Last time, we looked at the original iMac introduction that took place in 1998.
Just a year later, Apple discontinued the Bondi Blue iMac and replaced it with something far more colorful.
The 1999 iMacs came in five flavors:
(Blueberry is very similar to the Bondi before it, but was a little richer and slightly less teal. It’s hard to tell them apart unless you have them next to each other.)
On the latest episode of the Simple Beep podcast, Ed, Brian and I got real deep into the detailed history of the various revisions Apple made to the iMac. Think of it as an extended version of that YouTube video from the other day.
In August of 1998, Apple released the Bondi blue iMac. This computer left a bunch of stuff in the past, including beige plastic, ADB and serial ports, and the floppy drive.
It received a minor update a couple of months in, but the Revision A and B machines aren’t all that different.
I’ve watched a lot of this show in recent weeks:
Andy Hertzfeld has a nice little article on Folklore.org about the differences in the display technology used on the Lisa and the Mac
The square dots used on the 512x342 screen the Mac shipped with were a big break from the Lisa’s pixels, which were wider than they were tall. This made creating applications for the Mac’s GUI easier, as developers didn’t have to deal with accommodating the resolution disparity found on the Lisa.
With rumors of an Apple Music refresh making the rounds, there’s been a fresh crop of iTunes Ping jokes.
So, let’s talk about Ping.
Announced as part of iTunes 10 in September 2010, Ping was a music-oriented social network.1
Steve Jobs highlighted the features during the keynote:
Follow your favorite artists and friends to discover the music they’re talking about, listening to and downloading.
This month, in my Apple History column over on iMore:
While the iPhone SE may be a great small phone, it’s not the first Apple product to wear the “SE” badge.
This is a fun — and admittedly — weird topic.
On this day in 1998, Steve Jobs unveiled the iMac G3:
This announcement mirrors the original Macintosh introduction in several ways. Both times, Steve Jobs was unveiling a consumer machine for the masses with a friendly, all-in-one design. Both introductions took place in the Flint Center, and each greeted the audience with a cheerful “Hello” on the screen.
About a month ago, I set out to find every color of iMac G3. At the time, I only owned one model — a Sage. Today, the family is complete.
I have a lot planned for these machines, but the first step was some documentation. I made a little video of my work:
Keep you eye out for more videos, some podcast episodes and more.
Which is easier to set up, a PC or an iMac G3?
Impressive, Alex Jason. Most impressive.
On the road to OS X, Apple released numerous updates to Mac OS. To help developers keep up, the company published the Mac OS Anthology. Here’s the introduction to the third version, available in February 2000:
Mac OS Anthology is a collection of Mac OS or System Software releases in up to 32 languages, spanning from Mac OS 7.0 to 9.0. This collection has been gathered for Apple Developer Connection members to conveniently provide Mac OS releases in multiple languages, with the goal of assisting you in extending your product’s reach into international markets and environments.