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Apple fans do love to think Apple is first at everything. My family had a multimedia PC, with prominent integrated speakers, released in 1994. Based on the bun

Apple fans do love to think Apple is first at everything. My family had a multimedia PC, with prominent integrated speakers, released in 1994. Based on the bundled software, it was promoted as a business + education + leisure computer. At least in my circles, PCs with speakers and a mixture of educational (like MS Encarta) and gaming software were common from 1996 or so. https://www.dreamcast.nu/en/compaq-presario-cds-520/ https://www.dreamcast.nu/en/compaq-presario-cds-520/

mamcx 6y ago
> Apple fans do love to think Apple is first at everything. This is what Apple fanboy haters always say, but is really the fact Apple say "I'm the first at everything I do"? ;) -- I think if ever, Apple try to say "I'm the first that do this good", with some arrogance for sure. Is terrible that this arrogance is based on facts. And in this case, I know that kind of compaq (and have at the time a much better clon), and G3 where a league above and beyond, not as much when iPhone get into the scene (where Apple could actually claim a true "First" as "the first real modern smartphone"), but certainly to be a class on its own.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
chongli 6y ago
The iMac wasn’t even the first all in one Mac with multimedia capability. That would’ve been the Performa 5200CD, my first computer, which came out in 1995. That, of course, is an evolution from the Mac Colour Classic which came out in early 1993 and had a built in mono speaker, but no CD-ROM drive. This being an evolution from the B&W compact Macs dating back to the original from 1984.
- dereg 6y ago
  The impact of the iMac is indisputably greater than all previous attempts at multimedia PCs. The iMac, and then iTunes, was instrumental to the digital music revolution.
  - uxp100 6y ago
    Did napster ever come out for Macs? I kinda remember going straight to LimeWire.
    - dereg 6y ago
      Yup. It came out as Macster and it lived a much shorter life than it did on Windows. I don’t remember what I did for a while after Napster shut down. I remember doing a ton of file sharing through Zip drives on school computers. It used to be so fun to exchange Zip disks containing our Napster collection and play them on school computers.
- jrnichols 6y ago
  of course. and at the same time, the Power Mac G3 All In One was being sold to education customers too.
trm42 6y ago
Or you just didn't know about similar Mac models then? :) Apple had LC|Performa 500 series of which the first models were sold in 1993 [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macintosh_LC_500_series https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macintosh_LC_500_series] And don't forget the the classic Macintosh, SE, Classic etc models had everything integrated since 1984.
bydo 6y ago
Ah, but did any of them have a subwoofer built in to the tower, like the Performa 6400? (Beleaguered, desperate, mid-90s Apple did some really weird stuff). https://lowendmac.com/1996/power-mac-6400-performa-6400/ https://lowendmac.com/1996/power-mac-6400-performa-6400/
- kitsunesoba 6y ago
  That was a fun feature, and dovetailed nicely with a Performa 6400 being both my family's first computer and first CD player. The sound produced by the speakers in the Apple Multiple Scan 15 paired with the Performa's subwoofer was pretty good as far as 90s consumer electronics go.
zapzupnz 6y ago
It's not that computers prior didn't have speakers, it's that they didn't seem like a core part of the computer — always some clunky add-on that sat there occupying desk space or unattractively needing to be hooked on to the side of a monitor. Apple had been doing built-in speakers for quite some time, especially in their Performas, but those weren't really seen in homes. But with the iMac, not only were there speakers built-in but they had great sound, were beautiful (as far as aesthetics go in the 90s), and didn't feel like an afterthought. No used-up desk space, no ugly earmuffs on the screen, just booming sound coming from the front of this gorgeous, lickable, candy-coloured wonder. We can talk about who did what first in the manner of a check list but that's sorely missing the point. A product isn't just what it is but how it feels — for every sense. There's a reason why Apple uses terms like 'magic' and 'delight'. Whilst people deride it as marketing nonsense, every other company fires up their photocopiers, it's big enough of a deal.

mamcx 6y ago

> Apple fans do love to think Apple is first at everything. This is what Apple fanboy haters always say, but is really the fact Apple say "I'm the first at everything I do"? ;) -- I think if ever, Apple try to say "I'm the first that do this good", with some arrogance for sure. Is terrible that this arrogance is based on facts. And in this case, I know that kind of compaq (and have at the time a much better clon), and G3 where a league above and beyond, not as much when iPhone get into the scene (where Apple could actually claim a true "First" as "the first real modern smartphone"), but certainly to be a class on its own.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

chongli 6y ago

The iMac wasn’t even the first all in one Mac with multimedia capability. That would’ve been the Performa 5200CD, my first computer, which came out in 1995. That, of course, is an evolution from the Mac Colour Classic which came out in early 1993 and had a built in mono speaker, but no CD-ROM drive. This being an evolution from the B&W compact Macs dating back to the original from 1984.

dereg 6y ago
The impact of the iMac is indisputably greater than all previous attempts at multimedia PCs. The iMac, and then iTunes, was instrumental to the digital music revolution.
- uxp100 6y ago
  Did napster ever come out for Macs? I kinda remember going straight to LimeWire.
  - dereg 6y ago
    Yup. It came out as Macster and it lived a much shorter life than it did on Windows. I don’t remember what I did for a while after Napster shut down. I remember doing a ton of file sharing through Zip drives on school computers. It used to be so fun to exchange Zip disks containing our Napster collection and play them on school computers.
jrnichols 6y ago
of course. and at the same time, the Power Mac G3 All In One was being sold to education customers too.

trm42 6y ago

Or you just didn't know about similar Mac models then? :) Apple had LC|Performa 500 series of which the first models were sold in 1993 [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macintosh_LC_500_series https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macintosh_LC_500_series] And don't forget the the classic Macintosh, SE, Classic etc models had everything integrated since 1984.

bydo 6y ago

Ah, but did any of them have a subwoofer built in to the tower, like the Performa 6400? (Beleaguered, desperate, mid-90s Apple did some really weird stuff). https://lowendmac.com/1996/power-mac-6400-performa-6400/ https://lowendmac.com/1996/power-mac-6400-performa-6400/

kitsunesoba 6y ago
That was a fun feature, and dovetailed nicely with a Performa 6400 being both my family's first computer and first CD player. The sound produced by the speakers in the Apple Multiple Scan 15 paired with the Performa's subwoofer was pretty good as far as 90s consumer electronics go.

zapzupnz 6y ago

It's not that computers prior didn't have speakers, it's that they didn't seem like a core part of the computer — always some clunky add-on that sat there occupying desk space or unattractively needing to be hooked on to the side of a monitor. Apple had been doing built-in speakers for quite some time, especially in their Performas, but those weren't really seen in homes. But with the iMac, not only were there speakers built-in but they had great sound, were beautiful (as far as aesthetics go in the 90s), and didn't feel like an afterthought. No used-up desk space, no ugly earmuffs on the screen, just booming sound coming from the front of this gorgeous, lickable, candy-coloured wonder. We can talk about who did what first in the manner of a check list but that's sorely missing the point. A product isn't just what it is but how it feels — for every sense. There's a reason why Apple uses terms like 'magic' and 'delight'. Whilst people deride it as marketing nonsense, every other company fires up their photocopiers, it's big enough of a deal.