Just had to jump in here on the discussion of the iMac's expandablility. I just found a quote that makes a lot of sense:
CompUSA's Halpin doesn't think the lack of internal expansion options will hinder sales. "My 13-year-old daughter won't ask about expandability. She will just want to buy one because it's cool," he said.
I think a lot of people are missing the point of the iMac. Many power users out there are screaming, "How can you buy a computer that's so un-expandable?!?" That's just it. It's for consumers, who for the most part, probably have no idea what a PCI slot is, why SCSI is better than IDE, or the difference between a SIMM and a DIMM. They want something they can plop down on their desk and have it work, which the iMac, with it's all-in-one design and G3 processor should excell at. I think this superficial way of buying a computer goes perfectly well with it's design: sleek and industrial. I'm sure there are going to be people who buy the iMac simply on the basis of how it looks. And that's a lot of what the consumer market is. People in the consumer market the last few years have been going into stores, seeing the Apple logo, and running away because "Apple's dying." (and pricing for that matter, which the iMac takes a step in the right direction to solve) Maybe the iMac will get them to stop and say, "Ooooh, what's that?", long enough for them to acutally see that the Mac is a great platform.
Granted, there are a few things that I would change for the iMac. I think the lack of a floppy drive is a bad thing. Even though Apple says the internet will take care of everything, a floppy drive is a nice backup to have. And that's a little hypocritical of them to say to use the internet, and then not put in a 56k modem, which seems like it is becoming the standard. I say upgrade the modem, at least have an optional floppy drive, and the iMac is well on it's way to being a huge hit for Apple.
> Just had to jump in here on the discussion of the iMac's expandablility. I > just found a quote that makes a lot of sense:
> CompUSA's Halpin doesn't think the lack of > internal expansion options will hinder sales. "My > 13-year-old daughter won't ask about > expandability. She will just want to buy one > because it's cool," he said.
> I think a lot of people are missing the point of the iMac. Many power > users out there are screaming, "How can you buy a computer that's so > un-expandable?!?" That's just it. It's for consumers, who for the most > part, probably have no idea what a PCI slot is, why SCSI is better than > IDE, or the difference between a SIMM and a DIMM. They want something they > can plop down on their desk and have it work, which the iMac, with it's > all-in-one design and G3 processor should excell at. I think this > superficial way of buying a computer goes perfectly well with it's design: > sleek and industrial. I'm sure there are going to be people who buy the > iMac simply on the basis of how it looks. And that's a lot of what the > consumer market is. People in the consumer market the last few years have > been going into stores, seeing the Apple logo, and running away because > "Apple's dying." (and pricing for that matter, which the iMac takes a step > in the right direction to solve) Maybe the iMac will get them to stop and > say, "Ooooh, what's that?", long enough for them to acutally see that the > Mac is a great platform.
> Granted, there are a few things that I would change for the iMac. I think > the lack of a floppy drive is a bad thing. Even though Apple says the > internet will take care of everything, a floppy drive is a nice backup to > have. And that's a little hypocritical of them to say to use the internet, > and then not put in a 56k modem, which seems like it is becoming the > standard. I say upgrade the modem, at least have an optional floppy drive, > and the iMac is well on it's way to being a huge hit for Apple.
And your opinion on printing would be?
-- Of course, wilhelp is Bill Palamer's copyrighted property.
World Famous Usenet "writer", "my name is wilhelp" wilh...@ix.netcom.com (Bill Palmer) demonstrating proofreading is not an option in <6i3rh6$...@sjx-ixn3.ix.netcom.com>
sjonesNOS...@columbus.rr.com (Steve Jones) wrote: > Just had to jump in here on the discussion of the iMac's expandablility. I > just found a quote that makes a lot of sense:
> CompUSA's Halpin doesn't think the lack of > internal expansion options will hinder sales. "My > 13-year-old daughter won't ask about > expandability. She will just want to buy one > because it's cool," he said.
> I think a lot of people are missing the point of the iMac. Many power > users out there are screaming, "How can you buy a computer that's so > un-expandable?!?" That's just it. It's for consumers, who for the most > part, probably have no idea what a PCI slot is, why SCSI is better than > IDE, or the difference between a SIMM and a DIMM.
I've heard this consumer-doesn't-care arguement a few times, and I don't believe it. The success of Pentiums teaches us that non-computer savvy people (which is still most people) still want a machine with all the totally modern and well-known buzzwords like "56k" and even "floppy". I'm afraid it's pretty in the cheesy way, not the cool and testosterone way. You know "More Power uh uh uhhhh" even if they can't define how. Apple haters can still have a field day with this thing. The network computer defense makes more sense, but that info hasn't come from Apple yet. At present, I wouldn't recommend this to my parents, which is the real test.
Just please tell me Olestra chips won't get popular..
Many readers have written in with concern over the apparent lack of external SCSI, PCI slots, or a floppy drive. So, we dialed up a few of the people who'd only been at liberty to call the iMac by its other name, "Steve's Baby." (Once confused with AMP, this little box had been sitting right under our noses for some time). Finally, we got a few straight answers from one extremely reliable source.
"The feature set of the 'i' isn't complete yet. There could very easily be changes between now and August (if you believe that timeline). However, right now, it is expansionless with the exception of its USB ports....which we'll be announcing some cool products for in the future, like the USB floppy the boys in hardware dev are playing with. Do you know why that is?"
We didn't, so Tron (not his real name) -- talking to us from the infamous Leaky Phone Booth at a popular Apple employee hangout (Space Paranoids, eat your hearts out) -- told us.
"Steve's grunts put this thing in front of a half-dozen focus groups and asked them what they'd like to see in it. Virtually 100% of the time, people who didn't already own a computer or had a budget under $1500 -- the only people we're really trying to reach with this box, everyone else should be waiting for the Gossamer II G3s, which have a few surprises of their own -- people wanted low cost, fast graphics, a fast processor, and compatible connectivity (USB). All else was secondary. So we gave them what they wanted."
So, we asked, what was Apple doing for people who wanted something with more expansion?
"Watch Steve between now and August. Gossamer II's first appearance should be around the release of the iMac, or soon after. I haven't seen it in a case, but suffice it to say it's everything PowerExpress was, at half the cost and with USB and all kinds of other cool stuff PEx never had.
iMac isn't for the geeks. It's for the people who bought a Mac 128k because it was cool, because it was easy, and because it was (at the time) priced for a home user. If the geeks are worried about limitations, they can spend a couple hundred more on desktop G3 and get their PCI slots. 'The rest of us,' the other 70% of the population of the world, probably will never use them anyway and would rather get a cheaper, faster, cooler, more compatible box in a heartbeat."
sjonesNOS...@columbus.rr.com (Steve Jones) writes: >Just had to jump in here on the discussion of the iMac's expandablility. I >just found a quote that makes a lot of sense: >CompUSA's Halpin doesn't think the lack of >internal expansion options will hinder sales. "My >13-year-old daughter won't ask about >expandability. She will just want to buy one >because it's cool," he said. >http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,21902,00.html?dtn.head >I think a lot of people are missing the point of the iMac. Many power >users out there are screaming, "How can you buy a computer that's so >un-expandable?!?" That's just it. It's for consumers, who for the most >part, probably have no idea what a PCI slot is, why SCSI is better than >IDE, or the difference between a SIMM and a DIMM. They want something they >can plop down on their desk and have it work, which the iMac, with it's >all-in-one design and G3 processor should excell at. I think this >superficial way of buying a computer goes perfectly well with it's design: >sleek and industrial. I'm sure there are going to be people who buy the >iMac simply on the basis of how it looks. And that's a lot of what the >consumer market is. People in the consumer market the last few years have >been going into stores, seeing the Apple logo, and running away because >"Apple's dying." (and pricing for that matter, which the iMac takes a step >in the right direction to solve) Maybe the iMac will get them to stop and >say, "Ooooh, what's that?", long enough for them to acutally see that the >Mac is a great platform. >Granted, there are a few things that I would change for the iMac. I think >the lack of a floppy drive is a bad thing. Even though Apple says the >internet will take care of everything, a floppy drive is a nice backup to >have. And that's a little hypocritical of them to say to use the internet, >and then not put in a 56k modem, which seems like it is becoming the >standard. I say upgrade the modem, at least have an optional floppy drive, >and the iMac is well on it's way to being a huge hit for Apple. >Steve >sjonesNOS...@columbus.rr.com
> > I think a lot of people are missing the point of the iMac. Many power > > users out there are screaming, "How can you buy a computer that's so > > un-expandable?!?" That's just it. It's for consumers, who for the most > > part, probably have no idea what a PCI slot is, why SCSI is better than > > IDE, or the difference between a SIMM and a DIMM.
> I've heard this consumer-doesn't-care arguement a few times, and I don't > believe it. The success of Pentiums teaches us that non-computer savvy > people (which is still most people) still want a machine with all the > totally modern and well-known buzzwords like "56k" and even "floppy". I'm > afraid it's pretty in the cheesy way, not the cool and testosterone way.
Maybe _women_ will start buying computers for once, not just men?
.................................................... MATTHEW VAUGHAN matthewv at best dot com (damn spammers...) http://www.best.com/~matthewv/ ....................................................
In article <6iu32f$...@bgtnsc01.worldnet.att.net>,
NeedALig...@NOT.netcom.com (Goin' Nova) wrote: > In article <sjonesNOSPAM-0705982030580...@grv230155.columbus.rr.com>, sjonesNOS...@columbus.rr.com (Steve Jones) wrote: > > Granted, there are a few things that I would change for the iMac. I think > > the lack of a floppy drive is a bad thing. Even though Apple says the > > internet will take care of everything, a floppy drive is a nice backup to > > have. And that's a little hypocritical of them to say to use the internet, > > and then not put in a 56k modem, which seems like it is becoming the > > standard. I say upgrade the modem, at least have an optional floppy drive, > > and the iMac is well on it's way to being a huge hit for Apple.
> And your opinion on printing would be?
What, you expect a printer with that $1299 machine? Sorry, you'll actually have to BUY a printer.
