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17" and 19" inch iMacs Coming in 3Q

ikioi writes "It looks like Apple will have 17" and 19" flat panel iMacs later this year." It's funny- the publicity photos of the 15 inch macs really make it look a lot nicer then it is. I finally saw one up close a few weeks ago- the arm and screen is super smooth, but the base looks like a cheap toy. That said, larger screens for the iMac definitely push it into a new territory... not sure if it would convince me to buy one, but it sure would add magic shell to the ice cream.

240 comments

  1. "executive mac" by green+pizza · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I'm a sucker for high-tech toys... but I'd pay a premium for an "executive" iMac... one with, say, some brushed aluminum and maybe leather wrist rests below the keyboard. TAM meets 2002 iMac!

    1. Re:"executive mac" by mAIsE · · Score: 0

      I have a studio 17" LCD display on my G4 and i would definately pay for an iMac with a 17" display!!!

      But it better be the same quality

    2. Re:"executive mac" by pstreck · · Score: 1

      Try a tiBook... I'm in love with mine. It's silky and sexy and has a wide screen.. mmm pretty.

      --

      Later,
      Phil
    3. Re:"executive mac" by jerkychew · · Score: 3, Insightful

      There was an executive Mac... it was called the G4 cube, and nobody bought it.

    4. Re:"executive mac" by zephc · · Score: 1, Redundant

      i did, and i love it!

      --
      "I would say that 99 per cent of what my father has written about his own life is false." - L. Ron Hubbard Jr.
    5. Re:"executive mac" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      There was an executive Mac... it was called the G4 cube, and nobody bought it.
      This is because it was discovered that they had severe overheating problems before Apple ever had a chance to drop the price.
    6. Re:"executive mac" by DietFluffy · · Score: 1

      mmm...leather. seriously though, i prefer lace.

    7. Re:"executive mac" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't know if I would say that "nobody" bought it. Some people bought it and it's got a rather loyal following among them despite the problems it had. I think the biggest problem of all was that Apple completely missed their target buyer with it and then failed to get the price down low enough for the people who fell in love with it.

      It was meant to be sold to professionals and power users but they wanted expansion slots. The average Mac user at home fell in love with it but couldn't usually get past that "professional" sized price tag.

  2. The pr0n analogy is jsut too tempting. by TheDick · · Score: 1, Funny

    And I'll leave it at that.

    Bigger is Better, and I can't fucking wait.

    --

    1. Re:The pr0n analogy is jsut too tempting. by Lars+T. · · Score: 4, Funny

      Increase your screen size by at least two inches in only a couple of months!

      --

      Lars T.

      To the guy who modded me down from perfect to terrible Karma - Apple haters still suck

  3. Bigger Monitors a Must by rblancarte · · Score: 2

    I was very surprised that they only had the 15 monitors when they first came out, these are VERY welcome improvements

    RonB

    --
    It is human nature to take shortcuts in thinking.
    1. Re:Bigger Monitors a Must by fidget42 · · Score: 1
      I was very surprised that they only had the 15 monitors when they first came out...

      Considering the wieght of the 17" flat pannels, I wasn't surprised (disappointed yes, but not surprised). I just purchased one for my mother and it is very easy to move that little 15 incher around, not sure how easy it would be for a 17 or 19. I'm not sure if I would have shelled out the additional $400 for the 17", either.

      One thing that is definitely missing is the power switch on the panel front, as the free standing monitors have. The power switch is in a bad place, making you reach around back, and I really like turning on my Mac via that "soft switch."
      --
      The dogcow says "Moof!"
    2. Re:Bigger Monitors a Must by Paradise+Pete · · Score: 1
      I just purchased one for my mother

      How much change did you get?

    3. Re:Bigger Monitors a Must by pivo · · Score: 1

      Well, since I think they cost an arm and a leg, he should have gotten a torso, head and the other arm and leg as change.

    4. Re:Bigger Monitors a Must by AHumbleOpinion · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I was very surprised that they only had the 15 monitors when they first came out, these are VERY welcome improvements

      You should not have been. :) The iMacs are the entry level system, the more powerful users are supposed to find it a little lacking and buy the G4 towers.

      Personally I think the 15 innch on the iMac is fine. It is equivalent to a 17" tube at 1024x768, this is a fine configuration for most people out there.

    5. Re:Bigger Monitors a Must by King_TJ · · Score: 2

      You know, everyone keeps quoting that as though it's an undeniable fact. "a 15" LCD panel is equivalent to a 17" CRT"

      I disagree. I understand the theory behind the statement; CRT monitors are measured diagonally, so a 17" isn't really a full 17" across.

      I just don't find it completely accurate. For example, my Viewsonic 17" monitor measures 16" across, not 15" across. Unless you're buying the low-end 17" monitors, most decent ones have perfect-flat tube technology and come within 1 inch or less of the quoted tube size.

      I used a 15" LCD flat panel for a short time, and found I preferred a good quality 17" CRT.

      I know I'd never fork out the money for an iMac that didn't have at least a 17" flat panel attached to it. That was why I had such little initial interest in the product.... Macs are, after all, primarily the domain of graphics arts and design people. It seems un-Mac-like to offer a small display screen with one.

    6. Re:Bigger Monitors a Must by AHumbleOpinion · · Score: 2

      I disagree. I understand the theory behind the statement; CRT monitors are measured diagonally, so a 17" isn't really a full 17" across

      I'm not speaking theoretically, I'm speaking as someone who used a ViewSonic PT770 17" 1024x768 for over a year and then plugged in a 15" Apple Studio display for a couple of weeks of testing. I was expecting disappointment but I found it to be equivalent, a non-issue. Of course Apple's flat panels may be of a higher visual quality than the more typical flat panel.

  4. A black case by chris_sawtell · · Score: 3, Interesting

    That white around the screen dazzels me.
    I'd like a black one.

    Listening Apple?

    1. Re:A black case by green+pizza · · Score: 3, Interesting

      An option to order the iMac with the black mouse and keyboard (from the G4 desktop) would be nice as well.... I like the black + crystal look moreso than the white + crystal look.

    2. Re:A black case by drsoran · · Score: 1

      That white around the screen dazzels me.
      I'd like a black one.

      Listening Apple?


      Nope. They've gone from having tons of fruity colors back to gray and white as the only options unless you buy the old low end (boring) iMac. So much for being able to get new and exciting cses from Apple. They dropped the interesting cube design and got rid of color in their cases.

      Steve Jobs is taking a lesson from Henry Ford. You can have any color you want as long as it's a white iMac or iBook and a gray G4 tower or Powerbook.

    3. Re:A black case by krugdm · · Score: 2

      So much for being able to get new and exciting cses from Apple.

      A half melon with a flatscreen monitor sticking out on a pole is not new and exciting?

    4. Re:A black case by bbc22405 · · Score: 1

      Oh yeah, that's right, turn all the white parts black. And ... instead of making the base a hemisphere, make it a cube ... and then ... voila!

      The oRiGiNaL NeXTStEP cOmPuTeR iS ReBoRn!!!!! Can I get a finicky magneto-optical disk with that?

    5. Re:A black case by Phroggy · · Score: 3, Funny

      Listening Apple?

      Nope.

      --
      $x='S24;r)>63/* h@<5+oZ)32"5cz';$me='phroggy'x$];
      $x=~y+ -xz+\0-Tx+;print$_^chop$me for split'',$x;
    6. Re:A black case by ichimunki · · Score: 1

      actually a cube might not be stable enough to support the monitor and its arm, the half-bowling-ball approach at least keeps the base center of gravity fairly low. A pyramid shape would've been even better.

      --
      I do not have a signature
    7. Re:A black case by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A half melon with a flatscreen monitor sticking out on a pole is not new and exciting?

      Not really.

    8. Re:A black case by Oculus+Habent · · Score: 2

      Well, you may not be able to buy them with the new iMac, but you can still the black keyboard and mouse at the Apple Store.

      Of course, I would be loathe to shell out an additional $118 for them. Maybe you know an iMac user who would prefer white?

      You could call 1-800-MY-APPLE and see if they'll change 'em out for you... Good luck, though.

      --
      That what was all this school was for... to teach us how to solve our own problems. -- janeowit
    9. Re:A black case by AntiTuX · · Score: 2

      Say it with krylon (tm)

      :)

  5. tipping over...? by Sodakar · · Score: 1, Insightful

    ...I wonder if additional counterweight will be added to the base to sustain the heavier LCD panels...

    1. Re:tipping over...? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      No, the engineers at Apple aren't intelligent enough to prevent such a scenario. But then again, it's really far fetched, who'd come up with an idea like that? "tipping over", hehehe, you silly person. Perhaps you should inform them of the imminent danger of resizing the monitors?

    2. Re:tipping over...? by krswan · · Score: 2, Informative

      There is no way the 15" would tip over, and I doubt that the extra LCD and plastic needed to go to 17" or 19" would make much of a difference.

      I'm working on one now, and there is no instability at all. That little base is actually fairly wide and low, and it has a power supply, hard drive, super drive, etc... inside to weigh it down. It weighs about 22lbs, and I move the screen about without any worries of it tipping.

    3. Re:tipping over...? by bbc22405 · · Score: 3, Funny

      Yes, all the white plastic in the base will be replaced with depleted uranium, with an attractive brushed-metal finish to match their PowerBooks.

  6. Agree with Taco? That's unpossible! by ObviousGuy · · Score: 2, Interesting

    That iMac base has got to be the ugliest piece of computer equipment ever to leave the Apple factory. It picks up dirt like a hoover so that cleaming white hemisphere that looks pathetic when you take it out of the box becomes a dull grey lump of crap after a few weeks. The material reminds me of those plastic chairs that we had in elementary school.

    Why couldn't they have used a material like the G4 case to form the base?

    --
    I have been pwned because my /. password was too easy to guess.
  7. Doubt it. by Shrike89 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Seriously doubt the validity of this one. It's a single source w/ no history of getting Apple rumors right.

    My guess is Quantas is going to be making displays for Mac towers, and the author thinks all Apple computers are iMacs.

    I'd buy one in a heartbeat if it were so, but I'm not holding my breath.

    Remember, slashdot got hoodwinked by the "iWalk" Apple PDA hoax twice.

    1. Re:Doubt it. by bsartist · · Score: 1

      Seriously doubt the validity of this one.

      Try this one instead, then. It claims the opposite - that Quantas has had trouble, and they're losing the iMac production contract.

      --
      Lost: Sig, white with black letters. No collar. Reward if found!
    2. Re:Doubt it. by Steve+Franklin · · Score: 1

      Ever since I first looked at an Apple II my problem with these guys has been their prices. They seem to be aiming at an upscale market that has never included me. I went out and drooled over the new $2500 Apple Cinema Monitor (which, by the way, can be made to work with a PC) at the local CompUSA and went out and bought a $900 Sony flat panel. Apples are one of those things I'd get if I suddenly became a billionaire, along with a house designed by Tadao Ando. Am I the only one who sees it this way?

      --
      Hic iacet Arthurus, rex quondam rexque futurus.
  8. Remember the G4 Cube? by cowboy+junkie · · Score: 2, Insightful

    A bigger LCD is great, but it will most probably add a lot of $$$ to the price, and the current iMacs aren't cheap as it is for what you get hardware-wise. And the iMac has been about being Apple's entry-level, low-cost computer. Now it's more likely to become like the G4 cube - too expensive for the low-end buyer and too low powered and non-expandable for the high-end power user.

    1. Re:Remember the G4 Cube? by Lally+Singh · · Score: 5, Insightful
      And the iMac has been about being Apple's entry-level, low-cost computer.
      In case you hadn't noticed, the G4 iMac isn't the entry-level computer, it's the consumer-level computer. There's a distinct difference. For entry level, try the G3 iMac, or the eMac if you're a student.

      Also, the G4 iMac is selling like friggin hotcakes. Another Cube my ass.

      --
      Care about electronic freedom? Consider donating to the EFF!
    2. Re:Remember the G4 Cube? by John_Booty · · Score: 3, Insightful

      And the iMac has been about being Apple's entry-level, low-cost computer. Now it's more likely to become like the G4 cube...

      Chill! They're still going to make the 15-inch models, unless I misread the article. So while there will certainly be some higher-priced iMacs, there still will be the (relatively) affordable 15" entry-level iMac.

      --

      OtakuBooty.com: Smart, funny, sexy nerds.
    3. Re:Remember the G4 Cube? by tuxedobob · · Score: 1

      Actually, if they're really doing 17 and 19, my guess would be they'd discontinue the 15. Apple usually doesn't have too many variations within the same product line, and 15, 17, and 19, seems in my opinion to strech the options they're willing to offer.

      In all likeliness, they'll make the 17 inch model the new low-end iMac and release it at a price point just about or slightly below the current low-end iMac G4.

    4. Re:Remember the G4 Cube? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Affordable and entry-level definitely do not fit a description of a G4 iMac! The absolute cheapest one is $1399 with a 700MHz G4, 128MB of ram (not enough for OS X), and a 40GB hard drive.
      Their G4 tower starts at $1599 with an 800MHz processor and 256MB of RAM.

      In the PC world for around $1500 I could build a completely kick-ass system that would trounce either of these machines. AMD Athlon XP 2100+, 1GB of ram, 160GB UDMA-133 drive, a standard 17" LCD display or a 21" CRT monitor, etc. Macs simply CANNOT compete on price and until Apple makes a stark realization that they will need to cut all their prices in half to draw in new blood, they will continue to die. The only people buying new Macs are REALLY extreme computer geeks with disposable income to play with new kit. Even they are only interested in MacOS X. Tell you what though, it's not worth it. I've been trying it for a few months and it has too many quirks. Unless you upgrade and buy their server edition it's no better (and actually worse) than running Linux on an x86 box. Hell, if you want Windows file sharing server support you need to go download Samba. Well fuck I could have done that on Linux!

    5. Re:Remember the G4 Cube? by L1nUx+h4x0r · · Score: 0

      Insightful my ass. The current iMacs aren't that expensive for what you get with them, and they are as expandable as you'd probably need with the USB and firewire connectors. Just because you can't pop a card into the base doesn't mean you can't add stuff.

      --
      The GPL makes software more like your mom. Free and open to all.
    6. Re:Remember the G4 Cube? by Rivard · · Score: 1

      No, Apple usually doesn't raise their prices rediculiously with updates. They will probably just not add extra processing power until they make the G5, or they are stalling its release or some other new technology by making this their grand update: Apple likes to make customers feel important with these things, and we do.

    7. Re:Remember the G4 Cube? by Jay+Maynard · · Score: 1
      The only people buying new Macs are REALLY extreme computer geeks with disposable income to play with new kit.

      <raises hand>


      I got mine - and have sunk an additional $4K into more hardware and software - primarily to do one job: archive my Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain, and Freakazoid! collection to DVD. It's doing that job quite nicely, and doing so when three prior attempts to do so with Windows-based PCs have foundered on driver quality and Windows NT/2000 compatibility issues. (No way in hell am I going to run 98, no matter how much the video capture manufacturers insist.) The iMac was truly a plug and play solution.


      I, too, believe that MacOS was and is uninteresting at levels below OS X. There are still quirks, but it's pretty usable.

      --
      Disinfect the GNU General Public Virus!
    8. Re:Remember the G4 Cube? by Paradise+Pete · · Score: 1
      In the PC world for around $1500 I could build a completely kick-ass system that would trounce either of these machines....Macs simply CANNOT compete on price

      So when you were typing this did you think that you, finally, were going to explain it in a way that would settle this once and for all, unlike the 50 billion others who have said the same thing?

    9. Re:Remember the G4 Cube? by dadragon · · Score: 1

      For entry level, try the G3 iMac, or the eMac if you're a student.

      I think the eMac will be my next desktop. It's got everything I want from the LCD iMac, but it costs CDN$500 less than the equivalent iMac. It also doesn't look nearly as stupid as the old G3 iMac.

      --
      God save our Queen, and Heaven bless The Maple Leaf Forever!
    10. Re:Remember the G4 Cube? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Holy shit. You spent about $6 grand to archive Animaniacs?

      I guess it's true what they say about a fool and their money.

    11. Re:Remember the G4 Cube? by Lupin3 · · Score: 0

      Hows that coming along? Someone pasted me a framegrab from it, and it looked a little grainy. Why don't ya just wait for the DVDs, hombre? Either that or seek out some SVHS tapes; the analog chain is only as strong as its weakest link!

    12. Re:Remember the G4 Cube? by Jay+Maynard · · Score: 1
      Someone pasted me a framegrab from it, and it looked a little grainy.

      Must have been the sample menu I built in Photoshop. Yeah, a bit grainy, but the resulting DVD is as good on a TV as the original VHS-SP tape, and that's all I can ask.


      Why don't ya just wait for the DVDs, hombre?

      WHAT DVDs? If I thought WB was going to put out a complete set, I'd have waited...but their power to screw things up is nearly infinite, and this would be just one more example.


      Either that or seek out some SVHS tapes; the analog chain is only as strong as its weakest link!

      True. However, I'm not sure that off-air SVHS tapes of broadcast video would be significantly better. Now, if I had SVHS or U-Matic broadcast masters... (Yeah, I'd have to buy an SVHS or U-Matic deck. Next to the computer and software, who'd notice?)

      --
      Disinfect the GNU General Public Virus!
    13. Re:Remember the G4 Cube? by Jay+Maynard · · Score: 1
      You spent about $6 grand to archive Animaniacs?

      Yup. (Well, and Pinky and the Brain, and Freakazoid!.) I've got 188 episodes of the stuff on VHS tape, and I'd like to archive them to a more permanent medium before the tapes wear out.


      I guess it's true what they say about a fool and their money.

      I happen to believe that those three series are the best comedy, in any medium, made in the 1990s. I'll happily put them up against the likes of Friends and Seinfeld any day.

      --
      Disinfect the GNU General Public Virus!
    14. Re:Remember the G4 Cube? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      I guess it's true what they say about a fool and their money.

      I happen to believe that those three series are the best comedy, in any medium, made in the 1990s. I'll happily put them up against the likes of Friends and Seinfeld any day.

      I'm not going to argue what's the best comedy/drama/whatever of the past decade. However, there's something pretty fucking ridiculous about a person spending thousands of dollars to make digital copies of consumer-grade analog copies of a TV show (and I'm going to assume that these are probably crap broadcast tapes with commercials, since I don't think they ever released a box set of any of the series you mentioned).

      It must be nice to have so much money to squander.

      ---

      I'm not a real anonymous coward, but I play one on TV.

    15. Re:Remember the G4 Cube? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      So in other words, you're a REALLY extreme computer/cartoon geek with shitloads of disposable income. Apple's target audience.

      ---

      I'm not a real anonymous coward, but I play one on TV.

    16. Re:Remember the G4 Cube? by Neuracnu+Coyote · · Score: 1

      WHAT DVDs? If I thought WB was going to put out a complete set, I'd have waited...

      Perhaps he is refering to these DVDs...

      Or not.

      --
      --
    17. Re:Remember the G4 Cube? by Jay+Maynard · · Score: 1
      I'm not going to argue what's the best comedy/drama/whatever of the past decade. However, there's something pretty fucking ridiculous about a person spending thousands of dollars to make digital copies of consumer-grade analog copies of a TV show (and I'm going to assume that these are probably crap broadcast tapes with commercials, since I don't think they ever released a box set of any of the series you mentioned).

      The digital copies don't degrade with use, unlike tapes; doing DVD allows me to put 5 episodes on one disc, with no perceptible loss of quality (at least to me; I'm not a TV engineer); and most of the software cost has gone into getting Final Cut Pro and DVD Studio Pro so I can at least make good-quality discs with reasonable menuing and DVD features. I may not have nice clean video, but at least it won't be any worse than I already have, and will indeed have such things as the commercials cut out.


      It must be nice to have so much money to squander.

      What else is money for, if not to enjoy? The miser's existence is pretty damned dull.

      --
      Disinfect the GNU General Public Virus!
    18. Re:Remember the G4 Cube? by Jay+Maynard · · Score: 2, Funny
      So in other words, you're a REALLY extreme computer/cartoon geek

      Damned right. I'm a geek and proud of it. I've worked hard for years to reach this level of geekiness, and I'm damned well going to enjoy it.


      with shitloads of disposable income.

      It's more that I've got low overhead than that I've got a huge income...and it's all a matter of priorities anyway.

      --
      Disinfect the GNU General Public Virus!
  9. Flamebait by jedie · · Score: 0, Flamebait
    No offence 'n all that, but the iMac looks... how should I put this "not serious"? or "gay"?...
    It looks like a stupid art-nouveau sculpture that belongs on the desk or in the livingroom of a damn Trillionaire with a passion for kitch-futuristic-bubblegummy-art...

    a computer needs to look RUGGED! :D prefferably with a dented case, or no case at all (although that could have negative influences on the air circulation for the cooling system). You want a computer that looks cool? Well it should have decorations of your own on it: for example, my monitor has a cool "Commodore 64" badge on it and some nifty stickers, and my case has a shitload of writings/stickers/sticky-stuff on it. This looks way cooler than any Mac you buy from the store in a fruity color and a "design" look.

    my 2 cents on the Mac issue

    ps: don't gimme any bullshut about the mac hardware, I'm talking about the looks

    --
    "The majority is always sane, Louis." -- Nessus
    http://slashdot.jp
    1. Re:Flamebait by Ti_Uhl · · Score: 0, Troll

      what's ur problem ur gay... so quit nagging about apple :)

    2. Re:Flamebait by stux · · Score: 1

      Sounds like you have a Ghetto-PC

      :)

      --

      ---
      Live Long & Prosper \\//_
      CYA STUX =`B^) 'da Captain,
      Jedi & Last *-fytr
    3. Re:Flamebait by (iii) · · Score: 1

      Looks? How 'bout a Xserve for you then?

    4. Re:Flamebait by skinfitz · · Score: 0, Troll

      Yeah - lets ramp the price right up for a rackmount machine that no one is going to see when it's mounted in the switchroom. Another great overpriced idea from Apple.

    5. Re:Flamebait by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Looks? How 'bout a Xserve for you then?

      Well, if they dropped the price on it $1200 it would compete with the Cobalt RaQ4 and if they dropped the price on it $2000 it could compete with the Sun Netra X1 or Sun Fire v100. I don't know what the heck they're thinking releasing a machine that expensive as a 1U server. They might as well build a 4U rackmount quad processor server with all SCSI disks while they're at it for the people who want a serious file or web server built on Mac hardware. They won't though since serious people would use a Sun box for that shit.

    6. Re:Flamebait by Erik+K.+Veland · · Score: 3, Informative

      How utterly ironic that the Xserve has been much lauded for being very competivly priced. Perhaps you should have done a little bit more research before posting?

      --
      "I tend to think of OS X as Linux with QA and Taste", James Gosling, creator of Java
    7. Re:Flamebait by bdowne01 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Computers don't have to look like anything... my first peecee didn't even have a case.

      On the other hand, I have both my beige box and my iMac on my desk in my office.

      Difference is, unless I want people to think I'm *completely* redneck, I keep the peecee under the desk, and the iMac ON the desk.

      I think that's the difference.

      --
      -brain
    8. Re:Flamebait by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are also wearing faded black jeans you bought at Walmart 4 years ago and a promotional T-shirt you got for free when signing up for a credit card that you maxed out its $300 limit and haven't been able to pay off, all the while driving your '88 Chevette with different colored fenders and various bumber stickers with such witty phrases as, "My Wife is Driving My Cadillac", even though the closest you ever came to being engaged was when you went to the strip club and "Bunny" remembered your name from the 20 other times you had been there that week to fend off your fear of everyone finding out that you are secretly GAY!

    9. Re:Flamebait by RayChuang · · Score: 2

      I wouldn't say not serious, but let's just say the base design of the flat-panel iMacs remind me too much of the type of furniture you get at an IKEA store (someone once called the new iMac iKEA), and I tend to agree).

      I was hoping that the base of the new iMac would be more squarish in design so it better blends in on a standard office desk.

      --
      Raymond in Mountain View, CA
    10. Re:Flamebait by Che+Guevarra · · Score: 3, Funny

      Hi RayChuang, My name is Steve Jobs. I post under the name Che Guevarra as I am a revolutionary just like him. Your ideas for the base of the iMac are also revolutionary which is why I'd like to offer you an executive position in our form and function department here in Cupertino. We'll make you the VP of all things squarish. If you see any of those latte sipping weasels on the design staff holding a compass while sitting at the drawing board, your job will be to knock it out of their hands and offer them a t-square instead.

    11. Re:Flamebait by TWR · · Score: 5, Funny
      No offense 'n all that, but I think you might have...how should I put this "confidence issues"? or "a small penis"?...

      -jon

      --

      Remember Amalek.

    12. Re:Flamebait by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      All right, you. If it was art nouveau, it would have asymetric organic iron curlicues and 2" hot rivets everywhere. This, as with most Jobs stuff, is 1960s Space Age modernism; yuck. Plastic! can you believe it? I'd pay big bucks for a machine designed by a jules verne protege.

    13. Re:Flamebait by Meleschi · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You've got to be kidding right? You can't compare the Xserve to a Sun Netra X1... The X1 has a SINGLE 500 Mhz Ultra IIe processor and it is slow as dirt (we have 5 of them) but they serve their purpose for us.

      The Xserve is meant to handle much more cpu intensive tasks than the X1's are. Not to mention the X1's don't support Hardware Raid (forcing you to use crappy Disksuite or pay a premium for a Veritas Volume Manager license). Heck, the X1's only hold two fricken disk drives, the Xserv holds 4!

      No matter how you look at it, the Xserve trounces the Sun Netra X1/T1.

      While the Cobalt is a little closer processor wise (1.26 Ghz PIII, hardware Raid on higher end models) it still only supports 2 Disk drives and a single processor.

      All that I see missing from the Xserve is a redundant power supply, but I guess that was hard to fit into a 1U package...

      It's amazing to think, each one of these 1U servers has more CPU than a Sun 280R with dual 900 MHz processors. Why do you think Sun doesn't make a 1U box with this much power? It would take away from selling their 4U boxes. Oh that and the size of a U3 processor is about half the size of the Xserve already.. :) j/k

      --
      Meep Meep!
    14. Re:Flamebait by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Dude, just one word:

      "Wallstreet."

      Basic black, curvy yet deady-now if Apple would take that case design and smack a G4 into it, you would have a SCHWEEEEEEETTTT laptop! BTW-it had one of the best keyboards of the Powerbooks, IMHO.

      Peace!

      Mike

    15. Re:Flamebait by rjung2k · · Score: 1

      Anyone who thinks a "Commodore 64" badge is "cool" should not be trying to offer criticism of Apple's industrial design.

  10. 17" and 19" inch, that's small by wheany · · Score: 1

    Is does that mean 17 and 19 square-inch?

    1. Re:17" and 19" inch, that's small by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      dumbass... ill tell you what. your dick is small

    2. Re:17" and 19" inch, that's small by Maddog_Delphi97 · · Score: 1

      No, it means 17 inches and 19 inches, vertically across the screen.

      Why is this? I haven't figured it out, but my guess is that monitor companies what you to think their monitor is bigger than it actually is.

    3. Re:17" and 19" inch, that's small by Maddog_Delphi97 · · Score: 1

      Whoops, my bad.. I meant 17 and 19 inches DIAGONALLY (sp?) across the screen..

    4. Re:17" and 19" inch, that's small by Meowing · · Score: 1

      The diagonal measurement is used because once upon a time, CRT faces were round instead of rectangular (like traditional radar). TV didn't use those edges, so over time they were lopped off.

    5. Re:17" and 19" inch, that's small by bsartist · · Score: 1

      And it's still used because it's a larger number than either horizontal or vertical measurements, and as all good sheeple know, bigger == better.

      --
      Lost: Sig, white with black letters. No collar. Reward if found!
    6. Re:17" and 19" inch, that's small by Paradise+Pete · · Score: 1
      And it's still used because it's a larger number than either horizontal or vertical measurements, and as all good sheeple know, bigger == better.

      Then why not use square inches? That would also be a more obvious way to tell how much larger a, say, 17 inch screen is than a 15, without any of that pesky math.

    7. Re:17" and 19" inch, that's small by ichimunki · · Score: 1

      Because square inches doesn't add any information and would require a massive change of methodology and consumer re-education. Given an aspect ratio (TV or cinema or whatever) and a diagonal size, we have a lot of information about a screen's capacity. Given square inches we have not gotten more information.

      Now given actual vertical/horizontal dimensions we would have even better information, except that the hypoteneuse of a right triangle is always longer than either of the sides, so going from a 17" screen to one that is 13" x 9" is going to take some explaining as to why a screen that sounds a lot smaller actually isn't.

      --
      I do not have a signature
    8. Re:17" and 19" inch, that's small by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Given an aspect ratio (TV or cinema or whatever) and a diagonal size, we have a lot of information about a screen's capacity. Given square inches we have not gotten more information.

      Now given actual vertical/horizontal dimensions we would have even better information

      Given the diagonal size and aspect ratio, you can compute those horizontal and vertical dimensions.

  11. On the Register they call them "Widscreen iMacs". by thedanceman · · Score: 1
  12. or will they? by sydsavage · · Score: 5, Funny
    Industry sources said Quanta Computer will start producing the latest 17 and 19-inch iMacs in the third quarter

    Or maybe not, after Apple finds out they spilled the beans.

  13. Pivoting iMac Screen by Michael+A.+Lowry · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Now if only Apple could figure out how to make an LCD that has an acceptably wide viewing angle in both the horizontal and vertical direction. Then it would be practical to add a pivot joint to the end of the steel arm, allowing the screen to be pivoted from landscape to portrait layout.

    1. Re:Pivoting iMac Screen by goon+america · · Score: 1
      Then it would be practical to add a pivot joint to the end of the steel arm, allowing the screen to be pivoted from landscape to portrait layout.

      Steve J. said at a stockholder meeting recently that he wanted to do that, but it simply wasn't technically feasible.

    2. Re:Pivoting iMac Screen by BitGeek · · Score: 2


      There's nothing wrong with the LCD. I can turn it so that my girlfriend sitting over on the couch can see it and I can still see it just fine as well.

      I'm certain the reason it doesn't pivot has to do with getting signals in and out.

      Why do people assume the LCD sucks (on a product they've never used) as a reason for it not doing some feature? Would you have really bought it if it did pivot but don't buy it because it doesn't? I really doubt that.

      At any rate, the LCD would work find in a pivoted role--- I can read the text on it when its turned 80 degrees away from me.

      --
      Yeah, and you guys panned the ipod too: http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=01/10/23/ 1816257
    3. Re:Pivoting iMac Screen by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Pivot is making a comeback...check out Samsung's line and a soon to be released Fujitsu-Siemens...

      I, however, think a 24" LCD solves the issue rather well, without needing to change from landscape to portrait.

  14. Big Mac by delphi125 · · Score: 5, Funny

    An iMac with two screens. I guess it would look kinda like Mickey Mouse!

    1. Re:Big Mac by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Which isn't suprising, since Disney is buying Apple.

  15. Grammar Nazi by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Attack of the grammar nazi!

    15 inch macs really make it look a lot nicer then it is

    Once again, CmdrTaco shows his firm grasp of the English language.

    For clarification:

    First I do this, then I do that.

    I like this more than that. This looks nicer than it really is.

    Sometimes I wonder how some slashdotters made it through high school....

    1. Re:Grammar Nazi by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ich spreche Deutsch.

      I bet you don't even venture onto German Slash sites. Would you like me to be a Grammar Yankee? Get over it, not everyone on Slashdot is a native English speaker.

    2. Re:Grammar Nazi by pivo · · Score: 1

      Yes but CmdrTaco, the person who wrote those lines, is a native English speaker. His illiteracy is embarrassing.

  16. i have more problems with the keyboard by blank · · Score: 2, Interesting

    the way i have the height of the imac'a screen adjusted you can't see the base. hell, when i'm using it i don't generally look at the base anyway. all i see is a nice and smooth LCD screen.

    the bigger problem to me is the keyboard not having a power button to turn on/off the system. i have to search for it on the base and *then* i have to look at the base. of course, the way i solved this problem is by not powering off the machine. did i mention that i'm using OS X? =)

    --

    bah. start over

    1. Re:i have more problems with the keyboard by discstickers · · Score: 1

      Hell yeah OS X r0x0rs on uptime:
      [infinity:~] crotella% uptime
      8:14AM up 30 days, 18:29, 5 users, load averages: 1.04, 0.65, 0.44

      --
      I have a shitty sig!
    2. Re:i have more problems with the keyboard by plone · · Score: 1

      Um, if you go to the apple menu, there is a command to automatically shutdown. If that is too much of a hassle, you can make a script to shutdown and bind it to any key you like. Just use the following command:

      Sudo shutdown -h now

    3. Re:i have more problems with the keyboard by stux · · Score: 2, Informative

      control-eject will bring up the shutdown dialog, just hit return ;)

      of course, this take care of powering up...

      But who turns off their OSX machines anyway?

      --

      ---
      Live Long & Prosper \\//_
      CYA STUX =`B^) 'da Captain,
      Jedi & Last *-fytr
    4. Re:i have more problems with the keyboard by Jay+Maynard · · Score: 1
      the bigger problem to me is the keyboard not having a power button to turn on/off the system. i have to search for it on the base and *then* i have to look at the base. of course, the way i solved this problem is by not powering off the machine.

      Yup. The power button is a Bad Design. Mine sits next to a nice 20-inch Trinitron (hooked to an SGI Indigo2), and getting to it is really awkward.


      I avoid the necessity: I just put the thing to sleep instead. It hasn't been turned off since I stuck the half-gig of additional RAM in it.

      --
      Disinfect the GNU General Public Virus!
    5. Re:i have more problems with the keyboard by Phroggy · · Score: 1

      control-eject will bring up the shutdown dialog, just hit return ;)

      Wow, that kicks ass - I'd heard rumors of something like that working, but never got it to work at the time; maybe that works in OSX only and I was using OS9?

      However, I can't do a hard reboot if the system has crashed, which is what I miss the most about that button. Fortunately on my July '00 iMac, the reset button is on the side, not the back.

      --
      $x='S24;r)>63/* h@<5+oZ)32"5cz';$me='phroggy'x$];
      $x=~y+ -xz+\0-Tx+;print$_^chop$me for split'',$x;
    6. Re:i have more problems with the keyboard by Erik+K.+Veland · · Score: 1

      Uhm... using the halt commando does not allow processes to shut themselves down and can possibly corrupt data on your HD.

      I recommend using an AppleScript or just using ctrl-eject + return instead. Less hassle.

      --
      "I tend to think of OS X as Linux with QA and Taste", James Gosling, creator of Java
  17. Cheap Toy? Hardly. Only one complaint ... by binaryfeed · · Score: 1

    I disagree about the "cheap toy" complaint. As an iMac owner, I can confirm that, yes, it is a toy. But it's not cheap.

    My only complaint about the base is that all of the inputs are in the rear. It's so silly. Why should I have to reach around to plug in my iPod?

  18. Re:Cheap Toy? Hardly. Only one complaint ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is a carmic punishment for stealing mp3s from poor musicians with your iPod

  19. Available in January? by The+Rolling+Blackout · · Score: 3, Informative
    According to this, [the register US] the idea is to start manufacturing in Q3 so that there's inventory available for a launch around New Year's. Which implies no speed bumps in store for the internals (800 Mhz, the current top speed, is going to sound pretty pokey by then) and very little chance of a significant price drop beforehand.

    This may be extrapolating a bit much from one little tidbit, but whatever. I think Apple is setting themselves up to completely miss the price point for the market, after they came so, so close with the OG iMac.

    --
    sig-free as of 28 July 02!
  20. it's "than", not "then" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    better head back to 4th grade and unlearn what you've learned.

  21. Re:Cheap Toy? Hardly. Only one complaint ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You don't reach around! Why keep plugging / unplugging from the base? Just leave a firewire cable plugged into the back with the the other end laying aside for easy access. Or is that too simple?

  22. Well, DUH! by jonr · · Score: 1, Troll

    What next here at apple.slashdot.org? Faster iMacs coming? With bigger hard drives? More memory? Heaven forbid that Apple updates their models!

    1. Re:Well, DUH! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And for such "news"/rumours we now have an iMac topic in addition to all the other new topics we now have, yet requests for "Kernel Updates" etc topics still go unfulfilled.. :)

  23. Re:Ugly. by evangellydonut · · Score: 1

    I'm a part-timer for Apple and done a few table-tops for them here and there. It's already old news that there's a love-hate relation with the new iMac, so just lay-it-off already. if you don't like it, feel free to use the money you saved to buy a few dozen of those hello-kitty dildos/vibrators instead. As for accessories, other than a good 4.1/5.1 soundcard and a good TV card, most of the other parts are easy to find.

  24. Re:Cheap Toy? Hardly. Only one complaint ... by Rhinobird · · Score: 5, Funny
    Why should I have to reach around to plug in my iPod?

    Duh! So you have an excuse to hug the damn thing.
    --
    If Mr. Edison had thought smarter he wouldn't sweat as much. --Nikola Tesla
  25. Re:Ugly. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    When I am buying a computer, I am buying a computer and not a football with a LCD display sticked into it using a dildo.

    People like you should be duct-taped to a chair and forced to attend a university course on marketing. There is something called "positioning", meaning that there is a "market segment" that likes computers that look like smiling footballs. Then there is the "13373r 7h4n y00" market segment that likes to build their computers themselves from the cheapest possible parts (that would be you). These two "segments" are different. Get a clue!!!

  26. Getting better all the time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Sound great. the only problem with my iMac is the tiny screen.

    I sure hope Apple start producing a wireless (bluetooth?) keyboard & mouse. (anyone know of a USB one?).

    who said the iMac is not expandable - i'd say 3 USB + 2 firewire ports is expandable. what else you need? its got a SuperDrive too, dammit :-) But a couple PCMCIA slots would be sweet.

    xxx love from UK xxxx

    1. Re:Getting better all the time by Jay+Maynard · · Score: 2
      Sound great. the only problem with my iMac is the tiny screen.

      Mine sits where a Sony 17sf monitor used to. It doesn't feel any smaller. I do wish I could run it at 1280x1024, though, like I did the Sony; that's the real restriction.


      who said the iMac is not expandable - i'd say 3 USB + 2 firewire ports is expandable. what else you need?

      I've got all but one USB port, and both Firewire ports, in use. (I've got the video grabber on a different port from the hard disk, in an attempt to avoid dropping frames during video capture.) A couple more of each would be nice.


      But a couple PCMCIA slots would be sweet.

      True, but where would they put them? (Actually, Cardbus slots would be nicer...)

      --
      Disinfect the GNU General Public Virus!
    2. Re:Getting better all the time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Buy a hub!

      You can attach up to 127 USB devices on each USB port on your iMac by using hubs- not that I would try quite that many.

      You can also attach up to 63 FireWire devices on each FireWire port on your iMac by using hubs.

      So, using some quick math- that's 381 USB devices, and 126 FireWire devices!

      I understand the desire to reduce latency/dropped frames upon video importing, but it's easy enough to get around.

  27. NEWSFLASH for the clueless! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Publicity photos are SUPPOSED to make things look better than they actually are. Do you gasp in horror at fast food restaurants when you look down at your hockey puck in a bun and then wonder why it looks NOTHING like that appetizing picture on the menu/commercials?


    (side note: it's THAN damnit! we have specific vowels for a reason!)

  28. Re:Ugly. by jukal · · Score: 2

    > It's already old news that there's a love-hate relation with the new iMac

    I don't hate the iMac, I think it's just a piece of hardware. But sometimes I just cannot resist throwing baits at the mac lovers, who don't seem to think it is just that - hardware. :))

    > use the money you saved to buy a few dozen of those hello-kitty dildos/vibrators instead

    So, you thereby state the hello-kitty vibrator is a good substitute for this product? Personally, I don't use those. But hey, maybe I should give it a try! :)

  29. Comment about Base is Inane by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What a dumb comment about iMac appearance. Everyone else in the world says they look better in person than in photos except for our fearless leader. They look DUMB in photos. They look good in person. And they don't look cheap.

    Every geek in the world complains that Macs cost too much and design is not important and they buy the typical crappy Dell box. Would our beloved leader like for Apple to invest a couple of hundred bucks for a base made out of hand sanded rosewood so he could then bitch about the price?

    You look at the friggin monitor. As long as the base doesn't fall apart while sitting somewhere for 3 or 4 years who cares what it looks like? And it don't look "cheap" anyway.

    It must be Monday.

  30. Re:Ugly. by jukal · · Score: 1, Troll

    > Then there is the "13373r 7h4n y00" market segment ...(that would be you)

    Woo-haa! Good bait, two fishes already. Reel'em in! :)))

  31. I hope its silent, like many apple products are. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I hope its silent, like many apple products are.

    The main point of buying certain apple products over the years is the fact that some are designed without always-on fans and are silent.

    It would be nice if these are as quiet as the imacs have been.

  32. Re:Agree with Taco? That's unpossible! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    looks pathetic when you take it out of the box becomes a dull grey lump of crap after a few weeks

    What? As opposed to a beige box? Or are you just bashing Apple's style because it's the "in thing" to do?

  33. Re:Ugly. by skinfitz · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Well I hate the new iMac. Only a total idiot would value form over function with computer equipment, and dont even get me started on making a machine with a removable media drive without the ability to manually eject it.

  34. I can guarantee you this by hype7 · · Score: 1, Insightful

    thanks to this post, those iMacs will be "steved" - ie canned.

    Jobs likes surprises, and if his surprise is spoiled this far out he'll take his toys and go home.

    Which means - these things will never see the light of day, or their release date will be substantially changed

    -- james

    1. Re:I can guarantee you this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Let me guess - you work for Digitimes and are trying to cover your ass, right?

    2. Re:I can guarantee you this by White+Roses · · Score: 2
      Agreed, but further than that, Quanta may have to look for something else to be their "main revenue driver". ATI spoiled the show for Jobs once, now ATI's chips aren't installed by default.

      Apple (pronounced Jobs) does Apple's press releases. Anyone else announcing Apple's toys gets a nice pat on the shoulder and a meaningful goodbye. At best. At worst, Jobs will release the dogs with bees in their mouths, and when they bark they shoot bees at you. Or is that the laywers . . .

      --
      Do not touch -Willie
  35. An opposite reaction and a rumor alert by inkswamp · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's funny- the publicity photos of the 15 inch macs really make it look a lot nicer then it is. I finally saw one up close a few weeks ago- the arm and screen is super smooth, but the base looks like a cheap toy.

    My wife's reaction was exactly the opposite. She thought pictures of the new iMac were awful. She thought it looked goofy. We just saw one in person a few days ago and she loved it. Afterward, she kept asking me questions about it. Seeing it really changed her opinion of it.

    Personally, I was impressed with the display. I have a 15" CRT display at home and the viewable area is noticeably larger on the iMac's 15" LCD display. On top of that, the colors and images are sharp and clear. One of the things that drives me crazy about LCD displays is that they tend to darken or solarize when viewed from an angle. The iMac's display didn't do that.

    Also, FWIW, this "news" about the bigger iMac displays is being treated as an unlikely rumor amongst some of the more in-the-know Mac sites. Just FYI.

    --Rick

    --
    --Rick "If it isn't broken, take it apart and find out why."
    1. Re:An opposite reaction and a rumor alert by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      why exactly was this guy's post modded as a 'troll'? seemed harmless to me.

    2. Re:An opposite reaction and a rumor alert by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How is this a troll?

    3. Re:An opposite reaction and a rumor alert by SoupIsGoodFood_42 · · Score: 1
      Yeah well... given that Taco is a programmer. Can anyone really take his opinion on athetics seriously?

      I've seen the same thing. The company I'm doing work for has got 3 of the new iMacs. Everyone who has seen them has ohhed and ahhed at them....Especially the women.

      I personal like it. And as for cheap plastic toys, most PC cases look exactly that. Even the some of the expensive aluminium cases (LiTan or something?) look horrible to me (horrible lines, spacing, alignemnts etc).

      Since progammers are more common than designers here, I'll probably get modded down or have someone reply to me get modded up in opposition to what I'm saying. But hey, Opinions are opinions and I'm allowed to think that mine is right.

    4. Re:An opposite reaction and a rumor alert by boyko · · Score: 1

      Didn't we have this discussion? The iMac has been out a while... some annoyances, some convieniences. Same with any innovation - the remote control means you don't walk across the room anymore to change the channel, but it's also so easy to lose...

    5. Re:An opposite reaction and a rumor alert by dmccarty · · Score: 1, Offtopic
      I have a 15" CRT display at home and the viewable area is noticeably larger on the iMac's 15" LCD display.

      On the contrary, 15" CRT monitors are measured diagonally from corner to corner of the enclosure, which was the subject of a major class action lawsuit a few years back and the reason why magazines say things like "15" (13.8" viewable) monitor" these days.

      LCD monitors, on the other hand, are measured by the actual screen size: a 15" monitor is really 15" from one corner of the screen to the other. Your 15" CRT that is "noticeably larger" is probably an optical illusion; the viewable area is certainly less.

      --
      Have fun: Join D.N.A. (National Dyslexics Association)
    6. Re:An opposite reaction and a rumor alert by agentkhaki · · Score: 1

      Re-read this sentence:

      I have a 15" CRT display at home and the viewable area is noticeably larger on the iMac's 15" LCD display.

      It states that the viewable area is noticeably larger on the iMac's screen. It does not state that the viewable area is noticeably larger than the iMac's screen.

      Result: Wasted mod points for a completely wrong summation of the facts. Typical of Slashdot... the whole not re-reading what you're written bit, eh folks?

      --
      Ack!
    7. Re:An opposite reaction and a rumor alert by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think you read his post incorrectly, I got from it that: the imac's 15" is bigger than his CRT's 15". Which implies that measeurement thingy you were talkin' bout.

    8. Re:An opposite reaction and a rumor alert by dmccarty · · Score: 1

      Yes, but it much funner to point out when Taco does it. Sorry about that. I'll try to read more carefully next time. ;-)

      --
      Have fun: Join D.N.A. (National Dyslexics Association)
  36. rumor by mashy · · Score: 1


    of course, this is still rumored material. although apple rumors often turn out being true to some extent, I've heard that 17" are likely but not much about 19" displays.

  37. Re:Agree with Taco? That's unpossible! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    No, it appears he's bashing their style because it doesn't fucking work.

  38. I dare ya... by UncleAlias · · Score: 5, Funny

    Only 19"? C'mon, Apple...

    Strap a 23" Studio Display on one of these babies and watch it, er... topple over?..

    --

    Stéphane "Alias" Gallay
    Now, where did I put this witty quote?..

    1. Re:I dare ya... by kubrick · · Score: 2

      iMac 23" -- now with new Lead base! :)

      --
      deus does not exist but if he does
  39. only a total idiot...... by Mindjiver · · Score: 1

    ... would value function over form and function with computer equipment.

    --
    I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!
    1. Re:only a total idiot...... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Damn your recursion, damn it to hell! You gave me an (even worse) headache than I already had! Gah!!!

  40. In Other News by matth · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Apple forgot to check to see how the new 19" monitors would affect the weight and center of gravity on the new iMACs. As a result the new models are being recalled due to the fact that when in most any position but directly up (very hard on the neck) the new iMACS have a tendancy to fall over, damaging the LCD screen and thus voiding your warranty :)

  41. Re:Agree with Taco? That's unpossible! by znu · · Score: 3

    They should do something like they did on the outside of the iBook. That's actually painted magnesium under clear plastic, I believe.

    --
    This space unintentionally left unblank.
  42. microphone by tps12 · · Score: 2, Informative

    Will it have a microphone? My girlfriend has a G4 Cube, and it doesn't have a microphone. I thought all Macs since like the Classic came with mics. She even got the Apple monitor that "goes with it" (the 17" CRT) and no mic. :( I consider a microphone essential.

    --

    Karma: Good (despite my invention of the Karma: sig)
    1. Re:microphone by angelo · · Score: 1

      Well, the 15" FP iMacs have a mic in their monitors so, yes, it should have a mic.

    2. Re:microphone by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      the mics in the monitors have always been really crappy in my experience, i just opt for the $3 mic and stand.

  43. In that case, it's funny by CaptDeuce · · Score: 2, Funny

    It's funny- the publicity photos of the 15 inch macs really make it look a lot nicer then it is. I finally saw one up close a few weeks ago- the arm and screen is super smooth, but the base looks like a cheap toy.

    It's funny -- whenever I see a PC case at a computer shop it looks cheap. An then when I see cases on sale (having cut a few knuckles servicing said cases) I know why.

    --
    "Where's my other sock?" - A. Einstein
  44. Nothing low-cost about iMac by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There is nothing low cost about it. You can probably get two much better PC's for the price of a single iMac.

  45. Re:I hope its silent, like many apple products are by phillymjs · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Nope, it's not. There's a fan that draws cool air in the bottom of the dome and vents hot air out an array of holes around the base of the display arm.

    The space inside the iMac was just too confined to allow for normal convection to do the job.

  46. Gonna buy one by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    and put a red hand print on the front and name it 'Wilson' ala Castaway. Sheesh, what a sloppy design. Apple rhymes with crapple. These dogs are a pain to work on and are not expandable like the G4's. What a waste of a flat panel. Are they Blowing Goats(tm)? Sure they are...

    1. Re:Gonna buy one by TomHandy · · Score: 1

      Give me a break, what iMac owner needs to internally expand an iMac? iMac owners don't generally upgrade their video cards or hard drives....at most they might want to upgrade their memory but the typical iMac owner will have whoever they bought it from do that for them. And everything else can be expanded externally using firewire. So what's your complaint about this exactly? That the iMac isn't the right computer for YOU? Well, DUH. -Tom

    2. Re:Gonna buy one by bedheading · · Score: 1

      I don't believe your generalization of the common iMac owner is accurate. Though many purchasing the iMac are naive when it comes to hardware matters, I wouldn't place them in the majority. Not everyone is clueless about their computer. Everyone thinks about upgrading their computers at some point, even my grandparents. Guess why they don't want an iMac?

    3. Re:Gonna buy one by jchristopher · · Score: 1
      That the iMac isn't the right computer for YOU? Well, DUH.

      The iMac isn't the right computer for MOST people. Why? Because most people these days use 1280x1024, if not higher. The iMac is deliberately designed so you can't do this.

      Let's say you go buy a giant 21" CRT. You think "great, I'll just plug it into my iMac, and I'll have 1600x1200.". Wrong. Even on a giant monitor, the iMac's video out is limited to 1024x768.

      This is a major issue, and I'm surprised it doesn't come up more often. Even several non-techies I know have cringed when I pointed this out. Folks have become accustomed to high resolution!

    4. Re:Gonna buy one by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you're in the market for a giant 21" CRT, then you probably never were a target iMac user in the first place.

      The iMac G4 is about small footprint -- a 21" CRT is not. If you need the CRT, get a G4 tower.

    5. Re:Gonna buy one by sydsavage · · Score: 1
      Guess why they don't want an iMac?

      Uhh, because you told them they don't? Really, I'm curious. Just what is it that your grandparents need that can't be added to the iMac?

  47. Re:Ugly. by iuyterw · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Sheesh...

    Everyone knows that the Hello-Kitty vibrators are passe and all the cool kids are using the Badtz-Maru vibrators now.

  48. Ports by nullard · · Score: 2, Insightful

    My only complaint about the base is that all of the inputs are in the rear. ... Why should I have to reach around to plug in my iPod?

    Rotate the base. I tried this at the Apple Store, it works. Just turn the base slightly and you get easy access to the ports. Remember, the arm turns.

    --


    t'nera semordnilap
    1. Re:Ports by aengblom · · Score: 2

      My only complaint about the base is that all of the inputs are in the rear. ... Why should I have to reach around to plug in my iPod?
      ....reply...
      Rotate the base. I tried this at the Apple Store, it works. Just turn the base slightly and you get easy access to the ports. Remember, the arm turns.


      What is this? Sexual Innuendo day!?

      --


      So close and yet so far from the world's perfect ID number
  49. base? cheap? by mbbac · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The base of the iMac doesn't not look like a cheap toy. I've seen them in person too.

    Besides, the base of the iMac is probably one of the most over engineered cases for a computer right now what with its Faraday cage underneath the plastic shell.

    --

    mbbac

  50. Magic Shell is nasty. by rschwa · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Magic Shell is nasty.

    And it's like 99% palm kernel oil or some other super nasty crap.

    1. Re:Magic Shell is nasty. by rschwa · · Score: 1

      Gee I'm so glad everybody blew their mod points on this. Offtopic? I believe Magic Shell was mentioned in the post. Mac news is of such little interest to me that the only reaction I had to the post was 'Magic Shell is nasty'
      Sorry to have wasted your time. :rolleyes:

  51. Horrible timing. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Crap! I have to order a new computer for a teaching gig, and the odds are it won't be replaced for five years. So I'll get an Emac, and then watch these 19" beauties appear and taunt me a few months later.

  52. Re:I hope its silent, like many apple products are by mbbac · · Score: 1

    Yeah, the fan is usually off AFAIK. It's also a multi-speed fan so it'll only blow as much as needed.

    --

    mbbac

  53. Re:Agree with Taco? That's unpossible! by bdowne01 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Having a bad day?

    I have to disagree. Mine looks the same as the day I pulled it out of the box. As long as you dust it off periodically like you would anything on your desk it'll look fine for years.

    Hell, they give you a dusting cloth *with* it.

    I'm actually kind of glad they're getting away from the clear-plastic look...it's starting to get dated. I guess I'm over the "oooh shiny!" stage.

    --
    -brain
  54. Opposite reaction to the opposite reaction. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Let's face it, it's a very big personal-preference issue. Personally, I met an iLamp at CompUSA in the week after release; the LCDs are high-quality for LCDs, but the casework didn't inspire me, nor did the friction of the monitor arm- remember the 20th Anniversary Mac concepts shown in Wired back when? A counterweight system would probably have been pricey and hard to ship, but I can't imagine anyone 'violating the sacred plane of the monitor' when they have to wrench and tug and discover there's no rotational give.

    I'm a small fan of the 'chrome' look, which the Al casemakers and the new Apple rack try to riff on (Lian-Li does make some stupid-looking cases, I'll agree)... However, irrespective of that, the iLamp's base is white plastic, and as such... it looks like a chunk of white plastic. It's also not nearly small enough to impress me (you'd have to ditch the CD-ROM for that, or mount it vertically with the display, as some designs have)), though I suppose it's an improvement for CRT iMac owners.

    While the design does combine both "tit" and "phallus" aspects to good measure and much short-lived joking, I think women are just happy to see something with a few curves that isn't beige, the same thing that endeared them to the iMac. My big gripe isn't with the styling, it's that The Computer For the Rest of Us (or rather, the rest of *Them*) can't seem to enter a product to market at an entry-level price point, even with the supposed inexpense of the PowerPC (a lie; Motorola's fabs suck, hence even Apple faces shortages) and the corners cut on the hardware (white plastic vs. more-expensive-to-QC polycarbonate, flimsy CD trays, highly-reduced-part-count mainboards)...

    Maybe the iMac2 boards will see recycling into something cool, but I'm not so sure. Even the iMac couldn't reuse Gossamer (AFAIK), despite retaining the same specs as the Beige G3 I just scored off eBay. (For better or worse, that thing is a brick; Apple were obviously insane then, for they put a nearly-uATX mainboard into a case that must weigh 80 pounds.)

    1. Re:Opposite reaction to the opposite reaction. by mbbac · · Score: 1
      and the corners cut on the hardware (white plastic vs. more-expensive-to-QC polycarbonate

      The iMac's base is polycarbonate. It is painted white on the inside just like the iBook's shell.
      --

      mbbac

  55. Lord Job's would not like that by Minter92 · · Score: 1, Troll

    "but the base looks like a cheap toy"

    How dare you say that? The imac is the most beautiful piece of machinary ever devised. Except maybe the ipod or or the powermac... or maybe.. the macse and the lisa.. I would say more but I must clean lord Job's toliet.

    1. Re:Lord Job's would not like that by rasterizerjay · · Score: 1

      "most beautiful ever" is going a bit far, but it's certainly a superior desktop computer design.

  56. Re:Agree with Taco? That's unpossible! by Jay+Maynard · · Score: 2, Funny

    It picks up dirt like a hoover so that cleaming white hemisphere that looks pathetic when you take it out of the box becomes a dull grey lump of crap after a few weeks.

    Mine's been out of the box for three weeks now, and the gleaming (note the spelling) white base is still gleaming white. Perhaps if you used that Hoover yourself, the dirt wouldn't wind up in your computers.

    --
    Disinfect the GNU General Public Virus!
  57. Apple tech support by Ilan+Volow · · Score: 2

    The material reminds me of those plastic chairs that we had in elementary school.

    That would explain the rumors floating around Apple Tech Support that "got sat on by a confused first-grader" is the most common support incident with the new iMacs.

    --
    Ergonomica Auctorita Illico!
  58. Re:I hope its silent, like many apple products are by jazzyfox · · Score: 1

    The only time I really notice the fan on mine is when I have the CD tray open. I'd say it doubles in volume, or more. But even then, it's still not enough to overcome the jet engine sounds from the Athlon on the floor next to it.

  59. the TAM... it's time for the 25th actually by johnpaul191 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    this year should see the 25th birthday special edition thingy..... there have been some mild rumors over the last year about it. the TAM was produced in very limited numbers, and by the time the public could get it, it was kinda outdated for the price (in terms of the inner schiznits). That being said, it was pretty neat, and did make it into some movies and TV shows (Batman & Robin, Seinfield etc). there are still online user groups dedicated to them, but then again there is for most everything Apple has ever made.

    seeing as the TAM came out in March 1997 (discontinued in March 1998), this would be 5 years later. maybe we will see something at MWNYC? it is kind of odd you don't see Apple saying anything about the 25th anniversary of the company. seeing how the company is doing a lot better today than 5 years ago, i would think they might do *something* to celebrate.

    1. Re:the TAM... it's time for the 25th actually by Sir+PimpMac · · Score: 1

      I'm down with some latex, fuck the lace ;-)

  60. Consider this... by dborod · · Score: 2, Informative

    Given how much secrecy Apple shrouds their product announcements in, the veracity of this story is either suspect or else Quanta Computer's tenure as the supplier of the flat panels is short-lived.

    A few years ago someone from ATI leaked some details about an upcoming Apple product (like the day of or the day before the announcement) and ATI was immediately and severly slapped down by Apple.

  61. How about dual display mode? by jdunlevy · · Score: 1

    The big change that might actually convince me the flat-panel iMacs are worth buying would be support for dual display mode, i.e. the ability to extend the desktop across multiple monitors. Then the current 15" wouldn't be too small, since I could just go out and buy myself a flat-panel lcd display of whatever size I choose to go with it. My PowerBook G3 currently supports this, but the current flat-panel iMacs only support video mirroring on external monitors.

  62. Behold - The POWER of Advertising! by sharkey · · Score: 2

    It's funny- the publicity photos of the 15 inch macs really make it look a lot nicer then it is.

    The photos make it look nicer, then Taco finds that it truly IS nicer. I am amazed.

    --

    --
    "Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
  63. then / than by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "a lot nicer *then* it is"
    I can't believe they never learn.... *sigh*

  64. Re:Ugly. by Meleschi · · Score: 1

    You Can manually eject the CD Drive on a flat panel iMac. The hole is just hidden behind the cd door...

    --
    Meep Meep!
  65. Cinema HD Display + iMac arm by daviddennis · · Score: 2

    I was mildly disappointed that the 23" display didn't have an iLamp-style arm, since it would have really helped a lot ergonomically.

    I guess it would have required a really heavy base, but it sure would have been cool.

    I have to say that I love the ergonomics of the new iMac, to the point that I'd love to own one - something I would never have said about the previous generation. But it wouldn't be my main computer due to the relatively puny screen real esate.

    Personally, I think a 17" or 19" iMac would be too much of a conflict with their PowerMac. And have you ever seen a 19" LCD? THis seems like a slightly insane rumour that's being bought thanks to a slow news day.

    D

    1. Re:Cinema HD Display + iMac arm by tarzan353 · · Score: 0

      Most LCD displays already have a heavy base, unless they're the Apple-style with a picture frame type of kickstand on the back.

  66. So... Turn the base 90 degreees! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If you want ports on the right, you can have that. If you want ports on the left... you can have that too. It does make the optical drive go in an odd direction, but boy, it does make plugging things in easier :)

  67. "Cheap" plastic by Shuh · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I've read quite a few posts here riding the iMac because of "cheap plastic"... as if there were no other kind of plastic. Check the plastic on 90% of the P.C.'s out there and compare to the iMac... then you will be able to know and see just what cheap plastic is all about...

  68. All Apple Laptop Keyboards Are *Still* *Broken* by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I am in Apple's target market. I am a long-time Unix user. I appreciate quality! I lust after their laptops. But I just can't buy one, yet.

    This is because I can't use the keyboards on their laptops. I need the key to the left of the 'A' to be a Ctrl key. This is not just a want; it is a genuine need based upon ergonomic reasons.

    When Apple redesigns their laptop motherboards to use built-in USB keyboards, instead of built-in ADB keyboards, they will have fixed the problem. They have not yet done so.

    Note: is is now possible to use the built-in ADB keyboard with Debian GNU/Linux, but as of yet, Apple has not made it possible for unix old-timers to use with OSX. Nor is it possible (as far as I know) to use with FreeBSD, NetBSD, or OpenBSD.

    For full details on how the ADB keyboard was mis-designed, check out my previous slashdot posts.

    Please note that my intention is not to troll. My intention is to warn other long-time unix users that Apple's laptop keyboards are not yet acceptable, and also to try to communicate this fact to people inside Apple. I want to effect change. I want Apple to fix this last problem, so that I can enthusiastically support them. If I didn't care, and if I didn't want to see this positive change, I wouldn't have bothered spending the time to make these posts.

    Unfortunately, I have almost no hope. Apple has demonstrated for more than 10 years that they will not address the concerns of unix users. I sincerely hope that they change their ways. The fact that they now have a very-high quality unix OS gives me hope that they might start to care about unix users.

    1. Re:All Apple Laptop Keyboards Are *Still* *Broken* by thetonka · · Score: 1

      Dude I have been using a USB keyboard with a USB wireless mouse on my older Powerbook G3(lombard) for about a year now with a USB PCMCIA card from Macally. I also use a Firewire CDRW using a PCMCIA card at the same time. This is a laptop that did NOT come with USB or firewire. I can use all these peripherals now in OS X or 9. OS X did have some trouble in the beginning with PCMCIA cards but that has been fixed.

      I am not sure where you are getting your info about USB keyboards and laptops but you are WRONG.

      Mike
      www.drunkbunch.com

  69. Imac ergonomics in PC/Linux world by misha_000 · · Score: 1

    I am not really a Mac user but greatly envy their design.With regard to the new iMacs, I am wondering whether there are *ergonomically* competitive products in the PC/Linux world? Specifically the current iMac offers: (i) compact footprint; (ii) *Silent running*; (iii) dvi interface to flat panel; (iv) firewire out; (v) high quality keyboard and mouse. In my view some disadvantages include: (i) screen attachment limits placement; (ii) trailing edge CPU price/performance compared to PC world; (iii) No USB 2; (iv) Sealed construction; (v) Prefer Linux OS. Actually I think that the pricing of the iMacs in this cost benefit picture is a wash. I recently configured a P4 box based on the Shuttle FlexAT board in a "GBox" cube case with a 15" LCD as an iMac "equivalent." The cost was approximately 1500 US. The specs on the box were somewhat better than a similarly priced iMac: 1.6GHz P4/512M Ram/40G HD. However the unit was: Unacceptably noisy; larger; made use of vga rather than dvi connection to the flatpanel. So what are the iMac-like options in the PC world ie silent; compact; dvi video out? Or is it just better to run Yellow Dog on the iMac

    1. Re:Imac ergonomics in PC/Linux world by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You can run Linux (LinuxPPC, Yellow Dog, etc.) on many recent Macs, though I don't know specifically which distributions support the iMac G4.

      Then again, with Mac OS X, you can run Macintosh applications, MS-Office, a development system with a NeXT-style object library, and BSD Unix applications all on the same box, simultaneously.

    2. Re:Imac ergonomics in PC/Linux world by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Agreed -- if you buy the iMac it is probably better to just run OS X.

      However, one of my points of departure is that I would rather run Linux.

      In theory OS X/G4 will do all that you say. However in practice I have found X11 performance to be unacceptable. Moreover though OS X has BSD roots and "fink" provides many if not all of the Debian packages, I have found adminstration and maintenance of the BSD/Unix side of OS X to be exceptionally eccentric and complex compared to other Unix based OS.

    3. Re:Imac ergonomics in PC/Linux world by Oculus+Habent · · Score: 2

      I'm going to take issue only with a few points here.

      No USB 2

      Why would you want it? USB 2.0 may give yout 480 Mbps instead of 400, but they have virtually identical tranfer rates (limitations of the external drive's mechanism, usually). plus, FireWire is less processor intensive.

      FireWire is meant for a wider range of applications. Monitors, for instance, can use FireWire to communicate. FireWire also allows devices to communicate with each other directly, meaning with your DV camera could play directly to your monitor, or record directly to your DVD-R. Sure, you *only* get 63 devices, but unless you're setting up a huge RAID system (over USB 2.0?), it's not an issue.

      Also, FireWire can offer more power than USB over-the-cable, allowing a wider range of devices that do not need separate power connectors.

      Sealed construction

      This is a mindset more than a drawback. For the never-happy gamer, a full-ATX case is the only way to go. But for most people, once you have the computer running the way you want it, opening it up isn't high on the priority list. Add more RAM, maybe, but that's easy enough to do with an iMac (unscrew the bottom). As for additional drives, that's why they included FireWire. Few people want to mess with external drives, but then, few people need them.

      Prefer Linux OS

      What do you get in Linux that you can't have in MacOS X? emacs? No. XFree? No. KDE? GNOME? Thousands of free applications? No, no, no. The only thing you don't get is source for the GUI. You can get Darwin and play with the kernel. You can even use XFree + Darwin to replace MacOS X, but you lose access to the software so many people spend time in Windows for - Office.

      --

      I will say that it would be cool to be able to detatch the arm and monitor, being able to tuck your computer under your arm would be a nice little option. Of course, that's what laptops are for.

      --
      If you lived here, you would be home right now.

      --
      That what was all this school was for... to teach us how to solve our own problems. -- janeowit
  70. Remap it, silly person. by teridon · · Score: 4, Informative

    You can very easily remap the control key to the caps lock key.

    --
    I hold it, that a little rebellion, now and then, is a good thing. -- Thomas Jefferson
  71. Re:Agree with Taco? That's unpossible! by PythonOrRuby · · Score: 1

    Actually, the inner surface of the plastic shell is painted, rather than the magnesium skeleton.

  72. MacOSRumors doubts it too by liquide · · Score: 2, Informative

    http://www.macosrumors.com/

    "Our information thus far differs significantly from what this article offers up; we do believe that there will be a 17-inch widescreen display option either this summer or towards the end of the year -- but nothing larger, at least not yet...."

    1. Re:MacOSRumors doubts it too by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Mac OS Rumors is just as clueless as anyone who relies on them for accurate information.

  73. Re:Agree with Taco? That's unpossible! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Shiny is starting to get dated?

    Actually I think they are going the other way. The ibook is shiny but the PowerBook is not. The G4, eMac, original iMac, and all of the Apple displays are shiny but the xServe is not. The flat panel on the new iMac is shiny but the base is not. Finally to top it off more than half the things you encounter in OSX are shiny.

    Conclusion

    Shiny wins! Shiny is cool! Revel in your shiny flat panel and use it to conceal the dull white base! Notice they gave you a shiny keyboard and mouse to go with that iMac?

    Livin large man!

  74. CD ejection tip... by PythonOrRuby · · Score: 1

    And if the new iMac works the same way as the Quicksilver towers, holding down the mouse button as the computer boots should trigger firmware to eject the CD.

    IIRC.

  75. You know your site looks Aqua-like? by crovira · · Score: 2

    That nice plasticized corner with "Slashdot" on it.
    The Helvetica-like sans-serif font for "News for Nerds. Stuff that matters" and the 'ruled' background it and the topic icons rest on.

    Strange isn't it?

    --
    MSBPodcast.com The opinions expressed here are my own. If you don't like 'em... Think up your own stuff.
    1. Re:You know your site looks Aqua-like? by Erik+K.+Veland · · Score: 1

      Thanks for noticing Sherlock. Welcome to the Apple-section.

      --
      "I tend to think of OS X as Linux with QA and Taste", James Gosling, creator of Java
  76. Re:Remember the G4 Cube - how'd they do that? by dbrutus · · Score: 2

    Since a large chunk of PPC production goes into embedded applications, they take heat seriously.
    Chip too hot = no sales
    Steve Jobs has always hated fan noise so until there is a zero noise fan, PPC, Transmeta, or some other low heat chip will be what macs run on.

  77. Can someone draw a mockup? by mountainhouse · · Score: 1

    I'm GIMP impaired ;) Is there anyone out there that can pull down a photo of the iMac and resize the display accurately, to give a sense of what the new iMac would look like?

  78. iMac beautiful, DVD-burnin' dream... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    My iMac has a beautiful white base, the screen has a viewable area larger than most supposed 17 inch CRT monitors, and comes with powerful DV edititing and DVD writing software... all of which is more than I can say for any cheap-ass Intel system I've ever seen.

    The editor is clearly (a) jealous that he can't buy a comparable Intel machine (b) trolling for this response. Besides, that base is metal, has the editor even touched the machine?

    My single complaint is that it's lack of a L2 cache hampers the otherwise kick-ass 800Mhz G4's performance, but it still rocks quite nicely, beating any PIII machine performance-wise as long as you stay away from Classic. Some day I'll replace the keyboard with a third-party model that sports a power button, but generally, I'm just happy that I don't need to restart when Word crashes ( incidentally the only app I've ever seen crash on OS X )...

    Stuff your anti-Apple opinions. The company is starting to do things right for once, you'd think Slashdot would be more supportive of the only real competition for Microsoft...

  79. prohibitively expensive? by ryochiji · · Score: 1

    I'm not sure a 19" iMac makes much sense cost wise. The whole point about the iMac is it's relatively low cost, but with a 19" display, it would probably cost at least $2000. For that price you could get a PowerMac with a 19" flat screen CRT.

    Although, I must admit, if they did come out with one of these things, I would seriously consider it for my summer upgrade :-)

  80. Re:Agree with Taco? That's unpossible! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Oh man, I lived in a dusty apartment like that, too! Everything not made from the right material got *TOTALLY* dusty. I eventually moved out... .

  81. thEn, thAn, what's the difference? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why edit yourself? I mean, how many million people read your posts?

  82. iMac innovation undiscovered... except by owners. by BitGeek · · Score: 5, Insightful



    Its amazing how the marketplace reacts to apples products- the iMac looks dorky in pictures, but when you see on in person, you see how finely crafted it is. I ordered one sight unseen (the specs fit my needs more than anything else) and was extremely surprised at how well built it is.

    The other amazing thing is just how innovative putting the display on that arm really is. I know people are going "what's the big deal??": and others have commented that larger displays would tip it over.

    Well, the base is really good sized and heavy- the arm, as is, could handle a display significantly larger and heavier (I've tested this by pulling on the arm to try and tip the mac- it takes al ot of weight to do so.)

    But what's really amazing about this machine is that you move the display. Regularly. When its on the arm like this, you can adjust it to precisely how you're sitting at that point in time.

    If you're in front of a computer a lot, you move around in your chair-- unconciously, I'm sure-- to remain comfortable, keep your legs from falling asleep, etc. With the iMAc, you can trivially move the display to fit where you're sitting at that moment in time, or move it over to show your girlfriend something going on on the screen ( find myself doing this alot)...

    Just a half inch adjustment makes an improvement on the ergonomics. And people always move around.

    Now, after using an iMac for a couple months, I can't stand to be in front of a display that doesn't move (like my other computers)-- and canstantly have to stop myself from adjusting them. I was at WWDC and used one of the huge HD Cinema displays there, and kept moving it! All 30 pounds of it, or whatever- it really huge and moving it was liek dragging a metal table across a linoleum floor- its not meant to be moved... but I'm spoilt.

    As to larger displays- the weird thing is that this 15 inch display seems too big for me. I keep finding myself surprised at its size. I can't imagine a bigger display on this machin-- not because the arm couldn't handle it but because it would be too much display.

    It wasn't this way with CRTs where I demanded employers provide me a 21 inch trinitron, as an ergonomic requirement. but this 15 inch LCD is better in terms of image quality and usability than a 21 in trinitron running Mac OS (which is equal to a 30 inch trinitron runnign Windwos or Linux-- windowing systems that waste/misuse a lot of real estate.)

    Constantly slashdot articles that talk aobut Apple products, such as this one, dismiss them out of ignorance. you cannot see the utility and innovation of the iMac from looking at it in a picture. You have to use it ot realize that you really do want to move the display regularly.

    People get used to using Windows / Linux (different operating systems, essentially the same look and feel) and then dismiss the MAc because they don't fit what they're used to. This is exactly like a white person being insensitive around blacks or a straight person being homophobic- its fear and hatred of whats different. Except instead of people we're talking about technology so its less dangerous, but just as illogical. But then- these prejudices do get translated, into real world effects as people are denied jobs or mistreated by the ignorant.

    As a class of people who have been mistreated by Windows non-thinkers, its time to stop doing the exact same thing to Apple products-- which, are treated even worse, because they have the jealousy effect by being both not-microsoft and truely innovative.

    --
    Yeah, and you guys panned the ipod too: http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=01/10/23/ 1816257
  83. Any idea... by Captain_Stupendous · · Score: 1

    Frankly, if a 19" flat screen is all the iMac has to recommend it (and I'm not saying it is), I'll pass.

    Does anyone know of any reasonably-priced ($2K or less) 19- or 21-inch flat-screen displays for the PC?

    --


    I am alone, yet I also surf the universal backwash of undifferentiated Being, which is LOVE.
  84. Don't be irrational. by BitGeek · · Score: 2


    The only product that has been "steved" was the Newton. Its not clear why, but that was his doing.

    Other than that, this idea that something will be "steved" because it was leaked is just more irrational bigotry towards all things apple.

    Steve is an extrordinarily rational mane. Passionate, yes, but he is leading the market, and paying very close attention to the market. That's why apple's been so successful lately.

    There were rumors abou the iMac itself for about a year before it came out, yet the product was not "steved" wit was amazing.

    Apple may or may not ship larger displays soon... I expect they won't and I think its wise that they don't-- the prices of the larger displays don't yet make sense for a consumer machine.

    Also, its worth noting that as a consumer product, the iMac sells millions of units a year. A larger display is going to have a much lower yeild which means that there may well not be production capacity to support the high volume, lower margin business.

    And then when Apple doesn't announce them in July, you'll be back here telling us that you were right, they were "steved".

    Well, if by "steved" you mean choosing to ship products for which they can fulfill the demand, then you're right. But "irrationally canned" is just bigotry on your part.

    --
    Yeah, and you guys panned the ipod too: http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=01/10/23/ 1816257
    1. Re:Don't be irrational. by hype7 · · Score: 1

      This is what Steved means.

      -- james
      ps I am not trolling! I'm being serious

  85. Can't resist calling them Niggers. by BitGeek · · Score: 1, Troll


    You said:
    I don't hate the iMac, I think it's just a piece of hardware. But sometimes I just cannot resist throwing baits at the mac lovers, who don't seem to think it is just that - hardware.

    What you said, essentially means:
    I don't hate the dark skin, I think it's just a skin color. But sometimes I just cannot resist throwing baits at the Nigger lovers, who don't seem to think it is just that - skin color.

    Do you now see what people rise to that "bait"? Why people take it seriously?

    It is a prejudice and it a prejudice that has real effects--- products don't get ported, you get passed over for jobs, you deal with derision and what is essentially hatred, in a variety of contexts-- airports when you pull our your power book, online when you deal with bigots like you, etc. etc.

    We are no more "zeolots" than MLK was. We deserve recognition for having the content of our character to use a better ,though "unpopular" tool instead of conforming to your political correctness.

    Think about it.

    --
    Yeah, and you guys panned the ipod too: http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=01/10/23/ 1816257
    1. Re:Can't resist calling them Niggers. by jukal · · Score: 2

      >What you said, essentially means: >I don't hate the dark skin, I think it's just a skin color. But sometimes I just cannot resist
      > throwing baits at the Nigger lovers, who don't seem to think it is just that - skin color.

      Exactly. Hardware is hardware, skin is skin, language is just a language. If you loose your control because of flamebait, then your opinion is vague. And yeah, us white people have no penis, finns are finished and truly .

      Often, a flamebait leads to good discussion on the subject, but only if you are not too tied into your own opinion.

  86. Offtopic for discussing tipping? Heh. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Parent had a rating of '-1 offtopic'... but it's similar to a '2 insightful' in a later post in the same sub-thread on big screens tipping. Sigh.

  87. The Dome Is Invisible by KillerKane · · Score: 1

    All these complaints about the dome are typical of what happens when you look at a picture of something in place of actually sitting down and using it. In use, I can't see the dome; all I see is the screen, keyboard and mouse, which is all I need (or want) to see. And the ergonomic benefits of the easily adjustable screen make this the most comfortable computer I've ever used, period.

    And that's in 25 years of using computers every day.

    --
    There is a thin line between genius and insanity. I have erased that line. -- Oscar Levant
  88. Re:iMac innovation undiscovered... except by owner by autechre · · Score: 2

    I do like the idea of Mac OS X very much (a well-designed interface with a good, stable underpinning that allows people who Know What They're Doing to hack around); it's certainly a better operating system than Windows (IMHO) for most desktop users.

    However, I really agree with the comment that Linux "waste[s]/misuse[s] a lot of real estate". How is this the case? Are you comparing MacOS to only something like KDE or Gnome? I really don't think that MacOS X is so very much better at screen real estate than Enlightenment; in fact, some aspects of it annoy me greatly. Apple decided that I don't want to windowshade things anymore; in E, I can iconify (what OS X does now) or windowshade them. Also, I really miss the floating menu (you can get this with a hack on Windows, but I haven't seen any sort of equivalent on Mac OS). The fact that all applications in Mac OS share a menu bar at the top of the screen might save some real estate, but I have a hard time believing that it's such a huge difference (especially for someone like me, whose screen is mostly covered with Eterms). And the inability to set "focus follows mouse" is a crying shame.

    To those who will yell that, "Those are 'hacker' things and Apple doesn't care about catering to you"; you're right. But that proves that they don't have the uber-OS (and I'm not sure that anyone can). Apple certainly deserves a lot of credit for their ideas and implementations, but they're not perfect for everyone. For most "regular" users? I do think so, yes. But not for me...not at the moment.

    --
    WMBC freeform/independent online radio.
  89. MOD PARENT UP by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    CmdrTaco, you can stuff your anti-Apple shit. Did your wife dump you?

  90. Very positive story there. by Kyeo · · Score: 1

    Glass is always full, huh?

  91. Reach around the back? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is one comment that I've seen in several places, but cannot really fathom: "the ports are on the back so I have to reach around to them."

    Do you really carry your iPod's cable around with you? I have a G4 tower -- connectors definitely on the back and under the table, too -- and I have a couple of cables that I've connected to the back and brought around to the front where they wait to connect to my MP3 player or camera.

    I guess it boils down to whether you use the computer in such a way that you connect to a port or to a cable.

  92. Re:iMac innovation undiscovered... except by owner by a1291762 · · Score: 1

    > this 15 inch LCD is better in terms of image
    > quality and usability than a 21 in trinitron
    > running Mac OS

    Excuse me? I have a 21" monitor at work on a PC that runs at 1600x1200 at approx 150 DPI. There is no way a 15" 1024x768 can come close to that. I don't like having windows take up my entire screen and at work I don't have to have that. I can read small fonts just fine and I can have 2 full page documents side by side on my screen while retaining legibility.

    On my iMac (CRT), I can't even have 1 page on the screen without the font becoming unreadable (with font smoothing on *or* off).

    Sure an LCD screen might be nicer than the same sized CRT but it can't match high resolution and DPI.

    Look at the eMac. It has a 17" CRT with a *higher* resolution than the iMac.

  93. *BUILT-IN* Keyboard is (Broken-By-Design) ADB by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The issue is the built-in keyboard.

    I know that I could carry an extra USB keyboard, and I could use it just fine. However, I don't want to have to carry extra stuff to use my laptop. I want to be able to use the built-in keyboard. I can't use the built-inADB keyboard, because of its bad design.

  94. CapsLock NOT REMAPPABLE on BUILT-IN ADB Keyboard by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    As the post you referred to also indicated, this is only possible for USB keyboards.

    All Apple laptops have built-in ADB keyboards.

    The CapsLock key is not remappable (as far as I know) in MacOSX, FreeBSD, NetBSD, or OpenBSD. (It is remappable in Debian GNU/Linux, but I also have a need to run OpenBSD, and would want to run OSX if I paid for Apple hardware.

  95. I like se by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    that is all.

    ###SE###

  96. Re:I like .cx by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    that is all.

    ###.CX###

  97. VIA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's called VIA ...'viewable image area' (diagonally), and it's about to go the way of the do-do, in favor of ratios...

    16:10
    4:3

    ...etc.

  98. Re:iMac innovation undiscovered... except by owner by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    People get used to using Windows / Linux (different operating systems, essentially the same look and feel)

    My Linux desktop looks nothing like Windows, but is in fact based on NeXT/OPENStep, you know, that other OS designed by Steve Jobs. Not every Linux user uses Gnome or KDE, ya know.
  99. Re:iMac innovation undiscovered... except by owner by BitGeek · · Score: 2

    The fact that all applications in Mac OS share a menu bar at the top of the screen might save some real estate, but I have a hard time believing that it's such a huge difference (especially for someone like me, whose screen is mostly covered with Eterms). And the inability to set "focus follows mouse" is a crying shame.

    These are usability issues. Ok, the menu-bar thing is a screen real-estate issue as well. When you have repeated menu bars, you do burn a LOT of real estate. plus, putting it on the window slows you down, as compared to putting it on the top of the screen.

    Same thing with "floating" menus- they are much slower for the user to use than a top of screen menu. (Though Mac OS does have them if you use the second mouse button-- another thing that actually slows people down, which is why Apple still ships a one button mouse.)

    The focuse following the mouse point is the most annoying feel that I've ever had to deal with. I'm happy with the way MacOS works and cannot imagine why you'd want it another way-- but those are just my feelings. The science behind it is, it slows you down-- you end up getting the wrong focus, often, instead of the focus you want.

    These complaints are regular are repeated and all of them have been answered at least a decade ago. Scientificly, objectively, all of these issues are ones where apple chose usability. There's a reason they are that way and the alternative is to slow all your customers down and make your product harder to work with.

    I won't answer further in this thread because this has been laid to rest years ago-- its a scientific fact.

    --
    Yeah, and you guys panned the ipod too: http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=01/10/23/ 1816257
  100. Re:iMac innovation undiscovered... except by owner by BitGeek · · Score: 2

    Excuse me? I have a 21" monitor at work on a PC that runs at 1600x1200 at approx 150 DPI. There is no way a 15" 1024x768 can come close to that.

    Of course not. The iMac is legible.

    150 DPI is unreadable.

    This reminds me of the arguments I used to have with BBS weenies back in the day every PC came with a el-cheapo 13 inch (though it claimed to be 15 inch) monitor with .38mm pixels and they'd claim that their display was super superior cause it would do 1280x960 compared to the 72dpi 800x600 Mac display I was using... course they also complained of headaches alot.

    Again, you're using silly specs to compare with a product you haven't seen. Running 150 dpi makes your display useless.

    --
    Yeah, and you guys panned the ipod too: http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=01/10/23/ 1816257
  101. It's not how big it is, it's how you use it. by mtec · · Score: 1

    I'd like to be able to rotate it sideways.

    --
    Cake or Death? Cake Please!
  102. KDE rootless on iMac with OS X by mbaudis · · Score: 1

    you may also try to run X11 with KDE (or Gnome, or a simple WM) side-by-side with OS X, thanks to the people at fink.sourceforge.net... very convenient to have open source and legacy software in one session (of course, you can also use fullscreen and toggle, but...) Breaks Apple's design rules, for sure. See

    http://spottyblue.stanford.edu/~progene/images/s cr een.png

    for a screenshot (no menue bar, because 2nd screen on my TiBook ;-D )

  103. That's not the theory by David+Gould · · Score: 2

    (continuing my tradition of posting replies to old comments that nobody except possibly the parent poster will ever see... sigh. LAST POST!)

    I disagree. I understand the theory behind the statement; CRT monitors are measured diagonally, so a 17" isn't really a full 17" across.

    That's not the theory. First of all, LCDs are also measured diagonally. Nobody ever thought the size was horizontal. With an aspect ratio of 3x4, the difference between the diagonal and the long side would be really, really significant. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? The Pythagorean triple is 3:4:5, so the long side is 20% less than the diagonal.

    You also mentioned flat tubes -- did you mean that they cheat by counting how the tape measure wraps around the curvature of the screen? I guess that's something, but even pre-flat-tube screens don't curve that much. Besides, I don't even like true flat tubes: I am an absolute Trinitron snob -- it's got to be vertically flat, but a little horizontal curvature helps to break up the reflections; flat-tube screens seem to pick up too much glare.

    Anyway, no, the trick is that CRT sizes are given as the diagonal of the tube, including the 3/4" or whatever at each edge that is under the plastic, and unusable. It's the size of the actual tube, but not the size of the image that you can see. That's why they are advertised as, e.g., '15" CRT (13.8" DVI[1])', '17" CRT (15.6" DVI)', or '19" CRT (16.9" DVI)'. LCDs are also measured diagonally, but the size given is the "true" (viewable) size. Hence, the 13.3" screen on my 'Book is only about a half-inch smaller than a 15" CRT, which is hardly noticeable. Ditto for the desk-lamp iMac's 15" LCD (I checked "http://www.apple.com/imac/specs.html" and that number is listed as viewable) vs. a 17" CRT. Though I can't say as much about the resolution being stuck at 1024x768 -- that is a real limitation. Still, the current desk-lamp is pretty nice, and a 17"/1280x1024 version would be truly sweet.

    [1] Diagonal Viewable Image

    --
    David Gould
    main(i){putchar(340056100>>(i-1)*5&31|!!(i<6)<< 6)&&main(++i);}