For those who are still whining about how the iMac can't possibly be a consumer success because it doesn't break the $999 price point, we would think that the initial sales numbers should be sufficient to disprove that theory. But for those skeptics who aren't swayed by the fact that CompUSA sold more iMacs last Saturday than they've ever sold of any computer in a single day before, Mac the Knife has some interesting rumors about Apple's plans for the upcoming Christmas season. It's time to start making sure you're going to be on Santa's "good" list...

If the Knife is correct (and let's face it, he doesn't have the world's best track record when it comes to this stuff), the iMac as we know it today will receive a hefty speed bump right around Thanksgiving. Odds are, the $1299 iMac will have its zippy 233 MHz G3 replaced with a screaming 300 MHz version, and the 24x CD-ROM drive may be replaced with a DVD-ROM drive, most likely to be capable of playing DVD movies both to the iMac's screen and to an external video device. Meanwhile, the "iMac Classic" as we know it today will receive a massive price slashing at the same time, bringing it down to $999 or thereabouts.

$999 for a complete system that benchmarks faster than a 400 MHz Pentium II? And it's a Mac, to boot. Sounds like this Christmas, Santa may shed his traditional fuzzy red and white suit in favor of spiffy new Bondi-blue togs. (Don't worry, we're sure that Santa will have the good taste not to wear translucent clothes-- there are impressionable children running about!)

Hmmm, we've got to say, we're more than a little disturbed by the recent lapse in reading comprehension skills of the press at large. We're speaking of the widespread coverage of ComputerWare's iMac-buyer exit poll, which made its first appearance on AtAT in Thursday's episode. ComputerWare's poll revealed that of the 500 customers they had who bought iMacs last weekend, a respectable 15% of them were first-time computer buyers. That's great news for Apple's market share, and that fact was generally reported accurately. But the second big fact about who was buying iMacs was misquoted almost everywhere we looked.

A CNET article at news.com claims that the exit survey showed that "13 percent of the customers were replacing a Windows-based computer." Similarly, MacWEEK reports that "13 percent have sold to Windows users." But ComputerWare's actual press release (upon which all these reports are based) notes that "among those who bought an iMac to replace an existing computer, 13% said they were replacing a Wintel compatible computer." There's a big difference (at least in terms of percentage error, if not actual iMacs sold). (When we emailed the Mac Gamer's Ledge about how they had made the same mistake, they promptly changed their story to state that "13 percent of the buyers who were replacing a Windows-based personal computer were buying iMacs," which still isn't right, but it's arguably closer.)

So what does it portend when you get more accurate news from your daily soap opera than from actual news sites with real journalistic integrity, training, etc.? Pretty scary, eh, kids?

For those of you who don't follow our logic, here we go:

• 1/3 of 500 iMacs sold (remember, the press release was based on the first 1/3 of the responses tallied) is about 167 iMacs.
• 15% of that, to account for the first-time buyers, is about 25 iMacs.
• Assuming that all the remaining 85% were replacing existing systems (which is not necessarily true-- for instance, there are people who bought second computers, businesses who bought iMacs for work, etc.), that leaves 142 iMacs to replace existing computers, in the best case scenario.
• 13% of 167, as misreported by CNET et al, is about 21.7 iMacs. (Don't ask us what .7 of an iMac looks like, it's probably pretty grisly.)
• 13% of 142, the maximum number of iMacs replacing old systems by ComputerWare's press release, is about 18.5 iMacs.

So while a little over three machines is not a huge difference in terms of sales numbers, it is a 16% or 17% error ((21.7-18.5)/18.5) in the best case scenario, which is what we meant by a "big difference." Hope that clarifies what we mean. And that's enough math for us for a good solid week-- back to the cartoons...

It's good to see that, despite the iMac's incredibly successful debut, Apple isn't resting on its laurels. While it's certainly a great thing that the iMac broke all kinds of sales records during its first weekend available, Apple's going to need to sell a lot more of them just to recoup the $100 million they're spending on advertising the little blue dynamo. Apple knows that, and and is taking steps to ensure that the "computer that sells itself" still gets a little help in the stores.

Several AtAT viewers who had volunteered to represent Apple at CompUSA stores last weekend wrote in to say that they had received email from Steve Jobs requesting their help again this weekend. That indicates that Apple has identified a very important point: in general, Mac fans know a lot more about Macs than CompUSA employees do. (That shouldn't surprise any of you.) And while Apple enlists the help of Mac fans again, MacCentral reports that head marketing dude Mitch Manditch has embarked on an education campaign designed to prepare retail sales associates to answer the questions most frequently asked by potential iMac purchasers, ranging from concerns about the lack of a floppy drive to what in the system can be upgraded and how. Hopefully, soon Apple won't have to fall back on the knowledge of its user base in order to make sure that customers get their questions answered correctly.

Ladies and gentlemen, Apple is continuing to make intelligent marketing decisions. Please prepare for the coming apocalypse.