What makes the
iMac cool, from a
technologist's standpoint is
not:
- The pretty colors that are Bondi, Blueberry, Grape, Lime, Strawberry, Ruby, Sage, Snow, and Graphite (although i think Ruby and Bondi are slick)
- The cute design and small desk footprint
- The fact that they are cool enough to run without a fan and thus silently
- The fact that the Macintosh operating system is the leading design in ease of use (even if it is a bitch to code for)
- Only 20% of all online users are Mac users, but 60% of Mac users are online, thus proving Apple's selling point of an internet plug and go machine.
- The fact that you can do common family tasks with great ease on the system (email, video editing, etc)
It is none of the above. It is one point alone Apple is pushing:
Legacy-Free Computing
Apple has been pushing
legacy-free and forwards-thinking solutions so that people can move away from their dinosaur machines and into new and exciting
models. Items such as
USB everything (expandable, easy to install,
USB2 forthcoming),
Firewire (fast, if the drives aren't garish orange), no legacy com ports, or
Apple serial. Moving onwards and thinking towards other opportunities so that old
hardware will not tie a consumer to his or her machine.
iMacs belong to Apple's 4-way grid of models. There are the
portable vs.
desktop on one axis, and the
business vs
consumer on the other axis. Desktop models end with -Mac, while portables end in -Book. Consumer models begin with i-, while Business models begin with Power-
It is the simple trendy design of the iMac that has helped to chip away at the Internet's image as
a haven of geeks and freaks, and i think, made it more sheik.
Steve Jobs is an incredible marketer, and he has done well to make the iMac Apple's most successful recent
endeavor.