The iMac turns 10
May 6, 1998 was a Wednesday. I used to work at home most Wednesdays. That day I got a call from my boss’s assistant instructing me to hurry in to the office. Which means I was probably not wearing pants when I first heard about the existence of the iMac.
Ten years later, the iMac is still with us, though it has transmogrified from a 233MHz CRT-based all-in-one system into today’s 3.06GHz flat-panel-based system. In the years following the announcement, the iMac helped Apple stagger to its feet, and in 2001 the iPod helped get the company back to the top of its game.
I don’t think it’s unreasonable to suggest that without the iMac, Apple would either be out of business or a vastly different company than the one we see today. And certainly the iMac was the first Apple product to truly bear the stamp of Steve Jobs, as well as designer Jonathan Ive, both of whom have spent the last decade driving Apple on to even more impressive creations.
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The thing that amazes me…
…is the price for successive entry level iMacs stays the same or goes down! Consider what's happened to the dollar since 1998. On that alone the iMac should be several thousand dollars. But no, the entry level iMac is $1199… $100 dollars cheaper than the original. Now consider what that $1200 gets you in terms of processor, memory, storage, display, peripherals, ports, etc. etc. compared to the original. Amazing.
Also amazing, i'm still using my 1999 iMac in useful ways!
What a difference a decade makes!
Be sure to read the original review posted via a link at the end of the article. It is really funny to read the spec's of the machine - and realize that it was only 10 years ago!! What?! No external ports except for this yet-to-be fully utilized and accepted USB port?! Was this the first time Steve Jobs was so forward-thinking in his return to Apple?!
It can be argued that most
It can be argued that most of what Apple/Jobs has come up with in the last decade has been forward thinking....that's why they've ben so successful.
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Shawn King
Host/Executive Producer
Your Mac Life
http://www.yourmaclifeshow.com