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The iMac Channel

The iMac: Truly Revolutionary

24 June 1998 - Dan Knight

How quickly we forget how revolutionary personal computers are.

The first PCs were kits for electronic hobbyists. The Apple I came as a kit; users had to add keyboard, case, and power supply.

The real revolution came with the TRS-80, the Commodore PET, and the Apple II - computers you could buy and use immediately. The Apple even had color video.

Back then, programs were stored on cassette tapes. The next revolution was adding floppy drives. These were much faster than tape, much more reliable, and offered random access to data.

Then came hard drives, some as large as 5 or 10 megabytes. And Osborne invented portable computing with a 40 pound, suitcase-sized, Z80-based computer that even had bundled software.

Revolutionary!

IBM legitimized the personal computer revolution with the IBM PC in 1981. In most respects a natural outgrowth of the PC movement, the letters IBM meant computers belonged in the workplace, not just the home.

The next revolution came in 1984 when Apple took the Lisa concept ($10,000 5 MHz 68000-based computer with 12" b&w screen, mouse, and graphical user interface), increased speed to 8 MHz, reduced the screen size, adopted to a 400KB 3.5" disk drive, and made it relatively affordable.

The Macintosh immediately stood apart from the crowd of IBM clones (each one more alike than the last) and the hobbyist machines (Commodore, Atari, Radio Shack, and others).

Revolutionary.

Yes, but not received with open arms. Despite Steve Jobs's claims that this insanely great computer would never need more than 128KB of memory and that the serial bus architecture offered all necessary expansion, the masses saw it as a toy.

Before the year was out, Apple shipped the Fat Mac, the same computer but with 512 KB of memory. It was a step in the right direction.

Evolutionary, not revolutionary.

In 1986 Apple introduced the Mac Plus, the first Macintosh with a fast expansion bus. In this case, it was the new SCSI standard - something we consider old hat today. And RAM could be boosted from an incredible 1 MB to a truly amazing 4 MB.

Then came PageMaker and the LaserWriter. Desktop publishing became a buzzword.

Evolution led to revolution, to a whole new computer market in the publishing industry.

More evolution:

1987 - expansion slots, color, internal hard drives, ADB
1988 - SuperDrive could read PC disks, System 6, first 68030 Mac
1990 - inexpensive Macs, the Classic and LC
1991 - System 7, first PowerBooks, first Quadras, QuickTime
1992 - first PowerBook Duos
1994 - first Power Macs, first Maclones
1996 - Apple adopts PCI bus
1997 - System 8, G3 microprocessor

Which raises the question, where's the brash, revolutionary Apple of old?

Well, Steve Jobs is back, and the iMac project started the day after he did. While moving to RISC technology was a risk, it didn't change the nature of the Macintosh. The G3 made it fast and sassy, but it looked and acted like the Mac II on steroids.

Years of change had retained LocalTalk (the world's slowest network), ADB, SCSI (although some models used SCSI-2), and a barely changed user interface. The adoption of industry standard protocols like PCI, EDI, and ATAPI.

But the iMac changes things in a revolutionary way. The OS hasn't changed, but the look and feel of the computer certainly has. A white translucent computer with blue accents? A carrying handle? USB ports with no other industry standard expansion bus - no ADB, PCI, RS-232C, parallel, RS-422, or SCSI?

The iMac looks to the future, not just the past and present.

With the bunny-torching G3 processor, 100Base-T networking, and outlandish looks, the iMac is as revolutionary as the original Lisa and Macintosh with one big difference: there's software available for this one.

Pismo WiFi Networking Issue Finally Solved?, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 11.24. It turns out the problems wasn't the Pismo, the Buffalo WiFi card, or Mac OS X 10.4. It was the Wireless G router - Linksys to the rescue!
Mini VGA to S-video Adapter a No Go for eMacs, Dan Bashur, Apple, Tech, and Gaming, 11.24. You might think that Apple's Mini VGA S-video adapter is a cheap way to connect your eMac or G4 iMac to your TV. You would be wrong.
Google Calendar with iPhone or iTouch Is Great for Scheduling, John Hatchett, Recycled Computing, 11.24. Web-based Google Calendar allows access and updates from any computing platform, including Mac, Windows, Linux, and iPhone OS.
Why Spaces is My Favorite Leopard (and Snow Leopard) Feature, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 11.23. Spaces, a feature introduced with OS X 10.5, is like having several monitors on your Mac without the cost and space of using multiple displays.
i5 iMac Benchmarked, Mac mini 'Shouldn't Be Overlooked', Twitter Client for Classic Mac OS, and More, Mac News Review, 11.20. Also why Apple leaves the low end to others, 10.6.2 fixes video playback problem in 27" iMac, 3D Leopard and Snow Leopard performance, and more.
Apple's Tablet an End Run Beyond Netbooks, Frank Fox, Stop the Noiz, 11.20. Whatever Apple has planned will leverage existing technologies while going beyond what its competitors can offer.
Apple #4 in Reliability, Apple Tablet a Gadget for All?, HP's i7 Notebook Outdoes Mac Rivals, and More, The 'Book Review, 11.20. Also Flash 10.1 improves video on Hackintosh netbooks, thin-and-light notebooks impress, Windows XP finally on the way out, and more.
NASA Chemical Sensor for iPhone, Smartphone Death Match, iPhone Earrings, and More, Ian R Campbell, 11.20. Also mobile phone dangers, new apps, GPS solution for iPod touch, new iPod and iPhone cases, and more.
More links in our archive.

Recent Deals

Best G4 iMac Deals, 11.24. Used 15" 700 MHz CD-RW, $150; 800 MHz Combo, $229; 1 GHz, $289; 17" 1.25 GHz, $200; 20" 1.25 GHz, $509.
Best MacBook Air Deals, 11.24. Used from $899; refurb from $1,099; new 1.6 GHz/120 HD, $1,150 after rebate; 1.8/64 SSD, $1,150 a/r; 1.86/128 SSD, $1,350 a/r; 2.13/128 SSD, $1,694 a/r.
Best PowerBook G3 Deals, 11.24. Used 233 MHz WallStreet, $75; 266 MHz, $160; 400 MHz Lombard, $199; 400 MHz Pismo, $289; 500 MHz, $350.
Best 12" PowerBook G4 Deals, 11.23. Used 867 MHz SuperDrive, $348; 1 GHz Combo, $379; SD, $519; 1.33 GHz, $529; 1.5 GHz Combo, $549; SuperDrive, $609.
Best Mac Pro Deals, 11.23. Used 2.66 GHz 4-core, $1,300; 3.0 4-core. $1,919; refurb 2.66 4-core Nehalem, $2,149; 2.93, $2,549; 2.93 8-core, $4,999; new 2.26 8-core, $2,290.
Best Time Capsule and AirPort Deals, 11.23. Used 802.11g AirPort Extreme, $49; 500 GB Time Capsule, $150; new, $190; 1 TB dual-band, $280; 2 TB, $469; 802.11n AirPort Extreme, $170.
Best eMac Deals, 11.18. Used 1 GHz Combo, $100; SuperDrive, $269; 1.25 GHz Combo, $119; SD, $319; 1.42 GHz Combo, $289; SD, $498.
Best Mac OS X 10.6 and Mac Box Set Deals, 11.18. "Snow Leopard", single user, $25; 5 users, $45; Mac Box Set, single user, $139; 5 users, $180; Server, $414. Shipping included.
Best Xserve Deals, 11.18. Used 1 GHz dual G4, $649; 2.3 dual G5, $795; 3.0 4-core Xeon, $1,899; refurb 2.26 4-core, $2,499; new, $2,888; refurb 8-core, $2,999; new, $3,449; more.
More deals in our archive.

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