You’ve come a long way, Apple. This week your much loved iMac line turned ten years old. For some of us, it has been a long strange trip to get to where the iMac is today.

When I was in grade school, we had an Apple II. Then, in my last year of high school there was buzz about the soon to be released Mac Classic, Apple’s first compact all-in-one computer. That did pretty well, but it didn’t really put Apple on the map.

What ended up putting Apple on the radar for many people was the innovative and attractive iMac in Bondi Blue. Eventually you would be able to get the 35 pound all-in-one unit in a variety of colors, earning it the name “the Life Saver Series”, but at first, there was only Bondi Blue.

Hard core PC users hated it on sight. With a machine so compact and easy, they might be put out of business. They needn’t have worried. Jobs made a splash with the design as his first product after his return to the company, but it would be several years before Apple enjoyed the market share it has today.

In the intervening years between Jobs’ return and now, the iMac went through several different looks, including the infamous “lamp” makeover a few years ago. Now it has an aluminum shell and has lost the friendly colors and the snow white of old. It has also become a formidable machine, able to compete with and hold its own against any PC out there.

What will happen to the iMac line as Apple’s laptop models and iPhone3G increase market share? I don’t see the company abandoning their money maker any time soon. It may get yet another makeover, but the need for a desktop that is easy remains, so I think the iMac, or a version of it, will be with us for some time to come.

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Entry was posted on Saturday, August 16th, 2008 at 2:01 am under Apple, imac.  Print This Post

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