In a special post today, I just want to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the original iMac; the actual date was just a few days ago. Now, I am certainly not an Apple fanboy anymore, and in fact, I think many of their products have a tendency to be overrated. Having said that, whether you love or hate Apple, you can certainly appreciate and admire the revolutionary product that was the iMac.
Just over 20 years ago, personal computing was still in its infancy; my family had just gotten a computer only a few years prior to 1998. At the time, many computers (like today's phones) were incredibly similar. They all featured standard features such a few MB of RAM, a few MB of storage, standard floppy disc drive, a thousand wires protruding from the back, and the same basic beige color.
Around this same time, Apple was essentially just hanging on to relevancy and profitability. Founder Steve Jobs had just returned after his founding of Next (after being kicked out of Apple), and the company was looking for something that would help them avoid becoming just another tech company to go under.
And then, enter the iMac; the very first product from Apple to feature the "i" moniker. A beautiful, transparent blue-backed box with a single cord (minus the mouse and keyboard) snaking its way from the back, the iMac stood out as much as Shaq at a preschool. The iMac was as different as it possibly could get. The screen and internal components were in the same housing; there was no seperate monitor that needed to attach to a tower both with their own power cables. The speakers were housed in that same body so no audio cables or boxy, space-consuming speakers. The circular puck-looking mouse was as different as that blue body that had no business being on the body of working machine. The iMac was truly the coming-out-party for Jony Ive.
Not only was this appliance truly a design marvel of the the time, but it did something that Apple has become known for over the years for good and bad: it removed a known standard component. Yes, in 1998, the floppy disc was storage juggernaut of the day, and that disc slot was on every PC manufactured at the time...until the iMac. In now-standard Apple fashion, they took a risk in removing the disc drive and going with a lesser known standard identified only as USB. Inconvenient for many at the time, but a daring choice that ultimately paid off. It may not have been the headphone jack decision of its time, but it certainly was a risk that could have derailed the entire product and possibly the company.
Apple heavily marketed the iMac and shaped as a PC in its own league. They sought to make the iMac as the everyman's functional and convenient appliance. Commercials sought to highlight the simplicity and speed in which you could have the iMac running with you surfing the web-of-the-day. Simply plug it in, turn it on, and get rolling using one of the two included browsers: Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator. As opposed to those other computers that would take at least 15-20 minutes to unpackage, get set up, and get browsing, the iMac could have you online in minutes. It just worked, and it just worked quickly.
Love them or hate them, Apple is certainly at the top as far as profitability and brand loyalty is concerned, but just 20 years ago, they were floundering. The iMac, and later the iPhone of course, saved the company. The iMac was truly a revolutionary product that changed the way we view the visual design of electronics; it made aesthetics a key part of the equation of design. So, 20 years later, we can celebrate the first real product from Apple that was truthfully revolutionary.
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