The BBC has published what amounts to a tribute to the original iMac in reaction to the news that Apple has canceled the G3 model. The iMac was removed from Appleis product line earlier this month, where it had occupied an inexpensive niche as a US$799 desktop model.

The BBCis look at the iMac includes background information on chief Apple designer Jonathan Ive, as well as looking at how the iMac helped turn Apple around, and the impact the unit made on the rest of the computing industry. For instance:

Apple had always been known for its smart technology and its idiosyncratic way of doing business.

One of Appleis mottos has long been "Think Different", says Mr. Smith, but prior to the launch of the iMac it was getting harder and harder for non-Mac owners to work out just where this difference crept in. With the release of the iMac it suddenly became very obvious.

Mr. Smith says Apple worked very hard on every aspect of the iMac - its looks, its hardware and software - to make it easy to use. "They found a way to [humanize] the PC and to take it out of the grey anonymous box. It was a sympathetic bit of form making, and it became a symbol of a very different approach."

The classic iMac has since been superseded by the eMac and the flat screen, angle poise iMac. For Clive Grinyer, former head of the Design Council and co-founder of the Tangerine design consultancy with Jonathan Ive, the debut of the iMac was a hugely liberating moment.

"It had an amazing impact in design circles," he says. "It did what everyone had been talking about for a long time."

The full article at the BBCis Web site has much more information, and we deem it a good read.