Fueling speculation about a flat-panel iMac, Apple says the "powerful, user-friendly, and eye-catching" product will be launched worldwide and is expected to have an "enormous impact." The statements were made in an invitation sent to journalists in The Netherlands late last week.
Apple won't give out more details.
"We have already been too open, judging by the interest this is generating," says Ton van Garderen, general manager for Apple in The Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg, adding that the Dutch invitation could be "more candid than those sent out in other countries".
Well, yes, I agree. But can't I also believe that some of their stuff IS priced a tad high? How many times have we been taken aback at how LOW something new from Apple has been priced?
Doesn't mean I don't love them and would use anything else...but I reserve the right to bitch about excessively pricey stuff.
</strong><hr></blockquote>
It's hard to have low prices when you have the market share that apple has. They don't have 30M computers sold per year. They have to make a profit to keep making the equipment and software as best as they can. If you ask me they are doing a pretty good job for a small company. Most Rambler (or AMC) size companies would have been long gone by now. I'm amazed actually.
I honestly think (hope) that we're going to see something really exciting come MWSF.
Maybe it will be a totally re-thought iMac/all-in-one. Maybe it'll be a re-tooling and redesign of a Cube-like product.
Whatever it is, I'm looking forward to it. If it were my choice, I'd re-release a Cube-like product. I still think that thing was SWEET for its time, and would love the opportunity to buy a product that fits nicely between iMac and PowerMac towers.
[quote]Originally posted by imacSE:Jobs hates PDAs or at least he doesn't think it is worth it for Apple to get involved in one.<hr></blockquote>But they can get involved with MP3 players, right? <img src="confused.gif" border="0">
unfortunate, especially as palm pilots exploded last year</strong><hr></blockquote>
Yeah...they exploded...whatever. There isn't a single PDA maker that is doing well...especially Palm! Where the hell do you get your information, your ass?
<strong>I think Apple and Steve Jobs think a iMac with a 15.1 inch LCD, extremely small form factor for a desktop and a G4 is revolutionary.
If anything, you should have learned over the years that Apple only releases ahead of the curve items now, not ahead of their time items like they used to.
so no tablet, pda, newton, etc</strong><hr></blockquote>
Right. Couldn't be more right. G5 PM and G4 flatscreen iMac.....that is the ticket. They won't be able to make enough of those things....they will fly off the shelves....I agree.
Anyway, most of the people I know who dislike apple think their only cool product was the cube. When I tell them it was discontinued, they were wondering why. The cube was different, and it actually looked really cool. I hope they bring it back, only with a punch.
Now, do you really think Apple is going to upstage the LCD iMac?
I guarantee you that an LCD iMac is the revolutionary consumer product Steve is talking about. Anyone expecting more should be expecting to be disappointed.
It's the LCD iMac that Jobs is referring to. If he can call the iPod revolutionary, then he can say the same for an LCD G4 iMac.
Apple is not going to make a Tablet anytime soon. The cube was bad enough, and you all want them to make a Tablet? What, do you want to see Apple go under?
A Tablet is so unbelievably USELESS!!!
Why? Because for $50 extra, Apple can add a keyboard and make the tablet into a LAPTOP! And a friggin' laptop is about 100X as useful as a tablet.
A tablet has no efficient way to input data or commands. Touch screens are ok, but not as fast as a mouse or trackpad, and after a few months the screen is so full of gunk it's beyond cleaning. A stylus would work ok, but it's really not much more than a mouse. Handwriting recognition? Go buy a PDA if you want to write short notes by hand. If you want to TYPE information rapidly and efficiently, then buy a laptop.
A tablet is nothing more than a laptop missing the keyboard and trackpad. For those of you who are always whineing about tablets, just go buy a damn laptop!
As for Apple making a Tablet, who the hell would buy it? A few mac fanatics who shop at Sharper Image would buy it, but then who else? Students? No, they write long papers, so they need a keyboard, and they will buy laptops. Home users? Maybe, but let's think about what home users do: music, video, email, internet surfing, word processing. Can a Tablet do ANY of these things BETTER than a laptop? No. So Why not spend an extra couple hundred over a tablet for a laptop, that is more useful and functional?
Will a tablet have room for much of a hard drive? No. So there goes any chance of storing much music or movies. Laptop rules again.
Will a tablet be good for surfing the internet?
Yes, but if you want to participate in any chat rooms or discussion boards, you need to be able to type. Forget about downloading many MP3s or much porn, because the tablet will have a smallish HD.
A tablet would look "cool" to some people on the glass display case at Sharper Image. it would give them that special feeling of buying an item they don't really need for anything. It's the ultimate yuppie scum toy. But Apple learned with the Cube that there isn't enough yuppie scum to support a product. So no Apple tablet for the foreseeable future.
I don't know how many times I've said this but the augmented product matrix has shown it's success back when Apple had many different devices... and then again with the Cube.
Jobs simplified it to a four product matrix for a reason. I am seeing what looks like a new "hub" matrix growing with their software and now with the iPod I can see a periferal matrix but Apple's main computer matrix is going to stay at four for a while till they can get that cube taste out of their mouth.
It's hard to have low prices when you have the market share that apple has. They don't have 30M computers sold per year. They have to make a profit to keep making the equipment and software as best as they can. If you ask me they are doing a pretty good job for a small company. Most Rambler (or AMC) size companies would have been long gone by now. I'm amazed actually.</strong><hr></blockquote>
This is an interesting point. Compared to all PC makers in one lump, yes, Apple has small market share. However, there are a huge number of PC companies sharing that market and only a few are larger than Apple. Recently I saw business survey posted in Japan that showed that one model of the iBook and one of the TiBook were in the top ten sellers of laptops in Japan. That means that with their limited product line they are competing quite well against many other companies that have broader product lines but smaller market share.
Apple products are very profitable, in a normal market. During this down market Apple is holding its own while other companies are suffering or losing market share to Dell.
What Apple doesn't do is make stripped down junk. The new iBooks have better value than any other laptop around. They may not have the lowest sticker price, but for comparable features and quality they are the best value.
Anyway, most of the people I know who dislike apple think their only cool product was the cube. When I tell them it was discontinued, they were wondering why. The cube was different, and it actually looked really cool. I hope they bring it back, only with a punch.
Hold on here. We're ARE talking about Mr. Hyperbole himself. King of the Reality Distortion field.
I've noticed a considerable decline in "WOW" factor since Apple introduced the Blue and White PowerMac G3 and the Cube.
I think perhaps the timing is right for something new, the iMac is definetly going to get a remake. Might not be called "iMac" but something will fill its shoes for sure.
Also, keep in mind here that April 1 is Apple's 25th anniversary. Wouldn't surprise me they decide to do something to top the 20th Anniversary Mac from 1997...
My hopes are really on a totally new PowerMac. A new CPU (G5) and *MUCH* higher clock speeds. I'm sorry but 1 Ghz is just not going to cut it. Apple needs to @ 2Ghz like RIGHT NOW.
Laughed my ass off at rumors when they posted that dodecahedron story.....but now, I think that woul definitely be a "WOW" introduction.......especially if it was the iMac. If you think about it, the iMac doesn't need PCI slots or huge expandability. Having an enclosure like that, if people found it asthetically pleasing, doesn't seem to present any major problems that I can think of.
It still won't happen....but it would an interesting MW introduction if it did....
Might not be called "iMac" but something will fill its shoes for sure.
Apple will always have the imac in their product line. The iMac is single handedly responsible for Apples recovery. The iMac will not go the way of the Dinosaur.
actually, laptops will be gone in 5-10 years completely replaced by tablets...as voice recognition gets better and better nobody will know how to type or use a keyboard except a few archaeology majors and Dungeon and Dragon players who study the "old" ways. Heck, do they even teach typing in school like they did when i was a kid?? the human touch, a stylist and your voice will be all anyone needs...computer makers will keep an attachable keyboard as an add on for mutes and speech impaired people (stroke victims, throat cancer patients, etc), but by far most people will stop using a keyboard and be quite happy....heck, in 5 - 10 years no desktop computers will be sold with keyboards either, will be an add on feature only.... once speech recognition is down pat and miniaturization has gotten computer parts down to the size of your little finger, all consumer computers may be tablets (neither desktops nor laptops for the home and small office user). only movie studios and other large design users who need big towers and lots of HD and ram space will have more "conventional" computers.
iMac2go (or Revolution3) would be that....a tablet that replaces both the ibook and the iMac....i doubt it will be done for a few years yet, but i see it as the future...g
The revolutionary machine is the new iMac, which has a 15 inch LCD screen, has a new low-power Sahara G3, but is also a tablet?
When you want to work with the screen in your lap, it releases from the dock on the desktop which houses the power supply and optical drive, and is battery powered and converses with the desktop hub via AirPort or GigaWire if that tech is high-bandwidth wireless. You could use a pen interface similar to PDA currently for simple interaction.
It wouldn't need dramatic battery life because it always is put back in the dock. The hard drive and motherboard could be iBook-derived and live with the screen, while the larger, heavier and less used optical drive would remain on the desk, saving weight, size and heat.
This would silence the "but you need a keyboard" crowd because it's there if you need it, where you'd be most likely to use it.
To answer the "just get an iBook" crowd, you could hold it one-handed, or use the screen in landscape format for web browsing, which last I checked was not possible with the iBook. And a 15 inch screen in Landscape would be FAR easier to read for browsing.
The engineering has really already been done. You could use the iBook motherboard and hard drive which we know already fits in a ~1 inch enclosure, and we also know that as far as pricing is concerned, the iBook parts make it a reasonble prospect as well.
And if you really want to quibble prices, make this version the iMac SE and price it at 1500-1700. The other versions would not have a detachable/touch-screen.
That way, there really is only one new product, but has expanded use.
Comments
The following quote is taken from the CNN <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2001/TECH/ptech/12/19/apple.revolutionary.idg/index.html"; target="_blank">article </a> that reported this information...
[quote]
Fueling speculation about a flat-panel iMac, Apple says the "powerful, user-friendly, and eye-catching" product will be launched worldwide and is expected to have an "enormous impact." The statements were made in an invitation sent to journalists in The Netherlands late last week.
Apple won't give out more details.
"We have already been too open, judging by the interest this is generating," says Ton van Garderen, general manager for Apple in The Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg, adding that the Dutch invitation could be "more candid than those sent out in other countries".
<hr></blockquote>
<strong>
Well, yes, I agree. But can't I also believe that some of their stuff IS priced a tad high? How many times have we been taken aback at how LOW something new from Apple has been priced?
Doesn't mean I don't love them and would use anything else...but I reserve the right to bitch about excessively pricey stuff.
It's hard to have low prices when you have the market share that apple has. They don't have 30M computers sold per year. They have to make a profit to keep making the equipment and software as best as they can. If you ask me they are doing a pretty good job for a small company. Most Rambler (or AMC) size companies would have been long gone by now. I'm amazed actually.
Maybe it will be a totally re-thought iMac/all-in-one. Maybe it'll be a re-tooling and redesign of a Cube-like product.
Whatever it is, I'm looking forward to it. If it were my choice, I'd re-release a Cube-like product. I still think that thing was SWEET for its time, and would love the opportunity to buy a product that fits nicely between iMac and PowerMac towers.
<strong>
Jobs hates PDAs or at least he doesn't think it is worth it for Apple to get involved in one.
Chris</strong><hr></blockquote>
unfortunate, especially as palm pilots exploded last year
<strong>
unfortunate, especially as palm pilots exploded last year</strong><hr></blockquote>
Yeah...they exploded...whatever. There isn't a single PDA maker that is doing well...especially Palm! Where the hell do you get your information, your ass?
<strong>I think Apple and Steve Jobs think a iMac with a 15.1 inch LCD, extremely small form factor for a desktop and a G4 is revolutionary.
If anything, you should have learned over the years that Apple only releases ahead of the curve items now, not ahead of their time items like they used to.
so no tablet, pda, newton, etc</strong><hr></blockquote>
Right. Couldn't be more right. G5 PM and G4 flatscreen iMac.....that is the ticket. They won't be able to make enough of those things....they will fly off the shelves....I agree.
I hate jobs...
E PLURIBUS UNIX
-----------------------------
[ 12-23-2001: Message edited by: FERRO ]</p>
Anyway, most of the people I know who dislike apple think their only cool product was the cube. When I tell them it was discontinued, they were wondering why. The cube was different, and it actually looked really cool. I hope they bring it back, only with a punch.
[ 12-23-2001: Message edited by: corvette ]</p>
<a href="http://quote.bloomberg.com/fgcgi.cgi?T=marketsquote99_news.ht&s=APBAPshW0UXVh bnRh" target="_blank">Bloomberg article</a>
<a href="http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,48855,00.html"; target="_blank">Wired News</a>
Now, do you really think Apple is going to upstage the LCD iMac?
I guarantee you that an LCD iMac is the revolutionary consumer product Steve is talking about. Anyone expecting more should be expecting to be disappointed.
Apple is not going to make a Tablet anytime soon. The cube was bad enough, and you all want them to make a Tablet? What, do you want to see Apple go under?
A Tablet is so unbelievably USELESS!!!
Why? Because for $50 extra, Apple can add a keyboard and make the tablet into a LAPTOP! And a friggin' laptop is about 100X as useful as a tablet.
A tablet has no efficient way to input data or commands. Touch screens are ok, but not as fast as a mouse or trackpad, and after a few months the screen is so full of gunk it's beyond cleaning. A stylus would work ok, but it's really not much more than a mouse. Handwriting recognition? Go buy a PDA if you want to write short notes by hand. If you want to TYPE information rapidly and efficiently, then buy a laptop.
A tablet is nothing more than a laptop missing the keyboard and trackpad. For those of you who are always whineing about tablets, just go buy a damn laptop!
As for Apple making a Tablet, who the hell would buy it? A few mac fanatics who shop at Sharper Image would buy it, but then who else? Students? No, they write long papers, so they need a keyboard, and they will buy laptops. Home users? Maybe, but let's think about what home users do: music, video, email, internet surfing, word processing. Can a Tablet do ANY of these things BETTER than a laptop? No. So Why not spend an extra couple hundred over a tablet for a laptop, that is more useful and functional?
Will a tablet have room for much of a hard drive? No. So there goes any chance of storing much music or movies. Laptop rules again.
Will a tablet be good for surfing the internet?
Yes, but if you want to participate in any chat rooms or discussion boards, you need to be able to type. Forget about downloading many MP3s or much porn, because the tablet will have a smallish HD.
A tablet would look "cool" to some people on the glass display case at Sharper Image. it would give them that special feeling of buying an item they don't really need for anything. It's the ultimate yuppie scum toy. But Apple learned with the Cube that there isn't enough yuppie scum to support a product. So no Apple tablet for the foreseeable future.
Jobs simplified it to a four product matrix for a reason. I am seeing what looks like a new "hub" matrix growing with their software and now with the iPod I can see a periferal matrix but Apple's main computer matrix is going to stay at four for a while till they can get that cube taste out of their mouth.
Mac Guru
<strong>
It's hard to have low prices when you have the market share that apple has. They don't have 30M computers sold per year. They have to make a profit to keep making the equipment and software as best as they can. If you ask me they are doing a pretty good job for a small company. Most Rambler (or AMC) size companies would have been long gone by now. I'm amazed actually.</strong><hr></blockquote>
This is an interesting point. Compared to all PC makers in one lump, yes, Apple has small market share. However, there are a huge number of PC companies sharing that market and only a few are larger than Apple. Recently I saw business survey posted in Japan that showed that one model of the iBook and one of the TiBook were in the top ten sellers of laptops in Japan. That means that with their limited product line they are competing quite well against many other companies that have broader product lines but smaller market share.
Apple products are very profitable, in a normal market. During this down market Apple is holding its own while other companies are suffering or losing market share to Dell.
What Apple doesn't do is make stripped down junk. The new iBooks have better value than any other laptop around. They may not have the lowest sticker price, but for comparable features and quality they are the best value.
<strong>
Anyway, most of the people I know who dislike apple think their only cool product was the cube. When I tell them it was discontinued, they were wondering why. The cube was different, and it actually looked really cool. I hope they bring it back, only with a punch.
[ 12-23-2001: Message edited by: corvette ]</strong><hr></blockquote>
That's how a lot of people I know were too. They got the same feeling now with the iPod that they did with the Cube last year.
I've noticed a considerable decline in "WOW" factor since Apple introduced the Blue and White PowerMac G3 and the Cube.
I think perhaps the timing is right for something new, the iMac is definetly going to get a remake. Might not be called "iMac" but something will fill its shoes for sure.
Also, keep in mind here that April 1 is Apple's 25th anniversary. Wouldn't surprise me they decide to do something to top the 20th Anniversary Mac from 1997...
My hopes are really on a totally new PowerMac. A new CPU (G5) and *MUCH* higher clock speeds. I'm sorry but 1 Ghz is just not going to cut it. Apple needs to @ 2Ghz like RIGHT NOW.
<strong>
Laughed my ass off at rumors when they posted that dodecahedron story.....but now, I think that woul definitely be a "WOW" introduction.......especially if it was the iMac. If you think about it, the iMac doesn't need PCI slots or huge expandability. Having an enclosure like that, if people found it asthetically pleasing, doesn't seem to present any major problems that I can think of.
It still won't happen....but it would an interesting MW introduction if it did....
Apple will always have the imac in their product line. The iMac is single handedly responsible for Apples recovery. The iMac will not go the way of the Dinosaur.
iMac2go (or Revolution3) would be that....a tablet that replaces both the ibook and the iMac....i doubt it will be done for a few years yet, but i see it as the future...g
[ 12-24-2001: Message edited by: thegelding ]</p>
[insert dream-like musical interlude]
The revolutionary machine is the new iMac, which has a 15 inch LCD screen, has a new low-power Sahara G3, but is also a tablet?
When you want to work with the screen in your lap, it releases from the dock on the desktop which houses the power supply and optical drive, and is battery powered and converses with the desktop hub via AirPort or GigaWire if that tech is high-bandwidth wireless. You could use a pen interface similar to PDA currently for simple interaction.
It wouldn't need dramatic battery life because it always is put back in the dock. The hard drive and motherboard could be iBook-derived and live with the screen, while the larger, heavier and less used optical drive would remain on the desk, saving weight, size and heat.
This would silence the "but you need a keyboard" crowd because it's there if you need it, where you'd be most likely to use it.
To answer the "just get an iBook" crowd, you could hold it one-handed, or use the screen in landscape format for web browsing, which last I checked was not possible with the iBook. And a 15 inch screen in Landscape would be FAR easier to read for browsing.
The engineering has really already been done. You could use the iBook motherboard and hard drive which we know already fits in a ~1 inch enclosure, and we also know that as far as pricing is concerned, the iBook parts make it a reasonble prospect as well.
And if you really want to quibble prices, make this version the iMac SE and price it at 1500-1700. The other versions would not have a detachable/touch-screen.
That way, there really is only one new product, but has expanded use.
Shred away...