Low End Mac Reader Specials

TypeStyler For Mac OS X is Now Shipping! Download The Free Fully Functional 60 Day Tryout at www.typestyler.com

OWC: Mercury On-The-Go FW800+USB2 up to 1.0TB. Bus Powered, no external power supply needed. Macworld ‘Editor’s Choice’, CNET ‘Very Good’ Starting from $99.97, 500GB $159.99. Click here

Poker Mac Don't install Parallels to play poker online! Poker Mac will show you how to download and install a native Mac poker application such as Full Tilt Poker Mac.

Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs.

Compare products like desktop computers, apple laptops, apple macs, and LCD Monitors side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for new mobile phones, sat nav systems, or MP3 players. The Ciao online shopping community makes searching products easy for you.

The iMac Channel

Time for a New iMac

Dan Knight - Nov. 2, 2000

The iMac is an unqualified success and perhaps the most popular model in the history of computing. It accounts for over half the Macs sold.

But the iMac has become pedestrian; it's time for a change.

The 17" iMac

Rumors of a 17" iMac have been floating around since before the first iMac shipped. The argument against it has always been that this made the iMac too large and heavy.

But the simple fact is, more Windows computers sell with 17" monitors than with any other size - perhaps more than all the other sizes combined. PC users don't seem to consider 17" screens oversized; why should Steve Jobs?

Whatever it takes, Apple should find a way to squeeze a larger monitor into the iMac without increasing the outer dimensions any more than is necessary. This would have several benefits to Apple and the end user.

  • The 15" iMac is fine at 800 x 600 resolution, but the 1024 x 768 is really pushing quality on a screen that small. That setting works very nicely on a 17" CRT.
  • A wider iMac would give better stereo separation from the internal speakers.
  • People who use Windows at work on 17" screens will find it easier to use a 17" iMac at home, either under the Mac OS or with a Windows emulator.
  • Apple could offer this in addition to the 15" iMac, perhaps as the iMac Plus, and command a higher price for it.

I don't know why Apple has resisted so long, but the rest of the industry has moved beyond 15" monitors. It's time the iMac did the same.

The Connected iMac

After a printer, my guess is the most popular iMac accessory is a USB hub. Apple could save buyers that small expense by making four USB ports standard on the iMac.

The Burning iMac

Floppies may be passé, but burning CDs seems to be the national pastime of computer users. Apple could go a couple routes here.

  1. Make a CD-RW drive a build to order option.
  2. Add a device bay that could be used for CD-RW, Zip, floppy, etc. This could also make it easier to duplicate CDs. (Not for piracy, of course.)

The Thin iMac

Gateway is being ripped for offering an all-in-one with a LCD screen for the princely sum of $2,000. Shoot, you can buy a laptop for less!

Maybe not within the coming months, but certainly within the next year Apple should release a thin version of the iMac (quite possibly with a completely different name) using the 800 x 600 screen from the iBook or the 1024 x 768 display on the PowerBook.

Of the four suggestions I'm making, I believe this is the inevitable one. Sooner or later prices will reach the point where flat panel displays will replace the old large energy sucking monitors most of us are used to. And before that, users will be willing to pay a premium for a desktop with that kind of display.

I wonder which of these we'll see first once Apple clears the current glut of computers out of the sales channel. LEM /p>

Links for the Day

Recent Content

Recent Deals

About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts

Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2009 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc., unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Advice presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to .
  LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
  Access our RSS news feed at http://lowendmac.com/feed.xml.
  Email may be published at our discretion; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. If you prefer your message not be published, mark it "not for publication." Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
  PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.
  Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iBook, iMac, eMac, iPod, iPhone, PowerBook, MacBook, MagSafe, Mac Pro, Apple TV, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.

Custom Search

Amazon.com

Navigation

Used Mac Dealers
Apple History
Video Cards
Email Lists

Favorite Sites

MacSurfer
MacMinute
MacInTouch
MyAppleMenu
InfoMac
Macs Only!
The Mac Observer
Accelerate Your Mac
RetroMacCast
PB Central
MacWindows
The Vintage Mac
   Museum
DealMac
DealsOnTheWeb
Mac2Sell
ramseeker
Mac Driver Museum
JAG's House
System 6 Heaven
System 7 Today
the pickle's Low-End
   Mac FAQ
Abandonware
   Petition
Mac vs. PC Info

Affiliates

The Apple Store
Mac Connection
B&H
MacMall
TechRestore
ExperCom
Crucial Memory
batteries.com

Advertise

All of our advertising is handled by BackBeat Media. For price quotes and advertising information, please contact at BackBeat Media (646-546-5194). This number is for advertising only.

Open Link

Problems viewing this page with Internet Explorer 5.5 or 6? It works fine in other browsers, including IE 7. We recommend Firefox for those using Windows, as it is standards based and more secure than IE 6 (and earlier). More LEM visitors use Firefox than any other browser.