New iMac Announced

MrGHemp writes "The new iMac with a flat panel has been offically announced, and can be seen on the Apple website. According to Steve Jobs the top 3 things we asked for were put into this new design. 1. Flat Panel screen 2. G4 processor 3. Superdrive (DVD burner on one of 3 models)... Apple also announced other new products like a 14' display on some iBooks, and iPhoto - the iTunes of digital photos." It's definitely unique looking ;) Update: Slashdot author ChrisD was there and has a report too. Linux and the Macintosh are very different things. I don't want to bore anyone with poor analogies, but when Macintosh has glitz, Linux has power. This isn't about Linux though, it just kept on striking me how much Linux lacks in the desire department.

Steve Jobs is terrific at just that, Creating Desire. This is no surprise to us, for sure, but nothing drives it home as much as sitting in the audience and watching him speak. I could tell you how wonderful an orator he is, and how groovy his products are, but I really want to hear what the Slashdot user communtiy has to say about that. I want to talk about what Apple is doing technically.

First: The new iMac is very attractive. It's cool, it's neat. It will be a very popular machine. It's got a good price/feature spectrum and it looks like a pretty decent machine for the consumer. It isn't, in the end, a machine for the linux die-hard, but that's okay. It's slick, it ships with a bunch of very decent apps to manage your digital media. I want one, it's a cool machine. I don't know what I'd do with it (which is the problem), but it's cool looking. It's not particularly a good deal, I mean, you can pick up 200$ 15" tft displays at Fry's and lets get real, the G4 (Excepting the velocity engine stuff) isn't that fast of a chip at any available speed compared to the x86 world. But boy, this is one slick machine. But we know that already from the previous story. I do worry about it overheating, as I did flash back to the cube's cracking problems a bit.

Second: Photoshop for OS X will be coming out "soon". That was the big news. They had a very impressive working demo, I hope to learn more tomorrow on the expo floor.

Third: iPhoto is a decent cataloging program, and one designed to be used easily and generate more revenue streams for apple in the form of booklets and print costs. But it looks very polished and useful.

Superdrive: You'll see the superdrive in the new imac finally, which is nice. Note that this is not the superdrive that everyone remembers from the 80s' :-)

That's about all. The keynote was terrific, but in the end, not so outstanding. I'll post pictures soon. I'm sure a lot of /. regulars will be doing the same. More Tomorrow!

Comments

iPod prices

[Triv]

Don't know if y'all noticed, but they dropped the educational price of the ipod by ten bucks to 350ish as well.

It's getting more affordable at least. At this rate it'll be under a hundred in...four years, at which point it'll be replaced with a much better unit that can be implanted subcutaneously and run off of your nervous system.

"I've got you...under my skin."

Triv

time to sell volkswaggon golf

[BRO_HAM]

I'm a designer at idealab!. Mostly I spend my day designing web graphics, presentations, or any other graphical widgets I am tasked with.

Recently, I had to make this purchasing decision:

• new volkswaggon golf
• Nine West designer glasses (square framed)
• rent payment on bay area 3000 sq ft loft apartment, or just have parents pay again.
• a mac G4 powerstation

Well, after much debate over the g4 powerstation, it just wasn't attractive enough sitting on my desk. I tried the different colors, but none of them offered the exact design and aesthetic appeal. I tried the iBook as well, but it didn't give my desk that extra touch of 'Jazz' that I was shooting for in a computer.

So I purchased a Volkswaggon Golf. It's ok, I've put an Apple logo sticker on the back so everyone on the highway is sure to identify me as a designer, not that anyone couldn't tell from my square-framed glasses, bananna republic wardrobe and my volkswaggon jetta.

But now I am having second thoughts, I've always said "I wish apple would just make a computer that looks like a lamp" - and what do you know, it's like they heard me and designed a computer to my exact specifications.

Time to sell the car, I need me a new desk accessory!!

Re:oops

[colinm1981]

Be a man: Telnet.

Actually, you should have said "be an idiot and have anyone and everyone looking at your data and passwords as they are sent over the network in plain text: Telnet."

Try ssh instead :)