1999: Some people still don’t get the iMac. The new InfoWorld (15 March 1999), in a sidebar on page 40, comments, “There is still no floppy drive on this computer….” Duh!
Tag Archives: iMac
1999: For over a dozen years, the personal computer industry has been producing incremental upgrades. The 4.77 MHz IBM clone gave way to 8 MHz “turbo” models, then 10 MHz, and sometimes more. With the 80286, speeds leapt from 6 MHz to 8, 10, 12, and 16 MHz.
Steve Jobs announced this faster, more feature laden iMac at Macworld Expo 1999 in San Francisco. In addition to a 14% faster CPU and 50% larger hard drive, the 266 MHz iMac shipped in five different colors: tangerine, grape, lime, blueberry, and strawberry. There are rumors that some Bondi blue ones were built in January […]
It’s that time of year – since before Christmas, people have been looking back at 1998. What were the most significant events?
1998.12: If you surf the Mac sites, you’ve probably run across links to “Skin-Deep Beauty: The iMac’s Performance Doesn’t Live Up to Its Snappy Appearance” (no longer online) by John Breeden, published by The Washington Post on December 17. The article raises a few valid criticisms of the iMac, but also contains some inaccuracies.
1998.11: Kudos to Apple for upgrading the iMac with Rage Pro graphics and 6 MB of VRAM. It gives us a hint at where Apple may be taking the iMac in the future. Already we’re hearing rumors about an iMac with DVD taking the $1,299 price point while the current iMac drops in price. It’s […]
1998.11: The iMac isn’t the perfect computer for me – but I still want to buy one!
1998.10: It was a clever move on Apple’s part, quietly slipping the Revision B iMac onto the market last week.
1998.10: Face it: The iMac was announced five months ago and is rapidly becoming dated. Look at the Wintel world. It’s getting hard to find a 233 MHz Windows computer these days, although they were hot when Steve Jobs first announced the iMac in May.
On October 17, 1998, Apple released Mac OS 8.5 and the first update to the popular Bondi iMac. CPU speed, base RAM, and most other specs were identical to the original iMac.
1998.10: With USB, Apple is in the odd position of strongly promoting a technology invented on the Wintel side – but not yet embraced there. Despite the pain of early adopters (iMac buyers), there are now USB printers, keyboards, mice, trackballs, and more.
1998.10: It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. Dickens said it first, but the words could just as easily have been written about Apple Computer in the year since Steve Jobs became interim CEO – or iCEO – for life.
1998.09: Apple’s iMac probably had the most successful rollout of any computer in history. Sales are estimated at about 360,000 units from its launch on August 15. (Today ends Apple’s fiscal year – maybe we’ll see some hard numbers soon.)
1998.09: It was the first “gotta have it for looks alone” Macintosh since the first Mac shipped in 1984: Mac TV.
1998.09: A compact iMac? Isn’t the iMac already small enough? Yes, the iMac is remarkably tiny for a computer with a built-in 15″ monitor. But I’m thinking smaller: modular.
Sept. 1998: It’s a bit embarrassing to admit it, especially since I run one of the more successful iMac sites, but I don’t own an iMac, haven’t ordered an iMac, and doubt I’ll buy an iMac.
1998.08: Don Crabb wrote today about Apple’s backorder problems (Supply and Demand, MacCentral, no longer online). Almost all dealers are out of iMacs, PowerBooks are back ordered, and Power Macs are hard to get. The price of success?
Hello (again). Do you remember the first Mac, the one that didn’t even have a model number? The amazing 8 MHz 68000 CPU, crystal clear 9″ b&w screen, huge 400 KB floppy drive, and radical mouse?
August 1998: In iMac-ulate Conception: How Apple Made a Miracle Out of a Mere PC on ZDNet, Robert Lemos disparages the iMac as featuring “very little new technology and . . . missing some standard features found in other computers, such as a floppy drive and built-in printer connectivity.”
August 1998: The iMac is Apple’s most important product roll-out since the original Macintosh. A column by Jim Davis on Cnet (The iMac’s Ancestors) reminded me how like and unlike the two computers are. Here’s a comparison of features.
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 […]
August 1999: Last November I said that Macs needed parallel ports. I got a lot of letters on that, some saying I made a lot of sense. Others said parallel ports would soon be obsolete, replaced with the Universal Serial Bus (USB) and FireWire.
August 1998: I’ve been looking forward to the latest issue of PC Magazine, the one that looks at sub-$1,000 (sub-$1K) Windows systems. So many “experts” are chiding Apple for releasing a $1,300 computer when (they say) buyers really want sub-$1K PCs.
August 1998: Way back when, Apple invented a business version of the Apple II. The Apple /// was an incompatible bust in both its original 128 KB incarnation and the later 192 KB version. It didn’t quite kill Apple.
August 1998: The iMac is an impressive computing value: performance, expansion, and the world’s greatest OS. But it’s not designed for everyone.
1998: On August 15, Apple Computer will launch a revolutionary new personal computer – the iMac. “It looks like it came from another planet – a good planet, one with great industrial designers!” quips Steven Jobs, Apple’s interim CEO.
August 1998: Three months ago it looked like a risky move: The iMac would use the universal serial bus (USB), but not ADB, SCSI, or a standard Mac serial port. Although Microsoft and Intel have promoted USB, and the vast army of clone makers have been building USB into their computers, I don’t know of […]
August 1998: Every month PC World lists the 20 best selling computer systems – and USA Today publishes the 10 best sellers. The USA Today list from 8 July 1998 includes:
July 1998: Don Crabb was the first to speculate in public that the iMac wouldn’t stand alone for long (The iMac Line, Don Crabb, MacCentral, 9 June 1998). I have to agree with him. The iMac is as revolutionary as the original Macintosh – without breaking software compatibility (see The iMac: truly revolutionary). And just […]
June 1998: I received an interesting email from Mark Sutherland the other day. He swore he’d seen a picture of the iMac with a VGA port. I quickly grabbed Macworld and looked closely at the pictures (no longer online). No sign of a monitor port. Just audio, USB, ethernet, and modem ports. I asked Mark […]
June 1998: The world is trying to tell Apple the iMac is overpriced: “Buyers want a $999 computer.” But the facts speak differently.
May 1998: The iMac has one flaw: no removable media drive. That’s right, there’s no standard floppy drive, nor is there a SCSI port for adding a Zip drive, optical drive, CD-ROM burner, or other removable media drive.
May 1998: We’ve had over a week to put iMac in perspective – and it’s still a winner.
