The new iMac rocks, and it's not going to be a failure! A few points:
Kilowatt, calling the iMac "ugly" is proof that it's a good design. That's because any design that elicits such powerful emotional responses is a success, it's powerful effect on the emotions is not easy to do. A love/hate response is expected, but as long as enough people "love' the new design, then it will sell fine.
As an analogy, we can use your mom. I think that your mom is butt-ugly, but it doesn't matter, because your father found beauty in her and that attraction resulted in your birth. Same with the iMac...plenty of people will like it and buy it.
As for price, I agree that the price is a tad high, but if you price comparable dell computers, with 15" lcds of comparable quality, you'll find that the iMac is actually about the same price, if not a bit cheaper.
The iMac differs from the cube in a number of respects:
1. Price. The imac is cheaper than the cube was, but it comes with a 15" LCD display. It's got a G4, a fast, 7200 rpm HD, and the optical drive is good on the high end models as well. It also comes with style, something that's hard to put a price on, but looks great on one's desk.
2. Features: There is no other way to get the features of the superdrive iMac for so little in any other computer. It's an excellent deal if you want a superdrive for burning DVDs that you create on your computer. For those who only need a CDRW drive, the $1500 iMac is a good deal. A full gamut of I/O ports graces the iMac, and it's built to last. The software bundle is outstanding. The ability to edit digital movies and burn them to DVD is amazing for such an inexpensive computer...even 2 years ago this simply wouldn't have been possible on a consumer desktop computer at all. Now it's within reach of anyone who really wants it. Imagine, that anyone aspiring to be an independent film maker can now buy an iMac and FCP and have the ability to create a professionally edited movie, on a DVD. This opens up the visual arts to a far wider range of creative individuals than ever before possible.
3. Value: combine the price and features, and you have value. I think it's safe to say that the new iMac probably offers the most value of any Apple product in some time. It's got far more value than the CRT iMac did, and there's no question that it has more value than the cube.
Shortcomings: I don't believe the iMac is perfect, but I suspect Apple will correct some of it's shortcomings in the future.
1. Screen size. For me and many others, a 15" LCD is too small. However I expect Apple to offer a 17" LCD iMac sometime in the future. The base is heavy enough, and the chrome arm is sturdy enough for at least a 17" LCD. Cut out the superdrive, and add a 17" display, and I think such a model would fly off the shelves.
2. Video card: It's a shame that the video card isn't upgradeable. If it were in an AGP slot then the iMac would boast even greater value since the video card is usually rendered obsolete more quickly than any other component. We can be consoled by Apple's choice of a standard video card at least--32 MB Geforce 2mx w/ddr RAM is nothing to sneeze at, and it should offer excellent performance for today's games. Unfortunately, it won't be able to play tomorrow's games, but it still makes the g4 iMac more of a gaming machine than any previous iMac.
3. Processor: The G4 CPU in the iMac needs to be faster. This is more of a marketing issue than a performance issue, since the G4 actually does keep up with Pentiums clocked up to twice it's MHz. But still, it's difficult for Apple to convince Wintel drones of this, and thus fewer people will convert from windows.
4. Ports/power button difficult to access. This seems to be the one tradeoff Apple made when styling the iMac. Not a big deal, but it would be nice to have a few USB, FW ports on the front, and the power button should be on the front of the base, or the display. Not a big issue, though.
But to say the iMac will be a failure, that's absurd. Already, it's selling like mad, and there is no indication that sales will subside anytime soon. If Apple is smart they will update the iMac at MWNY, with a speedbump, lower prices perhaps, and hopefully a 17" LCD. That will keep the iMacs moving....
A new G4 iMac running OS X is Apple's best ticket to increased market share in a long time, IMO.
