BBC Pays Tribute To iMac G3

by , 1:00 PM EST, March 31st, 2003

The BBC has published what amounts to a tribute to the original iMac in reaction to the news that Apple has canceled the G3 model. The iMac was removed from Apple's product line earlier this month, where it had occupied an inexpensive niche as a US$799 desktop model.

The BBC's look at the iMac includes background information on chief Apple designer Jonathan Ive, as well as looking at how the iMac helped turn Apple around, and the impact the unit made on the rest of the computing industry. For instance:

Apple had always been known for its smart technology and its idiosyncratic way of doing business.

One of Apple's mottos has long been "Think Different", says Mr. Smith, but prior to the launch of the iMac it was getting harder and harder for non-Mac owners to work out just where this difference crept in. With the release of the iMac it suddenly became very obvious.

Mr. Smith says Apple worked very hard on every aspect of the iMac - its looks, its hardware and software - to make it easy to use. "They found a way to [humanize] the PC and to take it out of the grey anonymous box. It was a sympathetic bit of form making, and it became a symbol of a very different approach."

The classic iMac has since been superseded by the eMac and the flat screen, angle poise iMac. For Clive Grinyer, former head of the Design Council and co-founder of the Tangerine design consultancy with Jonathan Ive, the debut of the iMac was a hugely liberating moment.

"It had an amazing impact in design circles," he says. "It did what everyone had been talking about for a long time."

The full article at the BBC's Web site has much more information, and we deem it a good read.

The Mac Observer Spin:

There have been many stories about the end of the G3 iMac from a variety of mainstream sources. This may not seem like a very big deal to the people reading this article, as The Mac Observer and other Mac-oriented sites pay close attention to Apple's every move. What we think is fascinating about this article from the BBC, and other articles about the unit being canceled, however, is that we simply can not imagine such articles about Dell ending the Inspiron, or HP end-of-life-ing the Pavillion.

It's simply amazing how much of an impact the iMac has had on popular culture. From the industrial design of household appliances, to articles like this BBC piece paying tribute to the li'l CRT Mac, and everything in between, the iMac's influence has gone far beyond any other computer in history. Companies like Dell may make PCs cheaper than anyone else, but Apple makes computers that affect our culture. That's not too shabby for a company constantly being written off as dead, dying, or unimportant.

BBC Article