Newsweek:
A machine designed for consumers dubbed the iMac (only Apple would dare to lowercase the “I” in Internet). The crowd in Cupertino, Calif.’s Flint Center–site of the historic Mac launch 14 years ago–largely consisted of Apple employees. But due to an industrial-strength cone of silence shrouding the new product, few had been aware of its existence.
As distinctively curvy as the Beetle, dressed in retro-geeky, translucent plastic, the iMac (due to ship in August) is not only the coolest-looking computer introduced in years, but a chest-thumping statement that Silicon Valley’s original dream company is no longer somnambulant.
Ten months ago, when 43-year-old Jobs temporarily assumed control of the company he cofounded in a garage in 1977, the move was widely seen as a last-ditch effort to inject excitement into a barely breathing corporate husk.
How bad were things at Apple a year ago? “This company was in a death spiral,” says chief financial officer Fred Anderson.
While the iMac wasn’t a guaranteed success (there was a lot of Sturm und Drang over its design and technology decisions), it was a Hail Mary that turned into an incredible product for the company.
No floppy drive, first to have USB. I can’t remember if it shipped with a CD-Burner. I think it did.
I don’t believe it did.
“We’ve got the coolest mouse on the planet right here..”
“Look at this mouse. It’s the most wonderful mouse you’ve ever used.”
It was amazing watching Jobs pitch the notorious “puck mouse.” I have one of them around here somewhere. I think it came with my Yosemite G3.
CD-ROM. I don’t think burners were considered economical enough. “Rip/Mix/Burn” came later.
Yep, Steven Levy.
Coolest looking mouse ever, but hands down the worst mouse I’ve ever used. To be fair, it’s just about the only thing they got wrong with the original iMac.
No burner. Apple was really late to that party, with Steve himself admitting Apple flat out missed it. They jumped onboard in a big way with later models and the “Rip/Mix/Burn” campaign, as Mo mentioned.
Ok, they came later, on the 1999 release. I had a friend who purchased two of these for his daughters. I help them to set them up, I recall showing them how to burn a disk backup of files. But you guys are correct, it was not a feature on the first release.