As the Apple Turns: Scene 1775: Smooth Operator (9/12/99)

Smooth Operator (9/12/99)

Are you anxiously awaiting the unveiling of the new iMac at this week's Apple Expo Paris? Don't get your hopes up too high, because somehow we doubt it's going to happen. Nothing against the French, but given the iMac's status as The Little Computer That Could, we expect a new iMac model to be a huge landmark in Apple's ongoing history. Remember, this is the computer that pretty much brought Apple back from the dead. The computer that sold a couple million units despite its lack of a floppy drive. The computer that inspired scads of colorful translucent peripherals and more than one cheesy Wintel rip-off. The iMac, in short, changed the world, and we doubt Apple would take the wraps off of iMac 2.0 at an overseas event. Nope, instead we figure it'll happen here in the U.S., probably with a ton of press in attendance, at one of those "special Apple events" we've come to love over the years. There is the stock price to think of, after all...

So in the meantime, you can satisfy your thirst for Kihei knowledge by reading the latest scuttlebutt over at Apple Insider. The various fuzzy rumors that have been flying around for so long are finally starting to coalesce into a clearer picture-- and we like this picture so far. Reportedly the iMac will continue its newbie-friendly single-configuration paradigm for which the only thing the buyer needs to decide is what color will go best with the drapes. Outside, the Kihei probably won't look all that different from today's iMac; same basic size, same basic look, with perhaps some new colors and textures. The real differences, though, are in the feature set, and they sound pretty impressive.

In addition to the same old rumors that are now almost accepted as fact-- on-board FireWire, 350-400 MHz G3 processors, easily-upgradeable RAM-- there are reports of some cool touches that improve on the current iMac's weaknesses. Like that CD-ROM drive; it's a pain, right? You have to push the button to pop it open, then you have to pull the tray out, snap the CD onto the holder, and push it closed. Kihei's CD-ROM drive (or, more likely, DVD-ROM drive) is reportedly much nicer; it's just a slot that you push the discs into, just like a car's CD player. Apple Insider makes no mention of Airport, but we just have to assume that Kihei will support it; that way, families with a Kihei and an "iMac To Go" iBook will be able to network them wirelessly for maximum convenience. Hey, it's all just speculation, anyway-- we'll know the real story in a month or so, probably.

SceneLink (1775)

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The above scene was taken from the 9/12/99 episode:

September 12, 1999: Tennnn-HUT! The Army marches forward and thinks different when it comes to web security. Meanwhile, an anonymous Apple employee tries to clear up the whole Blue Blocker mess, and the latest info on the next iMac makes it sound like one smooth machine...

Other scenes from that episode:

1773: Macs Go Military (9/12/99) Have you noticed a distinctly... military feel coming from Apple in the last couple of weeks? First there's the nifty new commercial for the Power Macintosh G4, in which tanks surround one of Apple's speed-demons to protect it from the potential onslaught of vicious foreign invaders eager to get their hands on gigaflop performance...
1774: Blue Blocker Flipside (9/12/99) Still fuming over the Blue Blocker scandal? That's this rumor that Apple deliberately rendered blue and white G3 systems incapable of booting when a G4 upgrade is installed; allegedly they built the disabling code into the last firmware update for those machines, supposedly to force people who need G4 performance to buy whole new systems from Apple instead of just buying CPU upgrades from some other company...

Or view the entire episode as originally broadcast...


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