This surely has to be one product range that everyone is forgetting about. And over the last couple years has been somewhere were the iMac has been updated.
The is hardly any in europe at the moment, and I hear this is the same in the US. This is sure for a change!
Comments
I wonder what Apple's plans are with the sub $1000 market? They don't seem to care about the CRT iMac, that's for sure.
even if it does stick around I doubt will really see any changes to it unfortunately. They should make one iMac CRT for 899 and just keep it and update the specs every once and a while. it's a good entry machine. the LCD iMac at this point is not
I think Apple is going to keep the CRT iMacs for a while. It's the only sub $1000 computer that they have so they NEED to kep it. In all fairness, they have what a pair of balls charing $1000 for the new CRT iMacs. With those specs (600MHz, 256MB, 40GB, 8X CDRW, and a weak assed graphics card), the now $999 iMac shouldn't be a penny over $699 for what you are getting. The current $799 model is an embarrasment and should either be priced at $499 or removed from the line up! If you get what you pay for, then you should pay for just what you get. There is nothing special here that would warrant such prices.
Apple's support is also lacking (they charge for it, then they send you to a local CompUSA to get something fixed. If you're going to charge $249 for a warranty, offer onsite by Apple Pro's). Apple's support site is very fragmented and disorganized as well.
[ 03-17-2002: Message edited by: Patchouli ]</p>
499-599. Current enclosure. Alternating seasonal color scheme changes. Only one color available at any given time. An otherwise minimal hardware compliment, 'cept for maybe a slightly sharper CRT. A cheap CDrw (8x) in the 599 modle and CD only in the 499. And the cheapest PPC that'll get the job done.
Sell it to consumers at a commodity price. Something for the kids that you can afford to replace every year. Sell it to education and emerging markets. Sell it to business as a cheap network terminal with low/virtually no maintance costs. Plug and play cheap appliance computer all the way. Work with a third party to deliver an iMac set-up as a point-of-sale terminal right out of the box, as a cash register for trendy boutiques everywhere, etc etc...
If they work on it, it could get even cheaper to produce. I think they could sell a ton of 'em. People might buy 2 or more, and pepper their homes with little classic macs. A personal airport network that anyone can afford. One for the kitchen, one for the kids play room, maybe one as a back-up machine for your notebooks.
There is nothing in the current mac line-up that's cheap enough for people to want to use as I've described, and I don't think that the current LCD iMac will ever hit that 499-599 price mark. The CRT hasn't yet either, but there isn't much reason why it couldn't with a little tweaking.
Market the CRT as iMac Classic and the LCD simply as iMac.
[ 03-17-2002: Message edited by: Matsu ]</p>
It would be great if apple could make the iMac like Swatch watches. If it kept bringing the cost down and went back to the patterned iMacs, but used pop art instead of ugly designs for kids.
Making them trendy cash registers out of the box would also be great. They've started to do more and more professional bundles, now they just need bundles for more industries that don't rely on high end graphics.
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