The iMac is making such a huge impact on Apple's whole situation, we at AtAT are considering campaigning for an official change to the calendar. The start of the new calendar would be, of course, May 6th, 1998, the day the iMac was revealed to the world and made its indelible Bondi Blue mark on Apple's checkered history. Since the iMac's unveiling, Apple's been transformed back into the company who makes computers for the rest of us.

So let's open the history books for a minute... The first weeks A.i. (Anno iMac?) were marked by intense excitement, coupled with more than a little bit of skepticism among the nonbelievers. We were constantly hearing that the iMac was doomed to failure because it lacked a floppy drive, had a relatively slow modem, and wouldn't allow the use of any existing Mac peripherals. While these arguments were all fair to make, whichever "drawbacks" Apple didn't change before introduction didn't prevent the iMac from breaking all kinds of sales records when it touched down on Day 101. But there was another prediction we heard from the naysayers early on that we felt had some merit: the iMac, when released, would cannibalize Apple's more profitable Power Mac G3 sales. After all, at the time, a Power Mac G3/233 sans monitor cost hundreds of dollars more than an iMac would, and the iMac included an integrated display and a modem.

As it transpires, though, apparently that fear was unjustified. According to a MacWEEK article, ComputerWare isn't the only company doing studies on the iMac's sales effects: ZD Market Intelligence reports that the iMac's arrival seems to have increased Power Mac and PowerBook sales, instead of cannibalizing them; sales of Apple's pro-level computers shot up 20% in August. It would appear that mind share is as powerful a market force as we all expected. All hail iMac, the messiah of Apple's new age!

So now that Apple's got a winning consumer computer (and all indications are that it's simply the first in a long line of iMacs), it's time to start thinking once again about where people can go to buy them. Remember, the iMac is proving to be a popular choice among first-time computer buyers, and those buyers aren't going to be ordering a system from MacWarehouse. They're much more likely to head down to the local retail store. That's all well and good if that store happens to be a CompUSA (or a regional Fry's or Microcenter), but what if Jane and Joe Average want to buy their consumer computer down at Circuit City or Best Buy? Those stores used to carry Macs, but Apple yanked them out when it became painfully clear that those Macs were hurting Apple's sales instead of helping them.

Fear not-- there are whispers going around that Apple's planning to re-enter the national retail space with a vengeance. According to Mac OS Rumors, Apple may already be in negotiations with several national chains about the possibility of selling Macs. The goal is to flood the country with iMacs in time for the Christmas buying season. Given the rumors that the iMac's price may drop to $999 in a couple of months, it actually becomes an even more attractive Christmas purchase than it is now, so Apple wants them wherever people might want to buy one. But Apple's pushing for some real promises that the retailers are going to display those iMacs properly, and in fact is pushing hard for "salon stores" like CompUSA uses.

All we know is, every time we walk through Sears to get into the local mall, we pass through the computer department and smile inwardly at the lack of Macs there. Because while we'd love for Apple to get Macs into as many stores as possible, we want those Macs displayed, maintained, and sold properly-- and we remember the lone Performa sitting there in Sears, with no fewer than six System Folders, no mouse, and what appeared to be a Snickers bar mashed into the keyboard. What a cool thing for Apple to do: yank the Macs from stores who didn't care about them, introduce a kick-ass consumer product that sells itself, and then use that as leverage to bring the old stores back into the Mac fold with contrition in their hearts and dollar signs in their eyes, ready to deal. Make 'em crawl, guys. ;-)

Yet another Microsoft argument was shot down by Judge Jackson in today's episode of "Redmond Justice." Jackson rejected Microsoft's request to have all new Department of Justice evidence suppressed from the case. Read all about it in a TechWeb article.

Microsoft, as you probably know, has been saying that the Justice Department is trying to expand the scope of the case at the last minute by throwing in allegations about "strong-arm tactics" that may have been used to try to prevent other companies-- including our own Apple-- from developing products that encroached on Redmond turf. And while the judge states that he's going to try the case based solely on the parameters set by the lawsuit filed last May, he announced that he's going to evaluate new evidence as it is presented, rather than simply suppressing the whole lot.

While the new evidence is compelling, since it deals with the attempted suppression of technologies like QuickTime and RealVideo which may indeed be outside the scope of the case, it's certainly possible that the judge will not allow it to be used when the time comes. And if he does allow it, we can expect an even further delay of the trial, which is currently set for October 15th. This was supposed to be a quick case, but it's looking more and more like that's going to change...