“Its integrated tilt-swivel flat-panel monitor has gone from a competition killer to just plain deadly. Apple should set it free,” Alex Salkever writes for BusinessWeek. “When Steve Jobs introduced an iMac with a floating flat-panel display in January, 2002, the faithful roared. The press wrote about it incessantly. Time even gave Jobs a gushing cover story based on the iMac, hailing the elegant desktop PC as a ‘sleek machine’ that could be the future digital hub of the home.”
“Digital anchor is more like it. In the first fiscal quarter of 2004 ending December 27, 2003, iMac unit sales and revenue plummeted by 24% and 29%, respectively, compared to the same period last year. The iMac was the only Apple product line to show shrinking revenues and unit sales over that interval,” Salkever writes. “So what to do about the iMac? Cut off its head. This suggestion has been floating around the Apple community for a while, and it’s time for Apple to listen.”
Salkever writes, “A competitive, freestanding, entry-level computer that’s sleek and powerful has a role. The all-in-one eMac with a CRT monitor has done fine by targeting schools, but it’s just too bulky for consumers, I think. The PowerMac G5 line is a big jump up in cost from the iMac when you add the requisite monitor. So a headless iMac — a pretty little machine that sits beneath your desk and provides enough power to do nice things but not enough to run a advertising agency — might fit into the plans of people who, say, own an Apple laptop and want a second machine.”
Full article here.
No one has mentioned this idea yet. Even though the sales of the iMac have been dropping, the sales of iBooks is climbing in a similar manner.
I say leave the iMac as is for now, and when sales drop off to the 50% of previous sales, then kill the consumer desktop model. Modify the iBook form factor to possibly have a removable 15″ LCD.
Trends show people want the mobility, and its starting to show even more with the availablility of the 802.11b & g standards that Apple helped create. More are moving from the desk to the couch, porch, recliner, etc. Those that want a desk might still buy an iMac, but those that want the mobility are going to buy an Airport Base station, and an iBook.
I don’t know about you guys but I really do love the current iMac. Do I wish it had a G5 in it? Sure. Do I wish the price was cheaper? Absolutely. Do I think it’s the perfect consumer PC? Most definitely. Would I buy a G5 Cube if it came out? No question. But I could do fine with the current form factor. Plus, the fact that they put a 20″ screen on it makes it even better. The price just has to come down.
I really don’t think that wasting time with the iMac is a priority for Apple. Apple has already committed to shifting resources toward laptop design and away from the iMac. Laptops are what people want for their personal use. The iMac will continue to act as the “Digital Hub” for the home and that means the monitor comes with it. I think that a headless iMac is a really *BAD* idea and goes against the whole “Pull it out of the box, turn it on, and compute” paradigm that apple has created. Consumers don’t want to have to figure out if the scan rate and max resolution of their monitors are compatible with the video card in their computers. Consumers don’t want to even have to know that their is such a thing as a video card let alone know the specs. If people want a headless Mac, they can buy a PowerMac.
A headless Mac makes sense. Make it a squashed cube. 1.4 ghz G4 is fine. BT Wireless keyboard/mouse support. Firewire, USB, Ethernet, Airport. 2 versions with varying RAM and drives.
$499
Rock, you have to try hard to find a monitor that isnt compatable with 99% of the vid cards out there. Millions of people buy wintel machines and figure out how to plug in a couple more cords. You can do it too.
The thing is Apple knows it can make a cheap (<$500) entry level machine. They don’t want to because the profit isn’t there. They make their good living producing high end stuff (even though it usually underperforms the competition), NOT hotcakes.
Computer in keyboard is a nice concept but not practical. The first thing I do with a new mac is attach a microsoft natural keyboard and 4 button mouse witha scroll wheel.
Apple’s keyboard and mouse suck.
And what happens when the computer misbehaves and I smack the keyboard?
The new subscription model OS should alleviate some of the pressure of producing a low-end headless consumer machine. Once you get people in the door, screw ’em every year whether they want it or not. Works for windoze.
To reiterate, Lokiz’s point, (maybe I’m just restating) the author of this article completely misses this fundamental point: people are buying laptops instead of “desktops”. This completly destroys his argument. So delete his article.
Just because Apple is selling less of the iMacs and eMacs doesn’t mean they are not successful, after all, people ARE buying them. An additional mini tower in the consumer line would be a smart move and attract potential switchers who may already have a monitor and are used to having this option.
As usual, I disagree with most of you. Y’all have forgotten the purpose of the iMac design. Apple designed the iMac to be easy to use. This is not just the Mac GUI, but also to set-up. Don’t you remember the “Kid & Dog vs PC Tech” TV commercial? Apple apparently doesn’t think there is much of a middle ground between the iMac and the G5 tower user; people are generally either simple users or power users.
In addition, Apple has always focussed upon the total user experience. When the flat panel iMac first came out, the press loved the quality of the display. It wouldn’t make any sense for Apple to produce a quality product just so you can slap a cheapo monitor onto it. I have the original 15″ iMac and my display still beats out anything I see on Best Buy’s shelves.
Don’t underestimate the importance of your monitor’s quality. That is your primary source of information, and it is something that you interface with constantly. Not only is the quality of the display excellent, but it’s ability to tilt, swivel and elevate is still unmatched by ANY other manufacturer. It’s not just a cool gimmick, but something so simple is one of the best advances in computer-human interfaces. Perhaps Apple cares more about their users than the users care about themselves.
“I’d love to buy the Porsche, but I’d much rather have the Wal-Mart tires on it so I can save a few dollars.”
I love my Cube, too. It was (and still is) way ahead of its time in terms of form factor and functionality. Put a G4 1.4 GHz and it will sell.
The problem with the iMac–and it is a problem that has me leaning against getting one–is that if you outgrow the machine you eat the monitor. The iMac is not upgradable, so it is not difficult to outgrow.
Hell, there are plenty of flat-screen iMac owners who can’t use Garageband.
And although people are moving more towards laptops, they’re still not what someone is going to get as a family machine, and the limited hard drive sizes on laptops is a problem as a digital hub type thingy–I’m emptying files off my iBook and onto my Cube all the time.
The Cube was supposed to have too limited upgradability, yet if I want a faster processor I can get it, if I want a larger monitor, no probleml, etc. And I don’t have to hear, “Hey, if you want to run Garageband get a new machine.”
The problem with a non-upgradable all in one machine is that all of your eggs are in one basket, and it is damned expensive basket to replace.
Glenn, Like the idea! Really neat and would blow everyone away. However, isn’t that a lot of cords to plug into (what is basicly) your keyboard?
I think everyone would agree that a headless iMac would sell, but to say that this is what’s slowing down imac sales is assuming too much. Opinionated Jerk might buy one, but I love my floating 17″ screen. A far as outgrowing the machine, most people outgrow their monitor in the same 3 to 4 years it takes them to outgrow their machine. If you’re upgrading your imac sooner than that, you can still sell it for a good amount (it’s a mac after all), then buy your next all-in-one, that can run the latest-greatest software and has a brand new screen — that feels good.
I don’t know… A computer doesn’t really work without a monitor, and it’s pretty darn hard to find a good low cost monitor (flatscreen or otherwise) that complements a modern Mac’s design. (Don’t tell me THAT’S not important to Mac users.) So if you want a monitor that matches the design anyway, why not have it as part of the unit and save some physical space?
I honestly don’t think the attached monitor is the problem. I think the current iMac isn’t competitive enough on performance comapred to simularly PRICED PCs. I’ll tell you though, slap a G5 in there and it’ll be a different story.