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The iMac Channel

iMacTV, Take 2

24 September 1998 - Dan Knight

Last week I suggested Apple produce a set-top version of the iMac with a DVD player, infrared keyboard, and the ability to display as clearly as a TV screen allows. (See I Want iMacTV.)

Earlier this week, Somnath Banerjee of State of the Macintosh wrote an article, cMac and Mac game credibility, proposing something similar but different: a consumer Mac geared toward the game player.

For the sake of simplicity (and consistency with my previous article), I'll call the new machine iMacTV.

Here are my design goals for iMacTV:

retail price $999 or less
output to Mac monitor, VGA monitor, digital TV, or analog TV
DVD player and decoder
infrared keyboard with trackpad and USB port for mouse
good 2D and 3D graphics engines
64 MB RAM - plus one empty socket
300 MHz G3 (should be entry level when iMacTV ships)
LocalTalk/PhoneNet port for inexpensive networking (speed is sufficient for multiplayer games, 4x faster than a 56k modem)
one IR game controller

You start with the iMac motherboard, boosting it to a 100 MHz bus, moving to a 300 MHz G3, and making 64 MB your standard configuration. By next summer, that will pretty much be a solid entry level computer system.

Users can attach it to their TV (regular or digital) or a monitor, either Mac or VGA. They can connect it to other iMacTVs in the home using phone wire - or to older Macs with PhoneNet adapters.

Instead of spending $400 on a decent DVD player, $300 on a powerful game machine, and $800 on an entry level computer, the iMacTV combines all these into a single package. It should include a coupon for a special price on Virtual PC, just in case they want to play DOS or Windows games.

The unit should look like consumer electronics, which means not beige or Bondi-and-ice. Black and brushed aluminum are the typical looks for VCRs, DVD players, and other serious audio and video hardware, so Apple should adopt that look for iMacTV.

If possible, Apple should leave the mezzanine slot open. With the upswing in digital video, adding a video input board (possibly including FireWire, S-video, and NTSC composite) could make the iMacTV an excellent video editing system - and a way to dub all your old analog tapes to digital or make them into QuickTime movies.

Of course, you'd still have the USB ports, an internal hard drive, and all the other great features that would make iMacTV not just a great consumer video device, but a real Macintosh, too.

How Ad Blocking Hurts Your Favorite Websites, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 03.18. Ad income keeps the Web free. Blocking online ads hurts your favorite websites.
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Why I Plan to Stop Using Google Docs, Jason Walsh, Mac Life, 03.16. Jason Walsh continues his search for the perfect word processor and explains why he uses Google Docs - and why he will stop using it.
Ubiquitous Computing: Tabs, Pads, Books, and Clouds, Adam Rosen, Adam's Apple, 03.16. "Ubiquitous computing names the third wave in computing, just now beginning . . . when technology recedes into the background of our lives."
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