- Nov. 24, 2000
When the first IBM Personal Computer (model 5150) came out in
late 1981, it was beige and black. Nothing special, but it looked
incredibly impressive with it's long case, green and black monitor,
and dual 5.25" floppy drives - or possibly even a 5.25" floppy
drive and 10 MB hard drive!
When the Macintosh came out in
1984, it was no wonder people thought of it as a toy. It was small,
tan coloured, had a tiny b&w
screen, one 400K floppy drive (which could hold more than the IBM
PC's drive), and a carrying handle!
A portable computer that could do more than a standard desktop
model? It seemed as if people thought bigger was better, and they
continued to buy Apple IIs and IBM PCs and compatibles.
Only when PageMaker, the LaserWriter, and programs like Excel
(from Microsoft who just happened to make MS DOS, the operating
system for the IBM PC) came out, the Mac became a success. People
started recognizing its capabilities.
The iMac
Today, a bland beige or tan box is not what you think of when
you think of an Apple computer. You might 
think of the original
iMac, the blue-green (Apple calls it "bondi blue") odd shaped
computer that looks like a combination of a spaceship and an egg.
In the past year, the iMac has gotten even more stylish. The new
iMacs are amazing - among the best designed computers out there
today, if not the best. The shiny deep coloured plastic
draws you to it - the Apple Pro keyboard and Pro Mouse are ready
for your hands.
The mouse can be summed up in one word: cool. It is cool because
of its little red laser (that alone makes me want one). It's
see-through sparkling silver top makes you want to try it. And
that's just what you will have to do to feel how smooth and precise
it is.
The keyboard is a scaled-up version of the iMac keyboard. The
Pro keyboard adds volume controls that may remind you of the front
mounted volume controls on the 5X00 series Performas. It also adds full-size function
keys and a CD eject/power (the power function doesn't work on
iMacs) button, while keeping a compact size and acting as a two
port hub. It is decent, but not as good as the original Apple
Extended Keyboard that came out in 1987.
Now we come to the iMac itself. The first thing you notice,
before you even turn it on, is that the 
case is shinier, more transparent, and
in a different (darker) colour than earlier iMacs. The minute you
turn it on, you may experience slightly better sound quality from
the little speakers in the front. One thing that hasn't changed is
the screen. The screen is still 15" and can't support more than
1024 x 768; I think it's about time for 17".
The new iMacs run Mac OS 9, which is a bit slower than 8.6 (if
you are used to that), even on a fast machine. They also ship with
their own desktop pictures that match the colour of the computer,
just like the fruit flavoured ones shipped with their own colour
desktop patterns.
The iMacs can also be an incredible value, but it can also be an
incredible waste of money. It's just $799 for something that, if you think about
it, can do many things that we would never be able to do without a
computer. Of course if you think of it as a toy, not a real
computer, $799 is an incredibly high price to pay for something to
"play with." (That's what $5 Mac LC's are for!)
My recommendation? If you need a compact machine for fast
Internet browsing, email, desktop publishing, making home movies,
editing photos, or even playing the latest games (many games
require a G3 these days, and some won't run on my original beige G3), the iMac may just be the machine you
need. Stop by a local computer store and try it out for yourself. I
am sure you will agree with me that it is simply amazing - most
certainly not just a toy.
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