“If Apple’s new iMac G5, which premieres this weekend, looks familiar, there’s a good reason: It resembles an iPod, supersized. By evoking the iPod’s slimmed down innovative design, Apple is betting the iMac G5 picks up some of the buzz – and the tremendous sales – the portable music player has enjoyed,” Mary Huhn reports for The New York Post. “The company could use the help: Apple’s share of the personal computer market has shrunk to 2 percent from 8 percent over the past decade.”
“In a case where form drives function, the new modern-art iMac is an all-in-one component that incorporates the hard drive and processor into the 17-inch or 20-inch display. A two-inch thick, pure white rectangle, it can be hung on the wall like a flat-screen TV,” Huhn reports. “‘People buy a plasma TV not just for the picture – they like the design. You hang it on your wall,’ said Michael Gartenberg, an analyst with Jupiter Research. ‘There’s a design element in the G5 that will attract a lot of folks out there.'”
Huhn reports, “Designers agree… With a starting price of $1,299, it’s also less expensive that previous Apple desktops. That may not compare to a Windows-based bargain for $500, but that’s not comparing apples to apples, say analysts. ‘I would compare it to a good name-brand machine, like a $2,000 Sony Vaio laptop. It’s expensive but worth it,’ said Mark Anbinder, a senior consultant at Cornell University. ‘I wouldn’t compare it to a $499 Dell system that’s advertised on TV. I’d compare it to a $1,500 decent product with decent support… It’s a powerful machine, compact and inexpensive and does everything the average user needs.'”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Cornell’s Mark Anbinder says the new iMac G5 is “expensive” in one sentence and then “inexpensive” in the next. Huh? How about “the iMac G5 seems expensive until you look at the features and specs, then you realize it’s inexpensive and really quite a great deal from Apple,” instead?
With all the marketing gurus at Apple, I’m really surprised that there hasn’t been a single press photo depicting an iMac mounted on a wall, like suspended over a chrome & glass desk or something. I realize that they don’t make the arms/mounts, but even an artist’s conception to get the point across to the public would be one of the more striking portrayals of the innovation that went into the iMac design. There’s not too many other computers out there you can hang on a wall.
“marketing gurus at Apple”?
That is an oxymoron, I don’t think there is any marketing at Apple, aside from the I-Pod.
Where is this wall and why will it attract a lot of people?
ive never wanted to hang my computer or monitor on the wall, but maybe there are pc users who have been holding out for just this feature………whatever
the imac g5 is money; its a g5 imac! enough said
That’s iPod not I-Pod … the latter sounds so PC-clumsy-ish! Small details matter kenh.
Regarding hanging on a wall, I guess it is possible though there needs to be an equally elegant solution for routing cables or doing without (rather than putting a hole in the wall!). If used for its primary purpose as a simple all-in-one computer with a wireless keyboard and an Airport card I guess all one needs is a power cord. But accessing the USB and Firewire ports elegantly is a challenge. A sufficiently high bandwidth short distance version of Firewire (or any other protocol) to a device-base station might be useful. But I suspect, until that happens for most folks who want to hook up their DV cameras and external drives the iMac-G5 will stay pretty near the desk.
Hmmm … is wireless Firewire out yet?
I don’t get the “hang it on the wall” thing. What wall? Since when are you going to look a computer screen that’s absolutely perpendicular to your eyes. Our Apple Store just got their iMac G5s in and it is sweet. My first thought echoes the New York Post article– it looks just like a big, very big iPod with a huge screen. I found two other articles that said exactly EXACTLY the same thing:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A30813-2004Sep18.html
http://www.mac360.com/index.php/mac360/more/first_look_new_imac_g5_arrives_slick_and_sassy/
I’m convinced that this might be the “breakout” machine that Apple needs to start the road back to some market share gains. 2-percent just sounds anemic to me.
Chrisopher: “suspended over a chrome & glass desk or something.”
Since when would you put a stunning desk like that against a wall? One thing I can imagine though is companies, especially advertising agencies, using wall-mounted iMacs as an alternative to really expensive plasma screens. Another great use for the iMacs would be in mobile scientific vehicles. The minimum spacerequirement must surely be very attractive for a purpose like that.
Dear ‘Marv the Macster’ and ‘yankees suck’!
What’s the problem?
Many people have their desks against a wall, like myself, and when you can mount your computer on it, your desktop is completely cleared.
That can’t be too difficult to envisage.
‘Marv the Macster’,
I forgot to mention something. I think the word used in the article -‘hang’- is misleading.
You mount the computer (iMac), of course, on an adjustable ‘arm’.
That gives you even more flexibility than the old iMac.
I don’t know about a wall but more than once I’ve wanted to throw my Dell through the window.
“That may not compare to a Windows-based bargain for $500, but that’s not comparing apples to apples. . .”
It’s like comparing apples to lemons!
In 5 years when the 1.8 G5 is outdated and you buy your next iMac, you know, the one that hovers over your desk using anti-gravity, you hang your old iMac on the wall and have it slide show your entire photo library 24/7.
Who says having the screen attached is not an asset.
Apples to lemons, good one outech!
I’d hang an iMac G5 on a wall to save space in my dorm room, if I thought the wall could handle it. I once thought of getting the 20″ iMac G4 and putting the base into an alcove, then using the screen as my plasma screen. I’d have the wireless keyboard and mouse setup of the iMac G5 so I could party from my easy chair. I wonder if the viewing angle on the new iMac is as good as the 20″ iMac G4. That had seriously sweet angle. The 15 and 17″ were pretty bad. Now there isn’t even a base to worry about, Apple stole the thoughts right out of my head!
My iMac is suspended in mid-air over my chrome and glass desk. Keyboard and mouse are wireless and I am using Apples new cordless power transmission which operates in the microwave range from a ceiling mounted transmitter. I have a wireless periphial dock mounted in the side hutch of my desk. Also I have a �(poof)
Huh? Everybody be quite so I can go back to sleep�
I don’t want a static mount for the G5 iMac. I want flexibility and functionality, I want a desk mounted articulating arm that allows me to move, rotate, and tilt the 20 inch iMac.
Many of the articulating arms that I have found for sale are not capable of suspending the weight of the 20 inch G5 iMac. No desk mounted articulating arm, no iMac for me.
Where the heck can people buy an articulating arms that can handle 26 pounds or greater?
Heavy Duty Monitor Arms
http://www.ergoindemand.com/computer_monitor_arm.htm
http://www.ergotron.com/3_products/flat_panel/hd/default.asp