Apple's iMac Turns 20 Years Old (cnn.com)

Twenty years ago on May 6, 1998, Steve Jobs unveiled the iMac for the first time. Current CEO Tim Cook shared footage from the event on Twitter Sunday. It shows Jobs describing the $1,299 iMac as an impossibly futuristic device. CNNMoney reports: "The whole thing is translucent, you can see into it. It's so cool," Jobs gushes. He points to a handle that allows the computer's owner to easily lift the device, which is about the size of a modern microwave oven. He takes a jab at the competition: "The back of this thing looks better than the front of the other guy's, by the way." In January 1999, less than a year after the iMac's debut, Apple more than tripled its quarterly profit.

The San Francisco Chronicle declared Apple was "cashing in on insatiable demand for its new space-age iMac computer." For the next decade, Jobs kept the new "i" products coming. Today, the iMac is in its seventh generation and is virtually unrecognizable from its ancestor. An Apple spokesperson notes an "iMac today consumes up to 96% less energy in sleep mode than the first generation." Some of the original iMac's tech specs include: PowerPC G3 processor clocked at 233MHz, 15-inch display with 1,024x768 resolution, two USB ports and Ethernet with a built-in software modem, 4GB hard drive, 32MB of RAM (expandable to 128MB), 24x CD-ROM drive, built-in stereo speakers with SRS sound, Apple-designed USB keyboard and mouse, and Mac OS 8.1.

Comments

Small bump

[phantomfive]

The colored Mac gave them a bit of a bump, but ultimately failed to stop the decline in Macintosh sales. Ultimately it was the conversion to Unix, finally getting a decent OS that caused sales to continually increase.

Re:Small bump

[martinX]

I disagree. I think it's all the products as a whole. I just took a look at Mac sales by year and there was an uptick in 2000/2001, then a drop. Things didn't pick up and stay up until 2006 which was 5 years after the iPod, a year before the iPhone and just after the release of OS 10.4.

Re: Small bump

[mridoni]

At that time I was working in a shop that only sold Apple computers, and I had been working there for a few years. The first iMac, from a technical standpoint, wasn't really something to write home about: slow, prone to over-heating, no SCSI, floppy, ADB or serial when many people still used them (so you had to throw in the garbage all your old peripherals); the USB subsystem was lacking reliable drivers, so in the first months you had to choose between a floppy drive and a printer. Yes, it was repairable, but in 1998 that was still a given (and, anyway, putting an iMac back together after disassembling required some serious swearing, the damn thing had its insides so tightly packed, it wouldn't stick together if you routed the spaeaker cable the wrong way).

But its greatest achievement was putting Macintosh computers back on the map. The iMac wasn't a champion, but it was pretty and shiny. When Apple, afew years later, presented later the "flower power" and "dalmatians" versions, they knew perfectly well that they wouldn't sell, but they were just meant to generate enough buzz in the press. And that was the iMac did: before its time, Macintosh computers were either (very) expensive and confined to DTP/graphic/music professionals, or (not so) cheap, outdated and unreliable. The iMac changed all that and prepared the terrain for the advent of OSX and, ultimately, of the iPhone. People instantly loved it, and there was nothing you could say about screen resolutions, a substandard graphic card (ATI Rage II/II Pro? Really?) or anything else that could make them change your mind. And it sat very well on your desk, no more square beige boxes or ugly CRT monitors with lots of cables: the iMac proved that computers, other than being a useful tool, could be a fashion statement and an extension of your (purported, at least) personality.

Re: Small bump

[drinkypoo]

SCSI, floppy, ADB or serial when many people still used them (so you had to throw in the garbage all your old peripherals);

Or buy a Keyspan USB to ADB converter.

The iMac changed all that and prepared the terrain for the advent of OSX and, ultimately, of the iPhone. People instantly loved it, and there was nothing you could say about screen resolutions, a substandard graphic card (ATI Rage II/II Pro? Really?) or anything else that could make them change your mind.

Sure, lots of people don't care about computer internals. That's progress, really. Not selling people a GPU they won't use is a good plan. Charging them so much they might as well have got one anyway is an even better plan.

Re: Small bump

[Solandri]

the iMac proved that computers, other than being a useful tool, could be a fashion statement and an extension of your (purported, at least) personality.

Exactly. The iMac's contribution (if you can call it that) to computing wasn't technical. It was psychological. It was available in a variety of colors, and the buyer got to choose which color theirs would be. Similar to the original Ford model T being available only in black, while all cars today are available in your choice of colors. For the non-technical masses, it turned the computer from "a" computer into "my" computer.

While I'm a technical guy and think that's mostly pointless, I don't deny the influence it's had on how many people buy and treat computers. The trend of people pimping out their PC case with LED lights traces its roots back to the iMac. Same for all the custom cases available for phones - people put a disproportionate amount of thought and care into that $10 purchase because they want it to reflect themselves.

Re: Small bump

[dryeo]

Actually the Model T was originally available in a variety of colours. Then Ford built his assembly line and black was the only colour of paint that dried fast enough for production and became the only choice.

Re:Small bump

[jellomizer]

What the iMac did was plug the hole in the sinking ship known as Apple. What it did was offered a product someone wanted, and got some new sales out of it. Apple had been barely sailing on its existing customers just upgrading.

People were still getting PC's in droves because they more or less had too. But with the iMac they started to want a Mac. But MacOS 8 and 9 were way too out of date in many ways and offered no good reason for the upgrade.

While OS X, which was new and powerful and had the Unixy goodness, this got the attention of many of the technical people, who use to poo poo Macs for being too user friendly without the tools they really need.

Then it followed up with the iBooks, Powerbooks, Power Macs, iPods, then iPhones....

I am sure the iMac was the first part of a long term strategy. First to get people to want the product, then to get them like the product, then to buy the products.

The Macs before that were just PC's with MacOS on it and incompatible chips. the iMac changed the conversation.

However it took a few years to get a hold of it.

Re: Small bump

[jellomizer]

What Apple was betting on, is the fact that the average person, didn't need a powerful computer. But one that is easy to setup and work with. In many ways that was a big gamble. 1998 is the time of the eMachenes and Compaq race to the bottom PC's where they were just pushing cheaper PC's with more features "Mostly broken" That were large boxes, with big screens.

Apple was selling a reduced feature at not a race to the bottom price, but (despite the stated problems from the parent) more or less worked well, and was easy to use, and fit in well with the culture of the time.

Yeah, and look at how shitty they've become.

[Anonymous Coward]

I remember my iMac G5.

It was a pretty nice computer (G5 jokes aside). The entire thing was modular and entirely user serviceable from the back side. You would place the unit screen down on a flat side, then undo three captive screws on the bottom that would actuate an internal locking mechanism and release the entire back panel. From there, you could grab the stand and pivot the entire back side up and off the computer.

Once you'd done that, everything was serviceable from the backside. The RAM slots were presented to you (and the memory was even user replacable- Apple had instructions for opening up the machine in the manual), along with the HDD, Superdrive, the heatsink covering the processor, the fans, PSU, and the rest of the logic board. The entire system was extremely modular and while you weren't supposed to replace anything other than the RAM, it was trivial for anyone to service their machines themselves.

So now what do we have?

We have a thin aluminum turd designed to be as un-servicable as possible. You used to be able to open up the newer machines with a pair of suction cups (the display glass was held on by magnets, once you pulled that off all you had to do was remove the LCD panel to get to the guts), but now you can't even do that. You actually need a pizza cutter (Apple calls it a "rotary cutter") to slice through the adhesive foam holding in the LCD glass, and every time you open up the machine you have to replace this entire gasket to seal the machine back up again.

Oh, yeah, and everything is soldered to the motherboard. RAM, CPU, GPU, SSD, everything. And guess what? When the SSD fails (which it will eventually), it will prevent the machine from booting (even from an external drive). You read that right- the machine is literally tied to the SSD, and if it can't enumerate the chipset, then the system will refuse to boot from anything.

So here's to 20 years of the iMac. We've witnessed the rise and fall of what used to be a very reasonable computer. Now it's just a pile of irreparable trash, like the majority of Apple's other products. Designed to fail (and if that doesn't work, they'll just obsolete your system in the most passive aggressive way possible) and marketed at people who don't know any better, other than that it has an Apple logo on it so somehow it must be magically better. Such a goddamn shame too.

Re:Yeah, and look at how shitty they've become.

[TheFakeTimCook]

Oh, yeah, and everything is soldered to the motherboard. RAM, CPU, GPU, SSD, everything. And guess what? When the SSD fails (which it will eventually), it will prevent the machine from booting (even from an external drive). You read that right- the machine is literally tied to the SSD, and if it can't enumerate the chipset, then the system will refuse to boot from anything.

Since the chip enumeration is likely NEVER ( or hardly ever) rewritten, those locations in SSD will also likely not "wear out" for many DECADES.

Even the oft-rewritten portions of a modern SSD are unlikely to "wear out" for over 30 years; FAR longer than almost anybody would be running the same computer.

Re:Yeah, and look at how shitty they've become.

[berj]

Not much point replying to an AC.. but..

Oh, yeah, and everything is soldered to the motherboard. RAM, CPU, GPU, SSD, everything.

What the hell are you talking about?

In the current 21.5" iMac 4K the Ram is replaceable, as are the CPU and SSD. Not easily replaceable.. but replaceable nonetheless. The GPU is indeed soldered in. Well done. 1/4.

In the 27" 5K iMac there's a hatch on the back to access the RAM, the cpu and ssd are upgradeable (with similar difficulty to the above). Heck.. even the Wifi/Bluetooth module is replaceable.

In the 27" iMac Pro it's the same story as the 21". All replaceable with some tricky disassembly/assembly. But definitely replaceable.

So really it's only the GPU that's soldered on. Congrats. You did worse than just randomly choosing components to declare as soldered in.

Re:Yeah, and look at how shitty they've become.

[Kjella]

Since the chip enumeration is likely NEVER ( or hardly ever) rewritten, those locations in SSD will also likely not "wear out" for many DECADES. Even the oft-rewritten portions of a modern SSD are unlikely to "wear out" for over 30 years; FAR longer than almost anybody would be running the same computer.

They can still outright fail though, it's happened to me. And of all the things soldered into an iMac, I'd consider it the most high risk item. But we had this argument 20 years ago about why would anyone buy an AIO over a desktop with an external screen, where you can upgrade one or the other and replace just one if the other breaks. To technical people this was absurd, but the customers didn't care as long as it looked pretty. And that's when they figured most people don't care about these things so let's just solder it down and glue it shut, sockets and connectors are for nerds.

Offer people a "warranty" which is basically to clone it in a new device and recycle the broken one and most don't care that it's essentially irreparable. Until they're stuck with an out of warranty paperweight, but then they're looking at features and price right now. That they'll be stuck in the same position some years down the road, well let's just kick that can ahead of us. Many people live paycheck to paycheck. Long term planning is where to go on vacation next year. How you'll repair you iMac in five years? Not even on the horizon...

Re:Yeah, and look at how shitty they've become.

[TheFakeTimCook]

Since the chip enumeration is likely NEVER ( or hardly ever) rewritten, those locations in SSD will also likely not "wear out" for many DECADES. Even the oft-rewritten portions of a modern SSD are unlikely to "wear out" for over 30 years; FAR longer than almost anybody would be running the same computer.

They can still outright fail though, it's happened to me. And of all the things soldered into an iMac, I'd consider it the most high risk item. But we had this argument 20 years ago about why would anyone buy an AIO over a desktop with an external screen, where you can upgrade one or the other and replace just one if the other breaks. To technical people this was absurd, but the customers didn't care as long as it looked pretty. And that's when they figured most people don't care about these things so let's just solder it down and glue it shut, sockets and connectors are for nerds.

Offer people a "warranty" which is basically to clone it in a new device and recycle the broken one and most don't care that it's essentially irreparable. Until they're stuck with an out of warranty paperweight, but then they're looking at features and price right now. That they'll be stuck in the same position some years down the road, well let's just kick that can ahead of us. Many people live paycheck to paycheck. Long term planning is where to go on vacation next year. How you'll repair you iMac in five years? Not even on the horizon...

Of course, you're one of those people who turns around and argues that people can repair their own iPhones, even though 90% of the world's population couldn't successfully effect a repair on ANY electronic assembly, let alone one with almost exclusively SMT components, including those with fine-pitch leads, or even NO real exposed leads (BGA, QFN, etc).

So which is it? People can repair modern SMT-based electronic assemblies, or not? Because, it is no harder to access the innards of a modern iMac (heat gun, spudger, cutters) than it is to access in innards of ANY modern smartphone and many laptops (heat gun, spudger, cutters).

And considering the fact that the vast majority of computer owners NEVER upgrade their computer's internals, even when they ARE easily accessible and replaceable, the "but it's SOLDERED!" is a pretty weak argument overall.

As for me, I have been an embedded systems designer/developer for several decades, and have built-up many of my own SMT designs, and, at certain times in my life, I have also been an electronic repair technician (bench tech). But when I want my phone worked on, I take it to those who do that every day. And I don't own a computer with a soldered-in SSD or RAM; but if I did, I would also take that to someone who works on those products every single day.

Experience and knowledge also includes the experience and knowledge to know when you DON'T have the specialized skills and equipment to effect a successful repair, and should take your device to those who do.

To use a car analogy: I can fix many things on my car; but I would never attempt to rebuild its automatic transmission, even though it is completely "repairable" by the standards set forth by the Parent.

Re:They need a 20th anniversary version

[DarkVader]

You want Blue Dalmatian or Flower Power to come back?

(Those things were UGLY. The dealer I worked with sold every other iMac from that shipment at retail price. Those two sat around for quite a while, and finally had to be sold at a loss. And they only got one of each.)

The first affordable desktop ...

[Qbertino]

... where you didn't need to know how to connect or adjust a monitor. A big win for non-experts. Nice move. I didn't get it back then as much as I get it now. Unpack, turn on, works. ... By and large Apple deserves all the billions it can make.

Re:Crummy Specs Even For Then

[drinkypoo]

Also, the 400 MHz AMD CPU was unlikely to be any better than the 233 MHz G3, and it was probably more power-hungry.

The G3 was nothing to write home about, but the Athlon was. The G4 was impressive, but the G3 wasn't. The Athlon, though, was the fastest thing around, clock for clock. It was also by far the cheapest, flop for flop. The release of the Athlon was really AMD's most shining moment. They absolutely cleaned Intel's clock technically for years. Actually, the K6 was much faster than Intel processors as well, but it was typically hampered by a VIA chipset. It wasn't until the Athlon that AMD started producing chipsets in quantity, and their chipsets are top-notch — better than Intel's, in fact.

I remember it well because that's when I built my first PCs, in that era. The first of them had a K6/2. The PCs I'd had before were hand-me-downs.

(I still have the last dome-shaped iMac, with the voodoo card...)

Few people care about user servicability

[sjbe]

We have a thin aluminum turd designed to be as un-servicable as possible

I used to care about user serviceability until I realized that almost nobody actually does it including myself. Only a tiny fraction of a fraction of computer users ever crack the case of their machine. For the few people who care there are machines available to do this. Just not from Apple. So if this is important to you, don't buy Apple. They obviously don't want your business and frankly I can't really blame them. I don't understand the point in bitching because Apple isn't pandering specifically to you and a very narrow market segment like you. To Apple it's just a added cost that people demonstrably aren't willing to pay extra for and that very very very few people actually give a shit about.