Eight ways the iMac changed computing

Ten years ago, the iMac shipped to eager customers, and the computing world was never the same. Benj Edwards looks at the iMac’s impact over the last decade.

iMac performance evolves through the years

To commemorate the 10th anniversary of the iMac’s release, Macworld Lab digs some older machines out of storage to see how well they perform compared to the current models.

From the Lab: Penryn iMacs show promise

Macworld Lab has begun testing the new iMacs released Monday, and we’ve got results for the entry-level 2.4GHz model as well as the build-to-order 3.06GHz machine.

The philosophy of iMac

Let me tell you something about my mindset. When I bought an iPhone, one of my first thoughts was: "How do I hook up a bluetooth keyboard to this thing?" It's that kind of thinking that has always stood between me and the iMac. Because in this world, there are two kinds of people[1]: the iMac people and the tower people. iMac people love the all-in-one package that their system brings. It's hard to look at an iMac and not think that it's smiling at you. The iMac delivers the entire computing experience in a single friendly unit. Customization? They do it at the store. Buyers decide what kind of memory and hard drive space they want. And then they buy it. And they're done. Tower people don't think that way. Memory, drives, peripherals -- these are all things that ebb and flow throughout the lifetime of the unit. More USB ports? Throw in a card. Widescreen monitors just went on sale? Buy one and eBay the current screen. Coming from an tower perspective, the iMac has always puzzled me. It makes people happy without ever needing to be disassembled and reassembled. Sure, there are hobbyists who do exactly that but they are usually tower people playing with iMac-shaped toys. Most iMac users I know are perfectly happy to use their Apple system for the entire lifetime of that unit -- often a very long lifetime indeed -- and never crack it open and mod it. Ever. Astonishing. So here I am raising a glass to the iMac on its birthday and to all the iMac users whose lives have been enriched by this little puzzling unit. May your systems be reliable and long-lived. And may you continue to enjoy your all-in-one system. Cheers! [1] That is, other than the people who divide people into two kinds of people and the people who don't.Permalink | Email this | Comments

Happy Birthday, iMac

Yes, it's time once again to say, "Happy Birthday" to our old friend, iMac. Hard to believe the iMac has been around for 10 years today. Apple transitioned the "consumer device," as Steve called at its introduction, into something more of an icon of computer design. Above is a commercial for the iMac G3 which shipped in Lime, Grape, Blueberry, Tangerine, and Strawberry and featured the song "She's a Rainbow" by the Rolling Stones.The specs for the original iMac were nothing to laugh about then, but it's certainly laughable now. The G3 iMac sported a 15" CRT monitor (resolution of 1024x768), 4 GB hard drive, 233 MHz PPC G3 (750), 32 MB of RAM (expandable up to 128, whoa!), 56 Kbps modem, 24x tray-loading CD-ROM drive, Mac OS 8.1 (or 8.5 on later models). This monster weighed in at 40 pounds! The original design followed the iMac until 2003, when Apple retired the design for the iMac G4. In 2004, Apple created the iconic design of the iMac G5, which is the same major design style they use for the iMac today.On an iPhone/iPod touch? Click here to see the video.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

From the Lab: Comparing new iMacs to older models

When Apple releases new hardware, it’s usually not owners of the previous models that are looking to upgrade—rather, it’s people who own older systems. With that in mind, Macworld Lab compares the test results for the latest iMacs to some older models, including a Core Duo-based iMac and an iMac G5.