Not just a colorful Apple computer

Great things are usually only recognized in retrospect. At first they are often smiled at, even despised and not taken seriously. That’s what happened to Apple’s iMac. He is celebrating his 25th birthday together with GIGA this year – a nice coincidence.

An opinion by Sven Kaulfuss.

The story has been told many times before, so I don’t want to bother you with an excessive presentation at this point. Just a quick recap of the facts: Apple was about to be knocked out in the mid-1990s. But then the previously fired company founder Steve Jobs was brought back. A unique coup, because Jobs cleaned up, cut the Apple range and focused on the development of new product categories.

With the legendary iMac in 1998, the technical and optical new beginning succeeds. The all-in-one computer designed by Jony Ive did pretty much everything differently than contemporary PCs: instead of a gray box, it consisted of semi-transparent plastic and later came in several bright colors. It had rounded shapes and a carrying handle. Connections that were no longer up-to-date were abolished in favor of new standards and an integrated modem. The operating system was kept user-friendly and accessible. The focus was on quick and easy access to the then still relatively new World Wide Web.

25 years in between: From the iMac to the Apple Vision Pro

However, for many observers, this new beginning was not directly recognizable as promising. Rather, the iMac was used by some dismissed as a colorful children’s computer. A toy, nothing more.

Apple fan and actor Jeff Goldblum voiced the commercials for the iMac 25 years ago:

These and similar questions should expose the iMac: Why does it only have these new USB ports? There’s no peripherals for that. And why is the floppy disk drive missing?

From today’s perspective appear to us such concerns strange. 25 years ago, however, there were a lot of points deducted from parts of the press. However, this did not detract from the success of the iMac. The lively computer showed that a work PC doesn’t have to be an ugly gray box. It must be easy to use, reflect the creativity of the user and, quite banally, be fun. Which he did – despite the ergonomically challenging “ice hockey puck” mouse. As a result, the iMac sold millions and won numerous design awards.

The iMac, as the first i product, was also a turning point for Apple: it paved the way for numerous new Apple products that took a similar approach and placed a radical focus on usability. This was followed by the iPod (2001) with the iconic click wheel, the iPhone (2007) whose capacitive touchscreen changed everything, the iPad (2010) as a revolution in the field of tablet computers and the Apple Watch (2014) as the first mass-compatible smartwatch. The former computer company Apple has become the most valuable company in the world. This would be unthinkable without the colorful “toy computer” iMac as the initial spark.

Today’s iMac:

The iMac is still around today. It has had its color back for two years and is available in different colors. The iMac is no longer as important to Apple as it was then, but it is without him, Apple would no longer exist in its current form.

In 1998 very few people could see such an importance of a single product. Such a misjudgment could also be repeated these days. The “Apple Vision Pro” shown a few weeks ago caused a lot of media coverage, but the price of 3,500 US dollars caused a lot of head shaking.

There again not a few “experts” lack faith: As with the iMac, an Apple product is polarizing. Like the iMac, these “funny data glasses” are different. Like the iMac, this device could change Apple forever for the next 25 years – and the idea of ​​what a computer is.

Will not only make the iMac obsolete in the next few years:

If we just think of the Apple Vision Pro as cheaper, lighter and therefore more accessible, then these glasses have what it takes to wipe out several product categories at once. iPhone, iPad and Mac are becoming obsolete.

No iMac, no iPhone:

The year 2048: The iMac is dead

In 25 years from today, I will (hopefully) be 71 years old – whoops, whoops, whoops. In my estimation, the iMac will not live to see its 50th birthday. It will then be replaced by the descendants of the Apple Vision Pro now presented. But that would never have been imaginable without the colorful cuddly Mac from 1998.

With this in mind: Happy 25th birthday and rest in peace.