R.I.P. Original iMac: 1998-2003

Joey Patterson writes "CNET News.com reports that, after five years, Apple has stopped selling the gumdrop-shaped iMac to the general public."

Mom likes em

[Palshife]

Ahh, the end of an age. The only computer my mother ever used that almost completely replaced my usefulness.

RIP iMac

[Exitthree]

Perhaps now that people realize Apple has stopped selling fruit colored computers we can see the end of all the pink and purple translucent plastic office products...

Re:RIP iMac

[nano2nd]

And the multi-colored George Foreman Grills!!

And Ellen said...

[KillerHamster]

...and it was like, beep beep beep... and it was, like, gone...

Re:RIP iMac

[Ponty]

It'll never happen. Those cycles move more slowly than the computer style cycles. Apple had effectively moved away from colorful plastic just when they were getting to full capacity.

And try telling people that Apple doesn't sell computers by the flavor anymore. :-)

New Xserve

[humina]

I'm surprised that slashdot posted about the CNET article about the end of the original iMac instead of new clustering Xserve [com.com]. I mean think about it. Can you imagine a beowulf cluster of...oh nevermind.

O Mac must be next

[L. VeGas]

Old Macdonald had a farm.
e Mac
i Mac
e mac
i Mac

O Mac

'Course my fave is BigMac.

Re:I'll bet...

[MegaFur]

"dumbed down, pretty looking" machine in the near future,

I'm confused... wasn't the iMac already supposed to be the "dumbed down, pretty looking" computer? What would the dumbed down version of the iMac look like? Maybe it's a movie of someone else using an iMac?

Re:It was cool...

[L. VeGas]

the only macs I get are covered in grease.

Those are called "Big Macs".

In other news...

[heldlikesound]

Alarm clock designers, cheap plastic toy manufactors, and eMachines annouced plans to "reinvent" their catalogs, creating whole new lines of items, based on the idea of a solid base, with a flexable-like and a flat screen interface.

A representative from eMachines was quoted as saying, "Good designers copy, great designers steal directly from Jonathon Ives."

Honestly, other than the "snow" colored version, I thought the iMac was pretty ugly... The new 17" however, very nice...

Re:New Xserve Cluster Node

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh! Common mistake. That stands for "Actually There Isn't Graphics"

Re:R.I.P.

[Kaz Riprock]

You do know that just because they aren't selling them anymore does not mean that the one on your desk is going to disappear...right?

Re:RIP iMac

[dnahelix]

You are so right!
Personally I prefer bland, opaque designs. Bright colors can make one feel cheerful and happy, which is so annoying. I would much rather be reminded of the non-descript conformity we all strive for.

Re:Mom likes em

[Mononoke]

I want my computer to look like a computer, damn it.

ENIAC, or UNIVAC?

I can see right through this...

[raehl]

This is just the first step in paving the way for a corporate partnership between Apple Computer and Hershey Co. The Hershey Kiss shapped iMac is just around the corner, available in brown, white, or brown and white striped. Consumers may upgrade to "with almonds" for $100 extra.

Re:O Mac must be next

[DLWormwood]

Appropriate joke for the Mac platform, since PowerPC processors have an eieio [rd13doc.cern.ch] instruction...

The old iMac says just one thing to the new one...

[indros13]

:-P *cd-rom tray ejects*

(Yes, I know the old one didn't have tray loader, but I'm trying to be funny)

It's the mouse...

[Chief Typist]

See what happens when you try to sell a computer with only one mouse button!

Re:Mom likes em

[Twirlip of the Mists]

I wouldn't buy a computer that looks like a lamp. I want my computer to look like a computer, damn it.

Computers are supposed to look like lamps. I don't know what the heck you people are thinking, buying computers that look like a cross between a television and a typewriter. Bizarre.

;-)

Re:*sniff* (a eulogy)

[jayhawk88]

Yes, thank God the iMac showed the computing industry that they should focus on style and asthetics over features and functionality. I'm so fucking glad that Dell, IBM, and HP now feel the need to change the form factors of their machines every 3 months, and in the process give me some of the most horrible, badly designed machines ever made. iMac can kiss my ass. Anyway, my favorite iMac story:

I'm working at CompUSSR as a technician. It's a slow day, and I happen to be up at the front counter of the tech department, filling out some paperwork or something. A lady walks in the front door carting an iMac in hand, and from 10 feet away I can see the anger in her eyes. She steps up to the counter, and with one emphatic push, heaves the iMac up onto the counter, where it lands with a deafening *THUD*, loud enough the whole store takes notice. She takes a few moments to catch her breath from the effort, then looks me straight in the eye, and says...

"Jeff Goldblum is a fucking liar!"

It was a good 5 minutes before I could compose myself enough to speak.

Re:5 year lifespan for hardware?

[Anonvmous Coward]

"...but I guess this goes to show that Apple does make solid products that last for a while."

A friend of mine has worn the same pair of shoes for over three years now. He's got unusually proportioned feet so he can't just go to the store and pick any old pair of shoes he wants. He has to go to a specialty place.

Take a minute to let that anecdote set in.

Re:5 year lifespan for hardware?

[fobbman]

Five years is nothing. How long has beige owned the PC market?

Re:RIP iMac

[Anonymous Coward]

I agree

Re:RIP iMac

[Anonymous Coward]

I agree.

The FIles are IN the computer? Woah!

[Ken Dexter]

I thought the saddest iMac moment was that scene in Zoolander... Oh Well...

Re:RIP iMac

[Anonymous Coward]

I agree

Only as dead as Amiga!

[FatalTourist]

And the Amiga's still alive and... um...

*hugs Amiga 1200 to chest and cries*

Re:*sniff* (a eulogy)

[Anonymous Coward]

Bill,

Should we try to sign her up to do an ad for us?

-Monkeyboy

Re:Education likes CRTs.

[Anonymous Coward]

one nice thing about the old CRT-based iMac is that it is difficult to damage.

This is so true... I have an iMac which survived torments such as taking long train rides in a bag, falling from a table, a failed attempt at overclocking, endless LAN parties with malicious PC users, power surges, running without the case and taking dust for months, overheating, sub-zero temperatures, having a loose screw somewhere on the motherboard, being used as a seat and dragged in the snow... I probably forget many.

It's been encoding DVDs for the last 67 hours, still going fine.

Re:5 year lifespan for hardware?

[dasmegabyte]

I wear a 10 1/2 EEEE. Please, tell me what shoestore he goes to...I buy new New Balance sneakers every six months, and new Dunham boots every eight.

Incidentally, I buy a new mac laptop once a year, but that's just because my rich mac friend never remembers to save enough cash to pay his property taxes...

Re:It will be missed by few, loved by many

[charon_on_acheron]

[voice=Homer]
And I guess you are using some sort of network connection that doesn't use a wire. It's like the cable router somehow senses the computer's need to transmit data, and the router just picks the data out of the air. And then when the router has data for the computer it just thinks about the data really hard, and the computer reads its thoughts. Sure, Lisa. You have a magical cable router, that can send and receive data wirelessly. do-di-do-di-do...

Re:RIP iMac

[macrom]

Hey now! The multi-colored George Foreman grill matches the iMac used for curing kitchen boredom. Nothing like browsing for pr0n *AND* grilling up some lean burgers! Too bad the Foreman grill only takes a few minutes to cook something...

Re:5 year lifespan for hardware?

[Anonymous Coward]

He buys quality shoes?

Re:5 year lifespan for hardware?

[geekoid]

so your saying your 'friend' has an odd shaped penis? ;)

Re:She's all washed up

[belloc]

Man, if the "I Didn't Do It" boy wasn't right on, I don't know what was...

Re:*blink*

[eMilkshake]

Uhm, that's b/c in 5 years, Motorola only had two revisions of the PowerPC. ;)

Re:No biggie

[Mattygfunk1]

I'm sure I'm not the only one that loves to use vi on the emacs.

Have no fear! Daisy-chain iMac is here!

[Decimal]

On my machine right now, the mouse is plugged into the keyboard via USB, which is plugged into the monitor via USB, which is plugged into the computer via ADC, which is plugged into the wall. That's it. No other plugs.

I guess if you need to escape out of the window real quick for some reason, you won't have to go looking for rope. :)

Re:RIP iMac

[Ryan Amos]

And it only takes most of the slashdot crowd a few minutes to tenderize the meat, so it works out perfectly.

Re:No biggie

[stewby18]

The original iMac may have saved Apple.

Saved Apple? That's absurd! Everyone knows Apple is teetering on the edge of ruin, and will be folding any day now... Haven't you been reading the news for the past 10 years?

Re:It's the mouse...

[bobrk]

My Macs have more than one mouse button! For convenience, the others are remotely mounted on the keyboard.

Re:New Xserve Cluster Node

[Sponge Bath]

You know what's also interesting? Coherent sentences.

Give him a break, Job's brand Kool Aid is strong stuff!

And in other news...

[dfj225]

Ford no longer sells the 1998 model Taurus and has instead replaced it with the model year 2003 line. Anaylists were left baffled at this move. One remarked, "Who thougth Ford would make such a drastic move as this? Updating their models and not selling the older ones...I'm baffeled!" Similar trends have been noticed in just about every other freakin company on earth! So why is this front page /. news?

eMachines

[$0.02]

Is eMachines now free to sell their iMac lookalike?

Re:Apple dying

[Shuh]

[quote]With WindowsXP there is no need for Mac any more.[/quote]s/WindowsXP/Windows200/
s/Windows200 0/Windows NT/
s/Windows NT/Windows 98/
s/Windows 98/ Windows 95/
s/Windows 95/Windows 3.1/
s/Windows 3.1/Windows 3.0/
s/Windows 3.0/Windows 2.0/
s/Windows 2.0/Windows 1.0/

It's good to have a dream.

I got your stapler right here...

[MsGeek]

That Lumbergh, he took my stapler! [swingline.com] Guess I'm going to have to go burn the building down now [imdb.com].

One of the fundamental laws of the universe is that sooner or later, everything becomes Office Space. Everything that doesn't become Office Space becomes This Is Spinal Tap.

Re:RIP iMac

[breon.halling]

Nothing like browsing for pr0n *AND* grilling up some lean burgers!

Yikes! Remind me never to have dinner at your place.

Re:Apple dying

[MrMickS]

R.I.P. Apple. We'll be reading your obituary in another year.

Apple - been happily going out of business since 1985