Filed under: Cult of Mac, iMac
The philosophy of iMac
Let me tell you something about my mindset. When I bought an iPhone, one of my first thoughts was: "How do I hook up a bluetooth keyboard to this thing?" It's that kind of thinking that has always stood between me and the iMac. Because in this world, there are two kinds of people[1]: the iMac people and the tower people.
iMac people love the all-in-one package that their system brings. It's hard to look at an iMac and not think that it's smiling at you. The iMac delivers the entire computing experience in a single friendly unit. Customization? They do it at the store. Buyers decide what kind of memory and hard drive space they want. And then they buy it. And they're done.
Tower people don't think that way. Memory, drives, peripherals -- these are all things that ebb and flow throughout the lifetime of the unit. More USB ports? Throw in a card. Widescreen monitors just went on sale? Buy one and eBay the current screen.
Coming from an tower perspective, the iMac has always puzzled me. It makes people happy without ever needing to be disassembled and reassembled. Sure, there are hobbyists who do exactly that but they are usually tower people playing with iMac-shaped toys. Most iMac users I know are perfectly happy to use their Apple system for the entire lifetime of that unit -- often a very long lifetime indeed -- and never crack it open and mod it. Ever.
Astonishing.
So here I am raising a glass to the iMac on its birthday and to all the iMac users whose lives have been enriched by this little puzzling unit. May your systems be reliable and long-lived. And may you continue to enjoy your all-in-one system. Cheers!
[1] That is, other than the people who divide people into two kinds of people and the people who don't.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Brandon Martinez said 1:45PM on 5-06-2008
I came from the tower perspective before moving to the Mac world, but was very open when I bought my first iMac (January 07). Over the lifetime of it, however, I did crack it's case open (when the warranty was over) to upgrade the hard drive (a 120 to a 360GB - which, for what it's worth, wasn't difficult), but other than that, I've been very happy with how the unit came stock. In fact, I know many people that have never complained about wanting to upgrade their Macs (I think a lot of that has to do with how well Mac OS X scales on low-end systems to high-end systems).
All-in-all, my iMac has always "smiled" at me, just as I have always smiled at it.
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rippon said 1:48PM on 5-06-2008
I totally hear where you're coming from, Erica, because for the longest time I was the same way. I've STILL got a full tower PC that I started building in 1993... I believe the only part that is still the same is the floppy drive.
However, in the last three or four years, something changed. I lost interest in tinkering with my machine, and I started caring about warranties. I got to the point where messing with my computer meant something had gone wrong and I was fixing it, and I spent too much time fixing my friends and families computers to enjoy fixing my own anymore.
Now, I'll admit, I still crack open my girlfriend's 12" Powerbook from time to time for repairs, because, well, no one else will do it. But my perfectly good MacBook Pro has less than one year left on its warranty, so I'm planning on selling it so I can buy a new one - just so I can get a new warranty, so that I don't have to fix it. Sure, sometimes I wish I had a little more graphical power in my iMac, and I look at that old full tower PC and I think about fixing it up (and maybe hackintoshing it), but then I think about all the parts, and how one cheap part will break and I'll have to debug it... and then I remember why I'm glad I don't have to deal with that anymore.
But I totally hear where you're coming from :)
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Galley said 1:58PM on 5-06-2008
I hear ya. I also got tired of all of the tinkering, and bought a MacBook. I had better things to do with my time than fiddle with a PC.
Gary said 5:32AM on 5-07-2008
Yep, totally agree. As a student, I could never have afforded a Mac, so my PC was built from parts friends had left over with an OEM copy of Windoze 98 installed. Over the years I tinkered with various tower configurations and agreed to build Windows units for a couple of friends. Big mistake. One of my freind's builds started acting up under Vista, and after taking it apart, rebuilding it part by part and not finding anything wrong, I reinstalled the OS and everything worked fine. And then he started getting BSoDs again. It still bugs me, and I still can't get it sorted.
In between all this, I bought myself a MacBook, best thing I'd bought in years. Rock solid, durable and easy to use. After getting pretty serious about her photography, my girlfriend wanted to upgrade to a MacBook Pro, so we have the fancy new machine and her parents are getting the first gen MacBook - something I expect to save us a lot of IT support hassles!
I still tinker with my Vista box, but only use it for heavy lifting like video encoding and the like. If I could afford to replace it with an iMac, I would.
Jak Logan said 1:58PM on 5-06-2008
That's the only upgrade I've ever done too. But I wish I didn't have to remove the entire LCD screen just to replace the hard drive on the (white) Intel iMacs. The G5's just had to have the back removed.
Actually, I did paint my 24" black. I had to remove the faceplate, remove all of the magnets and metal supports (I was extra careful removing the iSight however) and soak the whole thing in rubbing alcohol. Then I taped off all of the edges and used a can of black spray paint on the inside on the face... 3 coats. I re-stuck on all of the metal pieces and put it back together. The total cost was about $10.
(Oh, and I do have a backup faceplate with isight in case I have to bring it in for AppleCare support. That ran $75.)
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Brandon Martinez said 2:06PM on 5-06-2008
I didn't think removing the LCD was too bad, the hardest part of the entire experience was probably getting the damn screws back in it! (that, and thank God I had just bought a Torx set a few weeks prior)
Also, the vent hook was kind of dumb, but a thin piece of plastic fixed that problem.
SmileyDude said 3:24PM on 5-06-2008
The iSight G5s shared the same design as the Intel White iMacs... unfortunately, Apple gave up the nice clean inside design for a slimmer exterior :(
Joshua Ochs said 2:11PM on 5-06-2008
I was once a tower person as well, until I realized around 2000 that I never actually used any of those slots - I didn't need them.
I think what happened is there's no longer much of a need to crack open the case anymore. Every Mac comes with such a complete collection of expansion ports that what would you add? Every Mac has Firewire 400 (most 800), USB 2.0, gigabit ethernet, 802.11n, Bluetooth, etc. Most folks aren't going to add a fibre channel card. ;)
Beyond that, it all comes down to the basics - CPU, Memory, Disk, and GPU. Memory is simple on any Mac besides the Mini. Disks can be provided externally if it's too much hassle to open the case. CPU/GPU is about the only sticking point. CPU upgrades are possible in the iMac and Mac Pro, but not prevalent for some reason. Which leaves graphics, the only real thing you can't upgrade in an iMac but can in a Mac Pro. And for non-gamers, what's in the iMac is plenty.
PC folks are used to needing slots - the don't get Firewire, their built-in graphics suck, the onboard ports tend to be flaky (I have friends with eMachines towers that have had to replace every single onboard port over time - video, USB, audio, ethernet). On the Mac, it's all included and well-built.
So... I have to ask, who needs a tower (unless you really are a professional who needs 8 cores, etc.)?
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Tyler said 2:42PM on 5-06-2008
You say much better than I can.
I agree with you completely.
Rubbinz said 2:12PM on 5-06-2008
I was a tower person before my Intel iMac. Made the full on switch to the Mac because I tired of always playing the upgrade game. Believe me, if you've played that game since the i386 came out you'd be tired too. I was a bit peeved at Apple's prices for RAM upgrades, so I did that myself for cheaper. And even though I tired of upgrading, I even popped open my iMac to do a HDD upgrade just a few months ago. Pretty easy to do.
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Jerm said 2:20PM on 5-06-2008
There's also the small matter or $1k or more difference between the iMac and the tower. I would love to be able to buy the iMac hardware in a tower or mini tower, but Apple has made it clear they aren't going to do that.
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quandmeme said 2:54PM on 5-06-2008
And that gets to the real issue IMO: It is not just that people are that way, but what the retailer WANTS them to be. Wintel makers create upgrade culture because it makes them income. Apple creates a load and leave culture because it makes them income.
I personally would buy tomorrow the mythical mini-tower that slots between the mini and the mac pro but I also hope that Apple doesn't make it in the current market dynamic because it would mean the end of the fascistic build-what-Jobs-thinks-we-should-use mentality and would be a choice to seek the short-term windfall. That has not been Apple's vision.
So happy birthday imac and imacness, many happy returns.
Michael Long said 2:20PM on 5-06-2008
I upgraded my 24" 2.8Ghz iMac to 4GB of RAM using the slot designed for that purpose. Other than that, I have 4TB of external storage, a 17" printer, scanner, Bluetooth KB and mouse, and more.
IOW, most of my "upgrades" are peripherals that work just as well with an iMac as with a tower.
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Eric said 2:21PM on 5-06-2008
The iMac still doesn't sit well with me. The problem is that the screen is an expensive component that far outlives the rest of the computer - the iMac forces me to get a new one with every new machine. I can see the case for laptops, where I'll make the trade off for portability - but what's the point when it comes to something that sits on my desk?
I'll grant it works for some people, but it does beg the question of why Apple doesn't offer a Mac tower? The Mac pro is too overpowered and expensive, and the Mac Mini is too underpowered. Where's that middle ground sweet spot offering?
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Trimalchio said 3:02PM on 5-06-2008
This is a great point but one thing I'm thinking about is that when I am done with my current iMac, rather than staying with the same screen and getting a new box, and having a slightly aged box that is relegated to headless duties, I'll have an entire computer. As long as it turns on it'll be an entire computer. And there are so many more things you can do with an entire computer than half of one, even when it's old.
Stephen F. said 3:43PM on 5-06-2008
While the screen is an expensive component, the 24" is pretty good value for the money (although that's another debate all together).
Sure, the iMac forces you to get a new display with every new machine, but you also presumably sell the machine it replaces, and it maintains a higher resale value because of the included display. Were you to buy a tower, upon upgrading the old computer would either a) go unused (a sad fate for any computer), or b) be sold or given to another user, who would presumably need a screen to use it, and would be happy to purchase and/or receive a screen with the computer.
It evens out in the end, and the benefit of Apple doing it the way they do is that we get to enjoy the all-in-one form factor, which most are quite fond of.
Quix said 2:22PM on 5-06-2008
I love my iMac. It is, for me, the perfect computer. With the exception of a couple of significant flaws:
1) needs more USB ports! It's a shame to have such a sleek, beautiful computer yet still need a USB hub cluttering up my desk.
2) needs better 3D processing! They should have made the nVidia 8800 standard across the board, not an upgrade. And it's only available on the 24" model? Lame. How long are they going to ride those weak ATI Radeon 2400/2600 cards?
Some of us do like to play games once in awhile, Apple.
Apple has become competitive with PCs in every regard except for 3D graphics.
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david said 2:22PM on 5-06-2008
Until 4 months ago I never owned an all in one. I've owned nothing but Mac towers and until my most recent I utilized the expandability. But when it came time to replace my G5 tower I started thinking about spending nearly $3000 for a computer - more than $1000 more than I'd ever spent before. And for what? Speed I didn't need and would likely never use and expandability - expandability I'd come to realize I didn't need and probably would never use.
My G3 tower straddled major change in Apple design and it got several upgrades, but they were upgrades to provide technology that hadn't existed in the Apple world when I bought it. Similarly, my G4 tower got several upgrades but they were upgrades to provide technology that Apple no longer supported. My G5 tower received a single upgrade - a second hard drive. So when I looked to my present and future needs I realized that an iMac looked to make more sense than the MacPro.
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Quix said 2:24PM on 5-06-2008
P.S. I agree with Eric (and millions of other Mac users) - Apple needs a consumer-priced tower! What happened to the $1,299 Power Mac???
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Joshua Ochs said 3:36PM on 5-06-2008
It never existed. The cheapest a Power Mac ever got was $1699, AFAIK.