Consider the desktop computer. For years these instruments of social change could not have looked less revolutionary if their designers had tried.
Posted on 03/31/2003 8:06:47 PM PST by green team 1999
Goodbye to the classic Apple iMac
By Mark Ward
BBC News online technology correspondent
The computer that came in different hues and revolutionised the home computing market - not to mention Apple's fortune - is finally being phased out.
Consider the desktop computer. For years these instruments of social change could not have looked less revolutionary if their designers had tried.
Instead of anonymous beige boxes, users yearned for something less like an oversized box and more like an implement fit for the 21st Century.
Something like the Apple iMac, for instance. When the company first unveiled its new, blue model in 1998, the iMac was an instant hit.
It was a crowd-puller that instantly looked more "computery" than almost anything that had been built since the first desktop computers appeared in 1981.
"It became iconic very quickly," says Neil Smith, head of the design for industry course at Northumbria University (formerly Newcastle Polytechnic, where iMac creator Jonathan Ive was a student).
But this futuristic-looking trendsetter is about to disappear. Apple has decided to stop selling the iMac to the public, though it is still likely to be available to schools.
In some ways, this is a strange decision for Apple to take, largely because the iMac is widely credited with saving the company from a long and miserable demise.
The iMac pumped much needed cash, cachet and credibility back into Apple at a time when it sorely needed it.
Outside the box
Apple had always been known for its smart technology and its idiosyncratic way of doing business.
One of Apple's mottos has long been "Think Different", says Mr Smith, but prior to the launch of the iMac it was getting harder and harder for non-Mac owners to work out just where this difference crept in.
With the release of the iMac it suddenly became very obvious.
Mr Smith says Apple worked very hard on every aspect of the iMac - its looks, its hardware and software - to make it easy to use.
"They found a way to humanise the PC and to take it out of the grey anonymous box. It was a sympathetic bit of form making, and it became a symbol of a very different approach."
The classic iMac has since been superseded by the eMac and the flat screen, angle poise iMac.
For Clive Grinyer, former head of the Design Council and co-founder of the Tangerine design consultancy with Jonathan Ive, the debut of the iMac was a hugely liberating moment.
"It had an amazing impact in design circles," he says. "It did what everyone had been talking about for a long time."
The new look of Apple's computers
Good looks
What it did was make explicit how Apple was thinking differently. The radical styling and ease of use made concrete the company's claim to be not just another box-shifter.
While many companies try to manipulate the public's perception through advertising and marketing, rather than through the appearance of what they make, Apple's iMac was a notable exception to this trend. It tried, and to a large extent succeeded, in embodying the company's philosophy.
"The classic iMac was so simple and so self-contained," says Mr Grinyer. "It does it all and says it all and completely conveys the message about what the product is in the product's shape. It did what a computer always should have done."
For Mr Grinyer, only a design-led company such as Apple could have taken the risk and produced the original iMac.
"That's the stuff that you cannot copy, it is in the company's heart."
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Send us your comments:
The iMac, and its availability in a range of "flavours", directly influenced most desktop products. Never before would you consider buying a strawberry stapler or a blueberry bin. Isn't it strange that the new Apple products have developed as simplified versions of the original iMac and iBook, as if the range has matured into "proper computers". But won't all the new pure white Macs age and eventually fade to resemble the beige counterparts they originally rebelled against? Toby Bradbury, UK
The design of the iMac went beyond just its aesthetics. It was the first desktop and home computer I'm aware of to be built without a floppy disk drive. This leap of faith into a world where the internet is your computer's connction to the outside world may prove to be as significant a step forward as its outward appearance. Richard Butler, UK
An under-powered and over-priced pretty box - mine crashed more than any PC I have ever had, I gave it away in the end. Dom, UK
Whenever anyone asks what kind of computer I have, not only do I tell them it's an iMac, I also proudly tell them it's 'Indigo'. Maybe it's just a colour to most people, but to my wife it was the perfect co-ordinated accessory for our spare room. Which is the only reason I was allowed to buy one. Unless Apple starts doing the new iMac in funky colours, I fear I will never have a new computer ever again. RIP iMac, you will be sorely missed. Chris Townsend, Herts, UK
for information and discusion only,not for profit etc,etc.
The G3 iMac was a good, economical model for schools, but the eMac is better.
Did anyone else hear about Sun going to Linux and eventually sunsetting their SVR4 offering? Ludicrous IMO. Sun's hardware, just like Apple's, can't stand up to the rest of the industry.
I'm writing this on one of the "new new" iMacs, vintage last month: 1G processor, 1G RAM. While it runs as the Unix server on my office LAN, I can use its great graphic interface.
I'm just sick that Steve jobs would politicize Apple by inserting a nincompoop like Al Gore on the Board of Directors. Now I can't buy any more Macs. Alas!
I do use a Dell UltraSharp 1800FP LCD monitor, though -if anyone cares...hehehe.
;-)
heheheh..I know..who has millions lying around?
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