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Farewell, Toothsome Pal (9/16/98)
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It's time to mourn the passing of another Macintosh. No one's talking on the record, but all the signs say that the G3 All-in-one (the computer formerly known as Artemis) has been retired. Multiple sources indicate that Apple has dropped the big goofy-looking thing from its educational pricelists, citing that the iMac essentially vies for the same market-- students who want a cool, powerful, and inexpensive computer for the dorm, as well as educational institutions who want small, powerful, and easy-to-network computers for the lab.
While we can certainly understand that Artemis and the iMac target similar audiences, there are several important distinctions between the two systems that argue for the continued sale of Artemis. For one thing, Artemis had several features missing in the iMac, such as Mac serial ports, ADB ports, a SCSI port, and PCI slots, which often made it a better choice for educational buyers with an investment in a lot of older peripherals like modems, hard disks, scanners, printers, video capture cards, and the like. The base Artemis configuration also had the same size screen and the same processor and cache as the iMac, yet for only $200 more, an Artemis buyer received all of the above expansion options, better 3D acceleration, and a floppy drive. No, it wasn't as cute as the iMac, but for a lot of people, it was a lot more functional, so we're a little sorry to see it go.
Incidentally, has anyone else noticed a continuing theme with Apple's recent all-in-one designs? Artemis was shaped like a big, curvy molar. The iMac's colors are reminiscent of Aqua-Fresh toothpaste. Even the prototype iMac II's are reportedly translucent red-- Close-Up, anyone? Following this trend, it won't be too long before Apple releases an integrated computer with an optional WaterPik attachment and a minty-fresh smell-- and 30% whiter than the beige Artemis.
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SceneLink (1017)
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And Now For A Word From Our Sponsors |
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 | | The above scene was taken from the 9/16/98 episode: September 16, 1998: On a very special AtAT, the cast says goodbye to a departing friend: Artemis, we hardly knew ye. Meanwhile, yet more numbers and insight into iMac sales have materialized, thanks to ComputerWare, and MacWEEK heaps on a big, gooey slice of Apple Recon...
Other scenes from that episode: 1018: So Who's Buying? (9/16/98) For numbers and comments about iMac sales, there's only one true source: ComputerWare, the Mac-only chain of retailers who have been supplying the media with a steady stream of information since day one... 1019: The MacWEEKing of Recon (9/16/98) Get ready for them sparks to go a-flyin'; Robert Morgan (the man behind the infamous Apple Recon) is now a contributing editor for MacWEEK. So we no longer need to trek all the way over to Apple Recon to read rampant speculation about factors affecting Apple's stock; a handy digest version is available at your local MacWEEK.com. Morgan doesn't pull any punches in his first RFI Report...
Or view the entire episode as originally broadcast... | |  |
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