GadgetCrowd

To understand how far the iMac has come in the last ten years, one need
look no further than the first letter in the word. When Steve Jobs
unveiled the iMac on May 6th, 1998, he explained the “i” was for
Internet. Today, connectivity is intrinsic to all personal computers,
and yet the iMac name remains, as does its all-in-one design. However,
that singular design has seen three significantly different forms in
the last ten years.

In 1998, beleaguered Apple needed a hit, and it got one with the iMac. The press release says it all:

“We designed iMac to deliver the things consumers care about most - the
excitement of the Internet and the simplicity of the Mac,” said Steve
Jobs, Apple’s Interim CEO. “iMac is next year’s computer for $1299; not
last year’s computer for $999.”

The Mac Experience, smug superiority, and comparatively high prices as
a feature—Apple was back in business! The iMac was a sleek all-in-one,
a 15″ CRT merged with a computer in a translucent bondi-blue case. “The
back of this thing looks better than the front of the other guys,” as
Steve Jobs said, and the specifications weren’t terrible either (233MHz
CPU, 32MB RAM, 4GB hard drive, CD-ROM). Read more…