Who uses these underpowered overpriced POS's. And what for? mp3 playing and word processing? I just don't understand why anyone would want to use an iMac? Help me understand you!
I use it for casual gaming, programming, light photoshopping, web browsing, e-mail, word processing, burning CDs, listening to music, making web pages, storing data...you know, what MILLIONS of other people do?
The only knock the iMac has against it for what many, many people do is that it is overpriced. I've got an ibook 500 and I never feel that it is underpowered and it's about the same as my family's iMac (which I got for $500 new, so it wasn't even overpriced). I know that it's plenty adequate for AIM, writing, internet and cd burning that my family uses it for. Believe it or not, not everyone plays games and not everyone even wants to. Tonight, I wanted to relax, so what did I do? I fired up fireworks and played around. Games didn't even cross my mind...
come to think of it I should ahve gotten a tower as I do gaming and graphic work and the iMac doesn't cut it for either of those also I've been yearning to bust into the computer sequencing world for my music as the 12 track recorded can only go so far
Add me to the list. I got an iMac on the day they came out. Bondi Blue all the way!
I also have a new iMac G3/500 w/CDRW that is an awesome little machine. I paid almost nothing for the machine (Mall was offering 'free gift certificates' if you bought a certain amount. Buy peanut butter cup, small fries, etc. with $50 mall gift certificates. Get $$ back. Repeat until 'free' iMac. (Offer no longer good. )
Here at the daily newspaper I work for, we have over 50 reporters and editors working on iMacs and there are very few complaints. Primarily the use is QuarkXPress, e-mail, Internet Access and a couple of proprietary software programs.
I can appreciate that mac users are ready for a new case design, but the majority of pc using friends are still impressed by my blueberry DV400. Believe it or not, most of them ask where the tower is and are very impressed at the fact that the imac is self contained (one friend actually cancelled his pc order and is buying an imac after seeing mine)! I'll be buying an imac again when they up the graphics card and go to lcd screen.
I have a "summer 2000" (aka: slot-loading) iMac about a year or so ago. I got it because I wanted to play around with MacOSX when it came out, and it was the cheapest Mac available at the time (well, second cheapest, i have a DV, there was just an "iMac" that didn't have firewire, but I splurged). Its blue. I guess it was about $1k.
It was my first mac, and you really feel like you're getting a quality product, even though I bought it from ChumpUSA .
Firstly, I didn't like OS9 at all, so when I first got it, i didn't use it for much of anything. Then i ran the public beta ... and now it runs 10.1. Its a good machine, the screen is a little small, and mostly it just sleeps these days (anyone know if Wake-On-Lan works on these machines?).
Anyway, it sits on my desk at work, and I use it to distract people who come in to bother me with why their windows machine crashed, or they can't access the network, or some other stupid question. They see the mac and 'ooh' and 'aah' and if I'm in a good mood i let them touch it. Its been there a while, so it doesn't work as well as it used to ... maybe a flat panel iMac would work better .
[quote]...Because 'Flower Power' ticks off all the right people.
j/k<hr></blockquote>
Why kidding, Mark? It was one of the most subversive things Apple has ever released. I cackled with glee when Steve unveiled the Flower Power iMac because I just knew that all the self-styled tech ghods whose computers are proxies for their other heads would howl with outrage. And I knew that nontraditional computer buyers would snap it up.
I wish that it had been the best-selling iMac to date, just so I could watch the Slashdotters and "serious" PC users squirm. Muahahahahahaha!
Back on topic, my mom uses a grape iMac DV for writing, email, surfing, playing MP3s and CDs. It's a perfect little machine for her: Small, attractive, and dead simple to use so she can concentrate on her work. She's quite fond of it.
I forgot to mention that my dad uses a Rev D Blueberry iMac as his only computer. He uses it for work, e-mail, surfing, chatting, and once in a while little almost nothing games.
Thank you for the intelligent responses guys. Sorry the intial post was a little caustic, but I was just so annoyed with reading all of the lcdMac posts. i think apple could really smash up the consumer-user market if it just lowered the price, but with the top of lines approaching tower costs, and exceeding similar, more powerful PC machines, I just never understood the iMac pricing strategy or target audience.
Imagine a slick all-in-one design with lcd. Or perhaps like a seperate part with the drives and an lcd screen to go along. The screen would be say 15" with 1400x1050 resolution (Samsung lcd). Then add an IBM Sahara G3 at a nice speed. Add a pretty good video card, i.e. a GeForce2 MX400 with 32 MB RAM. Choice of optical drives, descent amount of RAM, Mac OS X, HDTV-ready, right price. Put it all together. Suddenly, this ain't your granny's iMac.
Mmm...I like Tigerwood's iMac, but it just isn't consistent with the classic design thing of the iMac. What if...
We keep a low priced CRT iMac rehashed for the grannies who think 640 x 480 is a fine resolution anyway...
700MHz G3
128MB RAM
CD ROM
Rage Ultra 16MB
13.8" Viewable CRT
$599
Then introduce the new, Tigerwoods iMacs...with DVD drives, 133MHz bus, dual full size bays, LCD screens, sleek anodized steel enclosures of glinting onyx hues, and Sahara ecstacy paired with nVida glory. Basically your cube redux. I love the enclosure for the PS2 and I think it should be looked upon for inspiration. Kind of a very mini minitower.
Comments
- Illustration (Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop)
- Design (logo, infographics, diagrams, technical drawings)
- Writing
- Playing mp3s
- Encoding mp3s
- Finances (Quicken and all that)
- Digital photo storage
- Songs
- Story outlines and snippets
- InDesign, Illustrator, Acrobat and Photoshop on it nearly everyday
- Surfing (duh)
- E-mail (see "Surfing")
- Contact list (names, addresses, e-mail, personal info on anyone and everyone)
- Info and research (Sherlock, the Internet, etc.)
- News and weather
- DVD player (until I get a "real" one)
And probably a whole bunch of other little things (organizing personal info, lists, recipes, maps, etc.).
Basically, everything. What's the problem?
Don't worry about it.
[ 12-04-2001: Message edited by: pscates ]</p>
Not everyone (even those of us in the graphic arts realm) are MHz-addicted speed freaks, always chasing the latest and greatest.
Sometimes a simple, elegant solution that fits one's life, living arrangement and working style trumps speed and bells and whistles.
That's why I bought an iMac. And that's why my NEXT Mac will be one (or an iBook).
A lot of extra money to pay for the pro stuff that isn't really going to net any significant, jaw-dropping life-changing experiences for me.
I don't give two flying ****s about bragging rights and comparing the size of my drive bay to some other guy's.
j/k
Cheers,
Mark.
DVSE 500
come to think of it I should ahve gotten a tower as I do gaming and graphic work and the iMac doesn't cut it for either of those also I've been yearning to bust into the computer sequencing world for my music as the 12 track recorded can only go so far
She uses it for card games, internet, an occasional letter, email, etc.
I use it as an IP Router.
I personally have an iceBook.
SM
I do the usual low power stuff, make iMovies and play Tomb Raider, StarCraft, Diablo II LOD and Age of Empires II.
Come to think of it, this thing rules!
Mail
Writing
Surfing
Watching movies
Listening to music
Making movies
Virtually journeying to different worlds and times
Chatting, IM'ing
Why do I ever leave the house?
Jeff
I also have a new iMac G3/500 w/CDRW that is an awesome little machine. I paid almost nothing for the machine (Mall was offering 'free gift certificates' if you bought a certain amount. Buy peanut butter cup, small fries, etc. with $50 mall gift certificates. Get $$ back. Repeat until 'free' iMac. (Offer no longer good.
It was my first mac, and you really feel like you're getting a quality product, even though I bought it from ChumpUSA
Firstly, I didn't like OS9 at all, so when I first got it, i didn't use it for much of anything. Then i ran the public beta ... and now it runs 10.1. Its a good machine, the screen is a little small, and mostly it just sleeps these days (anyone know if Wake-On-Lan works on these machines?).
Anyway, it sits on my desk at work, and I use it to distract people who come in to bother me with why their windows machine crashed, or they can't access the network, or some other stupid question. They see the mac and 'ooh' and 'aah' and if I'm in a good mood i let them touch it. Its been there a while, so it doesn't work as well as it used to ... maybe a flat panel iMac would work better
[quote]...Because 'Flower Power' ticks off all the right people.
j/k<hr></blockquote>
Why kidding, Mark? It was one of the most subversive things Apple has ever released. I cackled with glee when Steve unveiled the Flower Power iMac because I just knew that all the self-styled tech ghods whose computers are proxies for their other heads would howl with outrage. And I knew that nontraditional computer buyers would snap it up.
I wish that it had been the best-selling iMac to date, just so I could watch the Slashdotters and "serious" PC users squirm. Muahahahahahaha!
Back on topic, my mom uses a grape iMac DV for writing, email, surfing, playing MP3s and CDs. It's a perfect little machine for her: Small, attractive, and dead simple to use so she can concentrate on her work. She's quite fond of it.
WP
iMovie
web design
Imagine a slick all-in-one design with lcd. Or perhaps like a seperate part with the drives and an lcd screen to go along. The screen would be say 15" with 1400x1050 resolution (Samsung lcd). Then add an IBM Sahara G3 at a nice speed. Add a pretty good video card, i.e. a GeForce2 MX400 with 32 MB RAM. Choice of optical drives, descent amount of RAM, Mac OS X, HDTV-ready, right price. Put it all together. Suddenly, this ain't your granny's iMac.
We keep a low priced CRT iMac rehashed for the grannies who think 640 x 480 is a fine resolution anyway...
700MHz G3
128MB RAM
CD ROM
Rage Ultra 16MB
13.8" Viewable CRT
$599
Then introduce the new, Tigerwoods iMacs...with DVD drives, 133MHz bus, dual full size bays, LCD screens, sleek anodized steel enclosures of glinting onyx hues, and Sahara ecstacy paired with nVida glory. Basically your cube redux. I love the enclosure for the PS2 and I think it should be looked upon for inspiration. Kind of a very mini minitower.
800MHz G3
128MB RAM
30GB HD
DVD
15.2" Powerbook LCD
GeForce 2MX 32MB
$999
933MHz G3
256MB RAM
40GB HD
16X CDRW
15.2" Powerbook LCD
GeForce 2MX 32MB
$1299
1.13GHz G3
256MB RAM
60GB HD
DVD
16X CDRW
15.2" Powerbook LCD
GeForce 2MX 64MB w/ TwinView
$1499
I'd actually buy one.