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Is that true though? Could you get a Wintel machine with better hardware including the little things like USB, FireWire and Ethernet and even WiFi? 15 inch scre

by mattl 3y ago

Is that true though? Could you get a Wintel machine with better hardware including the little things like USB, FireWire and Ethernet and even WiFi? 15 inch screen capable of 1024x768?

purpleflame1257 3y ago
In the iMac form factor? Probably not.
bluedino 3y ago
Of course. You had to wait a year for the eMachines clone. But remember the iMac didn't have FireWire or Wifi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMachines_eOne https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMachines_eOne And Compaq had the all-in-one form factor back in 1995 https://twitter.com/InsaneWardy/status/841219290539970560 https://twitter.com/InsaneWardy/status/841219290539970560
- mattl 3y ago
  the iMac did have wifi and Firewire a year later, not at launch.
- epc 3y ago
  Wifi was kind of useless until 802.11b was agreed. I used one of the early Cisco(?) wireless adaptors circa 1997 and 1998 and…it was mostly unpleasant except for the fact that it was wireless (I don't know if it was 802.11 or a predecessor protocol).
prepend 3y ago
I would like a Unix-based laptop. So I won’t consider a windows or chromeos laptop, but would a Linux. It’s not so much how bad the windows os (I have to admin my kids gaming pc) but it’s inability to run many dev packages that are first or only on Unix. It’s possible to run WSL or Cygwin or other Unix interfaces and get stuff working. But it’s extra steps and I want to simplify.
- mattl 3y ago
  Wrong thread? This is about the 1998 iMac.
karmelapple 3y ago
As mentioned elsewhere, you couldn't get WiFi on basically anything, since 802.11b wasn't really available yet. I would strongly argue Apple was the leading force in popularizing wireless internet on laptops and desktops, and they didn't have it on the iMac because their AirPort 802.11b product wouldn't be available to anyone for another year. Instead, it came out the following year with the introduction of the iBook. [1] FireWire did not exist on the iMac right away though... but it also was not at all common on Wintel machines at the time. 10/100 Base-T Ethernet, something standard on even the original iMac [2], was also not commonplace on Wintel machines. Packing a 56k modem in from the start was also a nice move on Apple's part to ensure you had the chance to get the fastest internet possible over a standard landline, which is how the majority of internet users accessed the internet at the time. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AirPort https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AirPort 2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMac_G3 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMac_G3
- mattl 3y ago
  The only time I saw Firewire on a PC it was on a Sony VAIO, which makes sense as their cameras had it. Even then I think the same machine had ethernet from a PCMCIA card with a dongle... later we had some Xircom (spelling?) PCMCIA cards that could take up two slots and deliver a full size ethernet jack without a dongle.

by mattl 3y ago

Is that true though? Could you get a Wintel machine with better hardware including the little things like USB, FireWire and Ethernet and even WiFi? 15 inch screen capable of 1024x768?

purpleflame1257 3y ago

In the iMac form factor? Probably not.

bluedino 3y ago

Of course. You had to wait a year for the eMachines clone. But remember the iMac didn't have FireWire or Wifi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMachines_eOne https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMachines_eOne And Compaq had the all-in-one form factor back in 1995 https://twitter.com/InsaneWardy/status/841219290539970560 https://twitter.com/InsaneWardy/status/841219290539970560

mattl 3y ago
the iMac did have wifi and Firewire a year later, not at launch.
epc 3y ago
Wifi was kind of useless until 802.11b was agreed. I used one of the early Cisco(?) wireless adaptors circa 1997 and 1998 and…it was mostly unpleasant except for the fact that it was wireless (I don't know if it was 802.11 or a predecessor protocol).

prepend 3y ago

I would like a Unix-based laptop. So I won’t consider a windows or chromeos laptop, but would a Linux. It’s not so much how bad the windows os (I have to admin my kids gaming pc) but it’s inability to run many dev packages that are first or only on Unix. It’s possible to run WSL or Cygwin or other Unix interfaces and get stuff working. But it’s extra steps and I want to simplify.

mattl 3y ago
Wrong thread? This is about the 1998 iMac.

karmelapple 3y ago

As mentioned elsewhere, you couldn't get WiFi on basically anything, since 802.11b wasn't really available yet. I would strongly argue Apple was the leading force in popularizing wireless internet on laptops and desktops, and they didn't have it on the iMac because their AirPort 802.11b product wouldn't be available to anyone for another year. Instead, it came out the following year with the introduction of the iBook. [1] FireWire did not exist on the iMac right away though... but it also was not at all common on Wintel machines at the time. 10/100 Base-T Ethernet, something standard on even the original iMac [2], was also not commonplace on Wintel machines. Packing a 56k modem in from the start was also a nice move on Apple's part to ensure you had the chance to get the fastest internet possible over a standard landline, which is how the majority of internet users accessed the internet at the time. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AirPort https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AirPort 2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMac_G3 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMac_G3

mattl 3y ago
The only time I saw Firewire on a PC it was on a Sony VAIO, which makes sense as their cameras had it. Even then I think the same machine had ethernet from a PCMCIA card with a dongle... later we had some Xircom (spelling?) PCMCIA cards that could take up two slots and deliver a full size ethernet jack without a dongle.