August 1998: “This sounds like Apple trying to make it back with a last ditch effort, and I feel that this iMac will only resolve to be a slightly faster, showy machine with fewer capabilities than a GameBoy with a modem. Macs have always proven to be the slower, clunkier machines in a world that depends on getting there faster and better. Even Windows 95 speeds are a far cry from where the Mac is now or ever will be.”
This comment, from a post in response to an article (positive, I might add) from ZDNN.com about the iMac forced me to one very simple conclusion: PC users just don’t get it. They just don’t even think when they spew out these frankly dumb remarks.
They don’t think because they are used to Microsoft and Intel telling them what to think. They are accustomed to seeing the world from “Blue Screen of Death” glasses, and are accustomed to living with whatever Microsoft and Intel throw at them. But the reason the average PC user feels like this is because of their perception not of Apple Computer, but because of their perception of the Mac OS.
What are you talking about, Macguy?
Well it’s actually very simple. When the average PC user thinks of a Mac, they aren’t thinking of the wonderful experience Mac users are having using the G3s or even those of use still using a 603 and 604 computer. They aren’t thinking of the wonderful experience we have using Mac OS 8.0 and 8.1, but rather our old frustrations with Mac OS 7.5.5.
It’s this perception that frustrates me the most and what I feel is at the core of the negative perception Mac’s still have.
PC users with no practical modern Mac experience rely on their old experiences and compare that to their relatively okay experiences with new Wintel machines. Like the user above said,
“Macs have always proven to be the slower, clunkier machines in a world that depends on getting there faster and better. Even Windows 95 speeds are a far cry from where the Mac is now or ever will be.”
This is obviously a computer user who has never touched a modern Mac and has never felt the benefits of OS 8.1. This is a user who is stuck remembering an old Mac, but forgetful of the fact that old Wintel PCs were exactly the same. This is a user who like to ignore the facts that a G3 is very much faster than a Pentium II, and ignorant of the beauty of OS 8.1 over Windows 95 and 98.
The iMac may well be a last ditch effort by Apple to regain the consumer market, but it is in no way a last ditch effort to promote the Mac OS. The Mac OS will never die, but Apple is going to have to find a way to reintroduce it to the general public and PC users.
And that, I believe, is the iMac’s real purpose. Remember the “Hello (again)” that is shown on the iMac’s screen in many ads? It’s not the computer saying “hello,” it’s the Mac OS saying “Hey look at me, I’m newer, faster, simpler, and oh so friendly!” Maybe that should be an Apple ad?
I’m always looking for feedback, so feel free to email me with your comments. I can be reached at Macguy. I think, therefore iMac.
keywords: #imac #macos #windows95 #windows98
