20-years ago today, Apple officially introduced the iMac. While the present perception of the iMac might have been taken for granted, Steve Jobs presentation and the official unveiling of the iMac is worth watching even after 20-years. It’s also safe to say that the machine has made a lasting impact on technology at a large scale.
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It is also worth noting that how much the industry has changed in the past 20 years. Though the original iMac might look quaint today, when it was unveiled 20 years ago, it was nothing short of a revolution. It has a 15-inch CRT screen, 4GB hard drive, and late 90s design. It also helped in ushering in the USB era, though they were available even before iMac, like always Apple back then inspired many to build USB peripherals.
Apple post the success of the first-gen iMac faced a situation where it had to hit the drawing tables designing the followup that will define the future. The result is a 2002-era iMac G4 with an impressive 15-inch LCD monitor with a neck that let the display tilt and swivel at the same time preserving Apple’s all-in-one design. However, it wasn’t a big hit as the original iMac with high-prices. Continuing the legacy, Apple then launched the iMac G5 in 2005 with Intel x86 processor for the first time and a 17- and 20-inch all-in-one.
Again 2007, Apple changed its course with an aluminum build and its metal-and-glass design felt like it was destined to sit on your desk in your office. it had a large 20- and 24-inch screens, dual-core processors, and options for a wireless mouse and keyboard. Apple later in 2009 introduced the unibody iMac with a 27-inch display and quad-core processors, and later in 2012, the iMac put an end to the optical drive in a shift to cloud services and streaming video. In 2014, where smartphones and tablets are replacing traditional PCs, Apple has faced some serious tough road to show some difference, the result is the iMac with Retina Display with first 5K screens on the market.
Celebrating the 20-year anniversary, Tim Cook took to Twitter and relived the moments, he says “20 years ago today, Steve introduced the world to iMac. It set Apple on a new course and forever changed the way people look at computers.”