iMac at 20: How the all-in-one ignited the modern Apple
iMac brought together Steve Jobs and Jonny Ive and set Apple on its course towards powerful, beautiful, accessible personal computing.
iMac. The "I" originally stood for internet, as well as individual, instructive, informational, and inspiring. Now, it might as well stand for iconic. No Mac — no computer — has been as instantly recognizable for as long as iMac. And, today, that's going on twenty years.
It began with Steve Jobs and Jony Ive and more — it began a creative collaboration, one of the most successful in history — that also led to iPod, iPhone, and iPad, and everything that came in between.
Apple had been down. Apple had been almost out. Then, Apple bought NeXT and not only got the operating system that would become OS X, but got it's co-founder back, Steve Jobs. Step by thoughtfully quadrant'ed step, Jobs sought to re-imagine Apple's products into consumer and professional, laptop and desktop. This was to fill the consumer desktop slot… but also to shake up the consumer desktop space.
Instead of being a beige box, it was bright, translucent cybernetic gumdrop in Bondi Blue. (And, eventually, Blueberry, Grape, Tangerine, Lime, Strawberry, Graphite, Ruby, Sage, Indigo, Snow — and, wait for it — Blue Dalmatian and Flower Power.)
It also had no floppy drives and no legacy ports. Those gave way to a CD-ROM drive and USB. And, famously, all you had to do was plug it into power and the internet, and you were good to go.
From Apple (via Archive.org:
In a major move in to the consumer market, Apple Computer, Inc. today unveiled iMac--the "Internet-age computer for the rest of us." iMac features a striking design, easy Internet access and Pentium-toasting PowerPC G3 performance for $1299.
"We designed iMac to deliver the things consumers care about most--the excitement of the Internet and the simplicity of the Mac," said Steve Jobs, Apple's Interim CEO. "iMac is next year's computer for $1299; not last year's computer for $999." "Today we brought romance and innovation back into the industry," added Jobs. "iMac reminds everyone of what Apple stands for."
At launch, Walt Mossberg wrote for The Wall Street Journal;
These words are being created on the coolest-looking desktop personal computer I've ever used. It's a handsome two-tone devil, sort of blue-green and off-white, tapered at the rear, with a crisp, built-in 15-inch monitor and internal stereo speakers. It takes up very little space and looks like part of the decor in your home, not an invader from some techie's workshop.
Andrew Gore and Anita Epler wrote for Macworld:
It's hard not to recognize the iMac's lineage: the all-in-one case, the tiny footprint, even the integrated handle—all suggest the original Macintosh. But this is where the similarities end. Using translucent plastics of "ice" and "Bondi blue" (in homage to the Australian beach), Apple's industrial-design group created a computer without a single straight line—even the keyboard components are curved. The case allows through just enough light to suggest the outlines of the iMac's internal works without revealing too much.
It wasn't just colorful. It wasn't just successful. The iMac was a turning point from the Apple that was towards that Apple that was going to be.
Everything Steve Jobs, Jony Ive, and the hardware engineering and operations teams knew in their guts and came to learn about iMac informed what followed with iPod. And, when melded with macOS (née OS X), flowed on into iPhone and iPad, and on to Apple Watch and AirPods and whatever comes next.
Did you ever own an iMac?
— Rene Ritchie (@reneritchie) May 6, 2018
Which model was your first?
Which was your favorite?
What's the coolest thing you used you iMac for?
What do you want to see from iMac next?
(Please RT, will include this thread on @iMore and more replies are better 🖥😍.) pic.twitter.com/WsPUalX1Qu
It was a way of addressing needs in a holistically integrated and delightfully aesthetic way that resonated to such a profound degree people aspired to them and competitors aspired to be them.
iMac was what began turning Apple from insolvency to ascendance. Apple made iMac and, in turn, iMac made Apple.
Happy 20th anniversary to everyone who made the iMac a reality, and everyone who's ever used an iMac and made it real.
Share your iMac memories with us in the comments below!
from iMore - Learn more. Be more. http://bit.ly/2wjvafj
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