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The iMac looks so beautiful and modern even today. Whenever I see one I want to buy it. If I had the time it would make an amazing case for an electronics proje

The iMac looks so beautiful and modern even today. Whenever I see one I want to buy it. If I had the time it would make an amazing case for an electronics project too.

hashmash 6y ago
I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder. When the iMac came out, my opinion was the same as yours -- absolutely beautiful design. Unfortunately, everyone copied the look (often quite badly), and now the original iMac looks tacky and dated to me.
- dingaling 6y ago
  I prefer the boxy look of the Compaq Net1, which preceded the iMac. Yes it's beige but it has aged a lot better and doesn't look twee and toylike: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=compaq+prolinea+net1&t=fpas&iax=images&ia=images&iai=https%3A%2F%2Fbashny.net%2Fuploads%2Fimages%2F00%2F00%2F13%2F2014%2F04%2F23%2Fb53ce7904f.jpg https://duckduckgo.com/?q=compaq+prolinea+net1&t=fpas&iax=im...
  - Lio 6y ago
    I agree but to me that Compaq is clearly taking design influence from the earlier still Mac LC, which I prefer. https://duckduckgo.com/?q=mac+lc&t=fpas&iar=images&iax=images&ia=images https://duckduckgo.com/?q=mac+lc&t=fpas&iar=images&iax=image... It’s a nice design but the original iMac broke new ground. Personally I didn’t like it at the time, it drew too much attention to its plasticiness for my taste. Whereas something like a Silicon Graphics workstation looked out of this world cool. The first iMac that got me excited was the Sunflower. https://duckduckgo.com/?q=imac+sunflower&t=fpas&iar=images&iax=images&ia=images https://duckduckgo.com/?q=imac+sunflower&t=fpas&iar=images&i...
  - TheOtherHobbes 6y ago
    It looks boxy, generic, and very much of its time. When the iMac appeared people who knew nothing about computers would talk to me about it. "Have you seen...?" That's something Apple have always been intermittently good at - making computers for people who don't like computers.
- rconti 6y ago
  Always kind of hated those iMacs, but loved the sunflower iMac.
massysett 6y ago
My favorite has always been what I call the "bowling ball iMac," more properly the iMac G4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMac_G4 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMac_G4 The smooth spherical half-ball and the swivel arm was perfection. I think the current iMac was a step backward from that.
- kstrauser 6y ago
  That was the foot in the door in our house. My wife saw the ad where the Mac stuck out its "tongue" at the window shopper and said "I want that". She used that for years until switching to a Macbook. It was a nice little computer. Less common but still a personal favorite is the eMac a family friend sold us for $100 because they didn't want it anymore. I thought it would be fun to play around with, and I was right. It ended up being so much fun that I stopped using my FreeBSD desktop and switched to Macs.

The iMac looks so beautiful and modern even today. Whenever I see one I want to buy it. If I had the time it would make an amazing case for an electronics project too.

hashmash 6y ago

I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder. When the iMac came out, my opinion was the same as yours -- absolutely beautiful design. Unfortunately, everyone copied the look (often quite badly), and now the original iMac looks tacky and dated to me.

dingaling 6y ago
I prefer the boxy look of the Compaq Net1, which preceded the iMac. Yes it's beige but it has aged a lot better and doesn't look twee and toylike: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=compaq+prolinea+net1&t=fpas&iax=images&ia=images&iai=https%3A%2F%2Fbashny.net%2Fuploads%2Fimages%2F00%2F00%2F13%2F2014%2F04%2F23%2Fb53ce7904f.jpg https://duckduckgo.com/?q=compaq+prolinea+net1&t=fpas&iax=im...
- Lio 6y ago
  I agree but to me that Compaq is clearly taking design influence from the earlier still Mac LC, which I prefer. https://duckduckgo.com/?q=mac+lc&t=fpas&iar=images&iax=images&ia=images https://duckduckgo.com/?q=mac+lc&t=fpas&iar=images&iax=image... It’s a nice design but the original iMac broke new ground. Personally I didn’t like it at the time, it drew too much attention to its plasticiness for my taste. Whereas something like a Silicon Graphics workstation looked out of this world cool. The first iMac that got me excited was the Sunflower. https://duckduckgo.com/?q=imac+sunflower&t=fpas&iar=images&iax=images&ia=images https://duckduckgo.com/?q=imac+sunflower&t=fpas&iar=images&i...
- TheOtherHobbes 6y ago
  It looks boxy, generic, and very much of its time. When the iMac appeared people who knew nothing about computers would talk to me about it. "Have you seen...?" That's something Apple have always been intermittently good at - making computers for people who don't like computers.
rconti 6y ago
Always kind of hated those iMacs, but loved the sunflower iMac.

massysett 6y ago

My favorite has always been what I call the "bowling ball iMac," more properly the iMac G4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMac_G4 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMac_G4 The smooth spherical half-ball and the swivel arm was perfection. I think the current iMac was a step backward from that.

kstrauser 6y ago
That was the foot in the door in our house. My wife saw the ad where the Mac stuck out its "tongue" at the window shopper and said "I want that". She used that for years until switching to a Macbook. It was a nice little computer. Less common but still a personal favorite is the eMac a family friend sold us for $100 because they didn't want it anymore. I thought it would be fun to play around with, and I was right. It ended up being so much fun that I stopped using my FreeBSD desktop and switched to Macs.