On Wednesday, the iMac G3 celebrated its anniversary - a computer that took many people's breath away when it was released. This all-in-one Mac saw the light of day at a time when offices and homes were ruled by beige plastic machines with largely identical-looking monitors. It was 1998 and not too many people believed that the company would Apple could, after all the difficulties that had passed, succeed in restoring its former glory. In its time, the iMac G3 seemed like a revelation from another planet - but as is the case with practically everything created under the leadership of Steve Jobs, it very quickly won the hearts of users, and went down in history as the computer that saved Apple.
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The 1997s were not exactly easy for the apple company. The company was still gradually recovering from the difficulties it had to face during the absence of its founder. He was still in XNUMX Apple at a loss, while the computer world was ruled by Microsoft with its Windows. The company's board concluded that it needed new leadership, and in August of that year again welcomed Jobs. At the same time, he soon became - originally a temporary - director of the company. He gradually stopped working on products that he felt did not make sense and began to focus on news. One of them was the iMac G3.
Steve Jobs introduced the iMac G3 on May 6, 1998, and the computer went on sale on August 15 of the same year. The iMac was an all-in-one computer that featured attractively rounded shapes, a handle on the top, a translucent plastic chassis, and attractive colors. It was the first significant one Apple a product that was released under Jobs's leadership, and at the same time also the first Apple product whose design was fully signed by Jony Ive. Ive studied industrial design at Newcastle Polytechnic University, worked for a design agency and occasionally helped design some laptops at Apple. After being promoted to head of industrial design, he began working on the iMac.
A computer from another planet
The first iMac G3 was equipped with a 233 MHz PowerPC 750 processor, had up to 512 MB of RAM, up to 128 GB of storage, and was equipped with a fifteen-inch CRT display with a resolution of up to 1024 x 768 pixels. In terms of connectivity, he provided Apple your first iMac with a pair of USB 1.1 ports, two FireWire ports, two mini-jacks for headphones and an analog audio mini-jack. Furthermore, the iMac was equipped with an infrared port, a CD-ROM drive (the absence of a floppy drive at the time surprised many laymen and experts alike) and a 4 GB hard drive. At the time of launch, the computer was running Mac OS 8.1.
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"She looks like she's from another planet," said Steve Jobs about the iMac G3. “From the good planet. From a planet with better designers,” he dug into the uniform beige "towers" of the time. The iMac G3 was originally launched in Bondi Blue – named after the water at one of Australia's beaches – and has since expanded to include other colors and designs, including some really special ones. The translucent colored plastic chassis has been described as retro and futuristic at the same time, and similar to the original Macintosh Apple promoted its iMac G3 as a computer that should reach as many users as possible - Apple's novelty was far from intended only for experts and ardent computer enthusiasts. “Chic. Not Geek", proclaimed one of the advertisements at the time.
"i" as in "internet"
Another feature that was supposed to set the iMac G3 apart from the standard offerings at the time was easy and reliable connectivity. The iMac was billed as an "internet computer" and was also the first Apple product to boast a small "i" in its name. It was equipped with an internal modem, which was not at all common at the time - users who wanted to connect to the Internet had to purchase external modems for their computers. One of the ads showed vividly, enticingly and quite truthfully how easy it is to connect to the world wide web with the new iMac.
The response of users after the introduction of the new iMac did not take long. Apple practically immediately it recorded 150 thousand pre-orders, which was a really respectable number in the context of the time and other events. The stock market quickly reacted to the immediate success of the apple news - the price of company shares Apple rose above $40 per share, which was the most in the past three years.
A successful sequel
In January 1999, the company started Apple to offer its iMac G3 in five additional color variants – Tangerine, Lime, Strawberry, Blueberry and Grape. The new machines were equipped with a powerful 266 Mhz G3 processor, equipped with new graphics and deprived of the infrared port. The next update to the iMac product line came in October of the same year. In July 2000, he released Apple new iMacs with more powerful processors, improved hard drive options and support for new AirPort cards, users also got a new color variant called the Indigo iMac. At the beginning of 2001, the company Apple introduced iMacs with patterns - these were the Blue Dalmatian and Flower Power models. Gradually, the iMac came with a CD-RW drive, a 20 GB hard disk and a 500 MHz G3 processor, the next update of this product line took place in the summer of 2001, when Apple introduced the Indigo and Snow variants. January 2002 marked the end of the G3 iMacs - Apple that's when he introduced the new iMac G4, and started writing a new chapter in the story of his iMacs.
Sources: Pocket-Lint, Cult of Mac, 512 Pixels
Play the first video at 2:10 – “We decided on a G3 processor running at 233MHz. We talked about it a lot because there are cheaper and slower ones that we could have used, but we said NO. This has to be a computer that we want on our desk too. ” And it was NOT a professional machine, but a cheap Mac for ordinary users. I imagine this same conversation with Tim Cook in 2020 for professional MacBooks under 2000 euros: "We were deciding what processor to put in the MacBook Pro 13 - in the end we decided on a 2-year-old milked and security leaky Intel Core i5 of the lower class, because our customers don't care, especially since there will be an apple on the back :) ."
Well, buy a Mac with the processor you want for your desk.
They have a full stock of them.
You don't see it right away to fantasize like this.
If you didn't get the point, don't even respond. If you could sell all Macs with current processors 22 years ago, I see no reason why they should be offered with outdated ones in 2020. I would also like to buy one with the one I want, but that one is not on offer and that's what my comment was about :)
You really couldn't forget that idiotic puck cape..
Madam, what kind of lies are you writing here? The first iMac Bondi Blue 1998 had no FireWire at all! Only the later models labeled iMac DV with Slot-In and the newer six-pin FW did at the time of iDVD release. Do not believe everything that you describe somewhere without knowledge of the error. Good evening.
The G3 really brought it back Apple back to the game.
But financially Apple he even saved the iPod and the music business.