Why the new imac will *not* fail

[kilowatt]

First off, see my thread "Why the new imac will fail".


1) unlike the ill-fated g4 cubes, the g4 imac does not compete between the imacs and the power mac towers. At least, it will not if apple phases out the g4 imacs.

2) The bus isn't *that* slow. Overall, all of apple's products need work in this area. Besides, its got a freakin' g4 in it! Bottle-necked or not, for a consumer-level computer, it rocks.

3) In time, apple will replace the imac g3's with the new imac g4's. Hopefully, there will be an affordable model for those pc users who can't comprehend that the $699 Dell is a POS. I heard as early as mid-Febuary, apple will make some small changes to the g4 imac line.

4)Ok. It is kinda ugly. But, upon in-person inspection at an apple store, it turns out to be PRETTY DANG COOL!. The base is bigger than it looks online, as well as the screen. Compared with many of today's ugly ugly ugly pc's, it rocks.

True, its shape isn't 100% practical. I mean, its not a 2U rack-mount scaleable unix solution. But its a *nice* desktop pc, if that term can apply to something this cool.

Man, this is a Desktop pc? heh cool

5) If the $1799 imac continues to bost a 15" screen that does only 1024x768, then shame on apple. Most people who want to burn a dvd are going to want a larger screen and higher rez. I keep thinking "Well the pros can allways get a g4 tower" but then again, who wants to make dvd's? The pros.

My hope is that Apple has successfully taped into the pool of non-power users who wish to make dvd's ;-) Seriously though, people who know less and less about computers are doing more and more with them.

6) Screw the old people! if they are afaraid of it, so be it. I think they may in time like it though. They will say "Hey, that fruit company makes different computers than the other companies..."

7) It *is* practical, come to thing of it. Not as a web server, or a 3d design computer. but as a serious supercomputer for the every day computer user. And, after looking at some bootleg apple service manuals, its not that hard to bust apart and add ram to
No CS degree required

8) Jadey likes it, and she only likes cool stuff.

All in all, I admit it. It is a cool computer, and if things pan out (apple phases out g3 imacs, makes a cheaper imac g4, and continues to roll out cool tower computers), the new imac may be one of the best things to happen to Apple.

 

[symphonix]

I think there are a few things that buyers think about, and bus speed is really not one of them, except for the tech-heads. The reason the iMac will be a hit is:

1. Aesthetics - It looks great in high-traffic and customer service areas. It looks high-tech and yet professional, stylish and yet neat.

2. Software - It comes with all the must-have stuff, and will support all major apps. It is network friendly, PC friendly and easy to live with.

3. Utility - The screen on a swing-arm is just damn useful, no doubt about it.

4. Recognition - There is no mistaking the new iMac. The original iMac was a design icon, just like the coke bottle and the VW beetle. The new one is even more distinctive. As they start turning up in busy studios and offices, people will see them, and make no mistake about what they are or what they are capable of. The reputation of the iMac will grow with time.

 

[tagliatelle]

It comes on Velveteen in the shop. Bad Velveteen (Transitional Vamp)

 

[rinse]

i hope it really does improve the apple marketshare situation...

if we only get 5% more.... just think of all the cool producats that will flood the market!

1. software developers will start to take notice.
2. peripheral makers will write drivers.
3. ISP's will officially support us. (Maybe even AOheLL)
4. Gaming Gaming Gaming!
5. People will start to ask the IT dept at their companies... "Why can't we get good stable computers?"



I personally would like an iMac, however I will probably always buy the Apple Pro-Line, because I need the expandibility.

 

[Aqualung]

Wow, Killowatt, you are a real man in my book. It takes a special sort of person to admit they were wrong about something, to change their opinion in the face of facts, and then reformulate a new opinion or viewpoint, and articulate it as their own. In an age where people expect their leaders (i.e., politicians), to be dogmatic idiots who never change their opinion about anything (because to do so would be "flipflopping"), it's refreshing to see someone change their mind about something after they hear other's perspectives.

I personally think the new iMac will be a hit, but I think it could be a bigger hit if Apple made the following changes:

1. Display. Apple should offer two different iMac "lines", one with a 15" LCD, and one with a 17" LCD. This would be very easy on Apple's part to engineer, since all they need to do is make a larger LCD enclosure and tack it onto the chrome arm. I suspect that the new iMac was designed with several different LCD sizes in mind, one of them being a 17" display. If Apple could do this at a reasonable cost, I think these iMacs would fly off the shelves. I know MANY people who want an iMac but are deterred by the display's tiny size, and these people would all flock to a 17" LCD iMac.

2. Video card: Apple needs to offer an iMac model with a better video card. Perhaps if they offered a 17" iMac, they could also include, in the 17" model only, a GeForce 4mx video chipset, like the one's in the towers. This would be an awesome "gaming" version of the iMac, and it would sell like mad. I would buy one for sure!

Still, I think the G4 iMac is an awesome computer and I would buy one if I needed a computer now. The G4 processor is an excellent move on Apple's part, it means OS X will run faster, iMac owners get to benefit from all the altivec accelerated apps, and best of all, it will serve as incentive for developers to code for Altivec more often.

The problem of altivec has always been that it has a small user base. But now that iMacs have G4s, this is no longer the case. Developers now have more incentive to code for altivec, since more people will be looking for altivec optimizations. I bet Altivec even begins to show up in some games!

 

[simX]

kilowatt? Can I rag on you for your original bad prediction? It must suck to actually have your prediction disproved in a matter of weeks.

Just playing with you kilowatt -- it is rare to see someone admit he was wrong, but I think there are probably more important things to admit you were wrong about than a silly little iMac prediction.

About the flat-panel thing -- did you guys know that a site called www.imaclinux.net successfully detached the display from the base and is running the base as a web server? Pretty cool, and I think this is a big benefit, because it would seem that it would be easier to replace the monitor if it broke or something. And I have NO doubt that Apple will be adding a line of 17" iMacs sometime... the only issue is topheaviness -- it could be a slight problem.

And the graphics card? Hey, the GeForce 2 MX was the standard graphics card on the towers before the 800, 933, dual 1000 lineup Apple has now. To put this card on a consumer machine is pretty damned good, and I'm sure it will blow my cube out of the water in gaming abilities, especially since its clock speed is almost twice as fast as my cube! I agree that it would be nice if the card was upgradable, but heck, it's a consumer machine. Oh, and by the way -- the GeForce 4 MX is really the relabeled GeForce 3 MX, so it's not as awesome as Apple makes it out to be, although it's still nice to have it standard on the product line.

There is one little thing that totally pisses me off about the new iMac though -- the high-end one beats my setup in every single respect (except for maybe that I have a slightly faster CD-RW, and that I have an external microphone). And what did I pay for my setup? Well lets see... $1799 + $999 + $329 + $69 + tax.... that comes to... $3451.68 assuming 8% tax. The high-end iMac? $1942.92, which includes a SuperDrive, much less clutter (including the lack of the annoying little headphone thing that joins the 2 pro speakers on my cube), a almost-double-the-clock-speed G4 processor, a larger hard drive (by a factor of 3) and a HELLA adjustable screen. And I got this last Septmeber.

 

[Jasoco]

Hehehe.. Tell me about it simX.

I bought my iMac in September 2000 back when it looked like Apple would be stuck at 500MHz for a while. And BOOM! Four months later we're up to 600MHz then 700! Now 800! And I'm stuck on a 450. But I am saving up and with luck I should have enough by the end of Summer or so. And maybe by then they'll push the iMac to 1GHz. THAT would be sweet.

As long as I get one with a SuperDrive I'll be happy. Maybe by then they'll be on lower models?! Save a little money in the process by getting a cheaper one.

But who knows. All I know is when I get enough, I'm driving down to the Computer Forum, walking in the store and buying one right then and there!

I can't WAIT!

And according to eBay I should get about $600 for this iMac. Maybe more if I include the original box and manuals and OS X and X.1 CD's. Oooh... So I've got abut $300 saved. $600 from the iMac. Plus I need to buy a 20GB External FireWire HD to back up to before I sell. About 900-1000 to go. Damn Tax! Maybe I'll wait to the next PA Tax Free Week. (Which unfortunately is THIS week. D'OH! But I think they do one in September too.) But if they come down in price a little i'll be estatic.