8/1999

In 1997 and early 1998, it seemed as though everyone was saying that Apple was dying and that the era of the Mac was finally over. Then along came the iMac, which brought hundreds of thousands of new users into the Mac community plus restored many of the dedicated legions' faith in Apple. By now the iMac has sold at least 1,500,000 units and it is still the hottest selling machines on the market. The thing that really surprises me though is how so many IBM PC users can't figure out why it was so damn successful. I own both a Mac and a PC for the record so I am in both camps.

First off the iMac is the only desktop computer that just *works* when you plug it in. Unlike any other computer before it, all you have to do is connect the mouse and keyboard and plug it in. While it is true that its exterior looks more like a combo TV/VCR that a computer, it has plenty of power to give to its user. The design in itself is more palatable to most first time buyers because it isn't inconvenient to find a place to put it or to set it up because there are so few wires that have to be plugged into the iMac. The iMac gives its targeted audience, the first time buyer/clueless newbie, exactly what it wants which is a very easy to setup and use system that doesn't compromise on performance.

Most people aren't very concerned about having a high end beast that is capable of breaking strong encryption algorithms, they are more concerned about getting a computer that does the stuff they normally do on a regular basis quickly. Let's face it, most people don't play games or do large photo editing projects in adobe Photoshop everyday... they just do word processing and access the Internet. When the time comes that people request a 3d accelerator in the iMac, Apple will do exactly what its customers ask it to. In fact they have already begun to move to higher speed video with the iBook which uses 2x AGP like my desktop computer, but that is a different story :).

The lack of a floppy drive is irrelevant now that cd-rw drives are available in ide, scsi, USB, Firewire and even parallel port models. The iMac's USB ports can easily be used to connect a 4x cd-rw drive like the one that LaCie is offering to customers. Why would anyone want to use a floppy when all you can store nowadays is a few text documents or graphics? The era of getting your apps and especially your games on a few floppies is over! Besides if you really need to use a floppy then a USB floppy drive only costs around $50 and wouldn't you rather be able to remove your floppy drive when you don't need it rather then have it take up extra space in your computer? Now that I can store around 10-11 CDs worth of 128kbps MP3 audio on 1 cd-rw, why would I have any need for such a useless device as a built in floppy drive? Besides in about 6 months to a year from now, USB cd-rw drives will be cheap enough to be easily bundled by resellers with new iMacs.

Another attack that the anti-iMac crowd among the PC users love to use is the lack of upgradability, with the exception of the ram. The reason for the lack of upgradability is to not only lower the costs, but the fact that most of the people that Apple targeted with the iMac are most likely not interested in replacing things like the sound system, graphic card and the modem. Each generation of the iMac has gotten more and more powerful and the price has stayed the same, $1300 for the base system. While it is true that you can buy a more powerful PC for the same price, the fact that the iMac is an easy to setup and use system is what makes it attractive to most first time buyers. The average joe does not enjoy putting together a brand new computer, including a Mac tower since it can take a bit of effort on the first time buyer's part to get it setup correctly. In that sense, the iMac takes advantage of the natural laziness that all people have. It offers a simple, no brainer setup and it is very easy to use. Most people can't even program their VCR's or setup there entertainment center, but only an idiot cannot setup an iMac. Most people think of a computer as a tool, like any other appliance. It is not a way of life like it is for most computer nerds and geeks like myself. A high end computer is like a 50+ inch TV, the iMac is like a 32 inch TV Most people are satisfied with less hardware, if they get the same amount of enjoyment from it.

What is perhaps one of the best features of the iMac is the built in ethernet card. This allows owners of 2 or more iMacs to easily share files between their 2 computers without having any need for zip disks, cd-rs or floppies. Very rarely do OEMs include an nic in their systems, and you aren't going to find a system priced like the iMac with one. It is true that you can buy a decent nic for around $50-$70, but that would require installation, something that most people would never want to do. Another added bonus of owning an iMac is that it is one of the only computers on the market that comes with the ability to use a cable Internet connection since an nic is how you connect to the net with a cable connection.