You wanted it, and now you've got it-- and "it" is the Steve-given right to buy an eMac even if you're not somehow affiliated with an educational institution. That's right, people; yesterday Apple issued an official press release confirming that, whether you've already completed your stint in higher learning or you just have no inclination for book-learnin' whatsoever, the only qualification you now need to score yourself Apple's formerly-education-only "Most Affordable G4 System Ever" is enough cash or plastic to cover the bill. Quoth His Steveness, "consumers have pounded on the table demanding to buy the eMac, and we agree." Which means you can stop hammering your fists into the furniture, guys; mission accomplished, so start reaching for your wallets. (By the way, it appears that the most effective way to change Apple policy is to engage in physical abuse of a dining room set. Whodathunkit?)

Now, not surprisingly, there are a few minor catches with this deal. For one thing, the consumer eMac costs a hundred smackers more than the base institutional education model, so expect to dish out $1099 instead of keeping your tab a hair under a grand. For another, there's no option to order a consumer model configured with a combo drive, so if you're not comfortable with the idea of buying an eMac with just a CD-RW drive because you have a burning need to see the director's cut of the remake of Rollerball on a 17-inch computer screen, well, you're just going to have to enroll at a nearby college and start working towards a communications degree or something. But heck, it's a small price to pay to have an eMac that's capable of showing the fabled alternate ending in which the Rollerballers set aside their differences, drag the director on-camera, and hold him down while they tattoo the phrase "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!" across his forehead.

Meanwhile, there are a couple of slight catches for Apple, too; while the company is likely to enjoy a nifty boost to its unit sales due to strong consumer eMac demand, Captain Steve may suffer a bit of a credibility hit for announcing the official Death of the CRT six months ago and then building Apple's latest product around one of the suckers. The message, we think, is clear: "CRTs are super-lame because they're big, heavy, and they suck down power like it's going out of style-- here, buy one!" There's also the fact that Apple obviously meant for the "e" in "eMac" to stand for "education," and now that the product is just another consumer product, the company is going to have to come up with some other explanation if it wants to keep the name without baffling the easily-confused. After all, now there's a CRT G3 iMac, an LCD G4 iMac, and a CRT G4 eMac; what's that all about? May we suggest a press release clarifying that the "e" actually stands for "extreme"? That oughta play in Peoria.

When all's said and done, though, if you're willing to rest your eyes on a high-quality flat-screen short-yoke 17-inch CRT instead of a 15-inch LCD on a shiny metal arm, well, the eMac is a spiffy way to save a few bucks on a G4 all-in-one. And if there was no way you could afford a G4 iMac and you were therefore about to settle for an old-school G3 model instead, suddenly you've got a much more attractive option in the eMac-- provided you can sell enough plasma to make up the price difference. Considering all you get for an extra few hundred bucks, we strongly recommend that you squeeze out every pint you can. And don't forget-- if you're a starving college student or an underpaid schoolteacher, the educational model is cheaper still. C'mon, how can you possibly go wrong?