Apple's iMac

In an age of heavy beige and gray metal boxes merely designed with functioning as equipment in mind, Apple stuck out like a sore thumb. Released on August 15th, 1998, nearly 22 years ago, this single product not only pulled Apple back into the market after the previous decline but changed the computing market forever. It also introduced the “i” branding, with iMac, iPod, iChat, iPhone, iMessage, etc. With their revolutionary iMac, Apple was able to appeal to a larger range of customers who wanted to own a product that set them apart from everyone else.

The original iMac was an all-in-one computer, which included a keyboard, mouse, internal modem and screen. It featured a PowerPC G3 processor at 233MHz, 32MB of RAM, as well as ATI Rage IIc graphics. It had a built-in CRT monitor that was 13.8 inches wide and a 4GB, 3.5-inch hard disk drive. It weighed an astonishing 38.1 pounds and cost $1299, or $2,060 in today’s cost.

During the first production year of the iMac, it came in Bondi Blue. The availability of several distinct colors in later years such as lime, strawberry, blueberry, grape, and tangerine offered consumers a choice of how their computing experience would look and feel. Apple was famed for having innovated a product that seemed to be brand new and for having introduced the 3.5-inch hard disk drive and being the first to ditch the floppy drive, introducing the USB standard for the masses. Prior to the release of the iMac, Steve Jobs, one of the founders of Apple, was almost kicked out of Apple because of all the money he had lost; specifically, $878 million. However, Steve Jobs’ “baby”, the iMac, got Apple $414 million. Ultimately, this technological innovation enabled Apple to gain the trust to follow Jobs again and resulted in the release and inspiration of greater products in the future.

Sources:
https://www.macworld.com/article/1135017/imacanniversary.html
https://sixcolors.com/post/2018/05/the-original-imac-20-years-since-apple-changed-its-fate/
https://everymac.com/systems/apple/imac/specs/imac_ab.html