberry pi in it, but not sure (well didn’t research) if the display can connect to hdmi.
Could be a fun project.
 
Best design ever.
IMG_0816.jpeg
 
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MacRumors said:


Today marks the 20th anniversary of Apple announcing the iMac G4. Unveiled on January 7, 2002, the iMac G4 featured a unique design with a flat-screen panel mounted on an adjustable arm and a hemisphere base housing the computer's internal components.

the-new-imac-g4-feature.jpg

Nicknamed the Lamp or Sunflower, the iMac G4 was innovative for its time as an all-in-one computer with a flat screen that can be moved around freely.

"The new iMac ushers in the age of flat-screen computing for everyone. The CRT display is now officially dead," said Apple's former CEO Steve Jobs in a press release announcing the iMac G4. "And with its powerful G4 processor and SuperDrive, everyone can now affordably create and burn their own custom DVDs and CDs."

Key features of the iMac G4 included a 15-inch flat-screen LCD, 700 MHz or 800 MHz PowerPC G4 processor options, a SuperDrive built into the base for CD/DVDs, up to a 60GB hard drive, up to 1GB of RAM, two FireWire ports, and five USB ports. By the end of 2003, Apple had also released larger 17-inch and 20-inch display sizes.

In his 2002 review of the iMac G4 for Macworld, longtime Apple reporter Jason Snell described the computer as "nothing short of a triumph."



Article Link: iMac G4 With Revolutionary Floating Display Announced 20 Years Ago Today
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I remember walking into a local garage and picking up a copy of the Time magazine that had the iMac G4 on the cover like it was... yesterday. Wow.

Steve Jobs's comment about the CRT being dead was hilarious at the time, as just after this machine, Apple launched the very CRT eMac...
 
hj8ag said:
? it was 20 years ago today, jobs announced iMac with a floating display,
They've been going in and out of style
But they're guaranteed to raise a smile
So may I introduce to you
The act you've know for all these years
An articulated monitor stand that doesn’t cost a grand ?
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What would you think if an Imac sang out pastel tones,
Could their iMac stand up and go about and bend towards me?
 
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I worked at a firm where we were upgrading and sending these to recycling at cost. I was sure to do what I could and got to take one home. The computer part was incredibly obsolete even 10 years ago. I took it apart and took out the electronics. The shell with that beautiful arm is the shelf behind me as part of my office. I've intended to either retrofit in new PC components to make a server, and/or make it an iPad mount.
 
I have a functioning 17“ 1GHz G4 model with 1.25GB RAM and 80GB HD, and a iSight FireWire webcam. The most beautiful Mac ever, except maybe for the 12“ G4 aluminium Powerbook I once owned.
 
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Without question, the greatest iMac design of all time, but ahead of its time. From this, we went backwards to the eMac and then the G5 iMac.

They should bring it back!
 
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