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iMac Intro, Take 4 (4/14/99)
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As if another street-beating quarterly profit weren't enough good news for one day, Apple also formally announced the latest iMacs, now running at a mind-bending 333 MHz. If you've been paying attention, you knew that these were coming; in fact, they've been here for a week or so already, if you know where to look. If you're shopping for a fruit-flavored iMac, make sure you get a 333 MHz model-- the 266's are great, but you don't want to end up paying full price for one.
We found it noteworthy (and just a little bit funny) that after all the rumors that these new iMacs would include Cherry and Banana flavors taking the place of Strawberry and Tangerine, Apple makes it very clear that the new systems are still only available in the same five colors introduced last January. In fact, it makes us even more suspicious that the Cherry/Banana rumor originated from Apple's top brass in an attempt to ferret out a leak that's been giving them grief, and this is just one more way to say "ha ha" in a Nelson Munce voice. It's pure speculation on our part, but one thing's clear: the tone of the press release's first sentence strongly emphasizes that people shouldn't wait for new colors any time soon.
By the way, Apple's still pushing BYTEmark performance as the basis for their "Pentium-toasting" claims; the new iMacs score an 11.1, while a Pentium III running at 500 MHz gets a 6.7. For the incredulous (and that should include most people with a sense of perspective), Apple also gives an example of real-world gaming performance: Dark Vengeance on a new iMac runs at 26.5 frames per second, while the same game with the same settings on a Compaq 5240 gets 18.3 fps. However, the Compaq uses an AMD K6-2 running at 400 MHz, not a Pentium III/500, which implies that the BYTEmarks are pretty skewed, and 3D game performance depends just as much on 3D hardware as it does on processor speed-- if not more. Have no doubt, the iMac is wicked fast-- but we can't help but feel that Apple's really stretching things sometimes.
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And Now For A Word From Our Sponsors |
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 | | The above scene was taken from the 4/14/99 episode: April 14, 1999: Six for six-- this much street-beating black ink is almost boring, isn't it? Meanwhile, Apple's market share continues to climb, propelled by the continually-refreshed iMac line, as Apple trots out the fourth iMac model in eight months...
Other scenes from that episode: 1464: The Prophet of Profit (4/14/99) We're sure you've all heard by now, but for those of you who spent the last day or so engrossed in a "Full House" marathon collecting evidence for your "Olsen Twins as Live Troll Dolls" theory, Apple's winning streak continues: not only did they post their sixth consecutive quarterly profit, but they also managed to beat Wall Street's estimates yet again... 1465: If You Build Them... (4/14/99) Hey, speaking of market share (and we sort of were a while ago... at least, we mentioned it. It's a valid segue, honest!), MacCentral reports that Apple's is, unsurprisingly, on the way up. PC Data, those lovable little bean-counting gnomes who keep us informed about who's buying how much of what, say that Apple's share of the retail and mail order market for the first two months of 1999 was 11.3%, twice as high as it was a year ago...
Or view the entire episode as originally broadcast... | |  |
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