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BusinessWeek: iMac Undisputed Desktop Champ
by , 10:25 AM EST, November 14th, 2007
In a four and a half-star review, BusinessWeek reviewer Cliff Edwards called Apple's current line of iMacs the "undisputed champ, even as rivals Gateway, Hewlett-Packard, and Sony step up their offerings." He cited Apple's hardware design, peripherals, set-up ease, Mac OS X Leopard, and iLife as reasons that make the iMac a "star."
"It's been just a year since Apple made the switch [to Intel]," wrote Mr. Edwards, "and the iMac has very quickly become the machine to beat if you want an all-in-one desktop computer."
Mr. Edwards was specifically testing the top of the line 2.8 GHz 24" iMac priced at US$2,399, along with the optional wireless keyboard and Mighty Mouse.
His only criticism was that the glass and aluminum iMac design that replaces the previous white iMac model makes it impossible to magnetically stick the Front Row remote to the front of the unit. In the cons, he also listed the lack of a media card reader, and the inability to upgrade the DVD drive to a high-definition drive.
The review otherwise serves as a sterling mainstream rave for both the iMac model and the Mac platform in general.
Observer Comments
Wed Nov 14, 2007 1:46 pm Subject: sticking front row remote
The remote never really lasted stuck on the side so well, and I don't know anyone who used it (although that may not be the case more broadly) so I didn't think it was such a big deal leaving that detail out.
Media card readers are not something I want to see in my Mac any time soon. Personally I think it's one more place for kids to loose coins, one more slot which ruins the aesthetic and one more thing I won't use I already have a camera dock.
I'd also note that the addition of a HD optical drive would dramatically increase the price and almost certainly force an expensive choice of format on an unsuspecting customer. We all know that iMacs are very popular business tools, but they are primarily designed for home users who likely don't know enough about next-generation media to make an informed choice on the as yet unresolved subject.
The first Intel Macs were actually released nearly two years ago in January 2006. The first Macs were the MacBook Pro (15" only at the time) and the iMac Core Duo at MacWorld. The entire transition was announced complete over a year ago at WWDC 2006 (August 7). Based on that, I'd say it's been more than "a little over a year since Apple made the switch".
The problem with a built-in media card player is that there's too many darn formats for the things today, so the interface will end up looking like a messy clunge.
My suggestion is to build the media card reader into the keyboard. Its already a USB device so it would be easy to hub it there, plus it is convenient to the user.
And while we're at it, Apple needs to put a "Smart Card" reader on the keyboard, or at least a PCMIA card slot so that one can be installed: our business is now using Smart Cards as a hardware + password key combination for us to log into our PCs at work, and the Dells have the Smart Card reader built right into the top right corner of their keyboards. If Apple wants to start to penetrate the business space, they'll need to accomodate in such fashions.
-hh
Wed Nov 14, 2007 7:32 pm Subject: Re: media cards....
Quote-hh wrote:
The problem with a built-in media card player is that there's too many darn formats for the things today, so the interface will end up looking like a messy clunge.
My suggestion is to build the media card reader into the keyboard. Its already a USB device so it would be easy to hub it there, plus it is convenient to the user.
And while we're at it, Apple needs to put a "Smart Card" reader on the keyboard, or at least a PCMIA card slot so that one can be installed: our business is now using Smart Cards as a hardware + password key combination for us to log into our PCs at work, and the Dells have the Smart Card reader built right into the top right corner of their keyboards. If Apple wants to start to penetrate the business space, they'll need to accomodate in such fashions.
-hh
Apply the same logic to the keyboard as the Mac, itself.
Apple has a long history of letting third-party companies do those sorts of things. For one thing, it avoids forcing people to pay for things they will not use. Instead, those who want such functionality can buy it through add-ons. The same philosophy applies to putting an FM radio in iPods.
The Smart Card users are probably a rather small market, so allowing third-party developers to do this would make sense.
There are plenty of flash card readers available, including some that are built into USB hubs.
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