Whatever else you might think about it, the iMac sparks sharp opinions. When a debate on Apple's new, sleek, blue-plastic Mac erupted at one of our editorial meetings last month, we decided to carry that argument over into the pages of Salon 21st -- hoping to sustain the spirit of lively give-and-take. In "iMac -- iLove it/iHate it," Janelle Brown took up the cudgels on the iMac's behalf, and I cast a more skeptical gaze on the popular machine.
If success can be measured by generating responses from readers and sparking a dialogue, then we hit on all cylinders. Of course, quality matters as much as quantity, and e-mails that read "yOU SUCK! iMAC RULES! THAT'S ALL" may not constitute the zenith of civilized exchange. Still, despite the occasional yelps from the junior wing of the Mac-enthusiast camp ("You are a total thick-headed, ignorant retard"; "Burn in Microsoft-dominated hell!"), the great majority of letters we received -- in a ratio of roughly 3-to-1 supporting the iMac and questioning my criticisms of it -- were friendly and thoughtful.
Many of you had a hard time with my comment about the apparent fragility of the iMac's plastic case, which, I wrote, "looks flimsy and feels cheap -- like it wouldn't survive a drop off a desk." What's with me, anyway -- who goes around dropping computers off desks? Have I ever had a computer fall off a desk?
Maybe I'm just clumsier than the average 21st reader, but in truth, during 15 years of owning computers I have twice seen them plummet floorward (once during an earthquake, once during a move -- both survived their falls), so my concern didn't seem so outlandish to me. In any case, my argument was more about the iMac's appearance of flimsiness, which is admittedly an in-the-eye-of-the-beholder kind of thing. I prefer my consumer-fetish objects to appear sturdy, tough, built to last, even if I don't actually intend to pummel them with mallets. To my eyes, the iMac -- bulletproof polycarbonate or no -- looks excessively fragile.
Many correspondents also pointed out one major oversight on my part: In wondering why Apple chose to rig its new consumer machine with a high-speed ethernet port when few home computer users have much use for it, I failed to realize that the ethernet connection is of great use to two groups: students at colleges with (increasingly common) wired dorms and home users with cable modems. Cable modems remain a wonderful luxury few of us have access to, thanks to the sluggish roll-out of cable Net services around the United States. But for students, ethernet indeed rules. I guess I've simply been out of school too long.
My complaint that the iMac's round mouse is hard to orient provoked derisive jeers along the lines of "Hey, stupid, if you want to know which way the mouse points, just find the cord!" Uh, sure; but I don't especially want to keep looking at my mouse -- I'd rather sense its direction by feel and keep my eyes on the screen. To me this is less a matter of taste than of common sense. Similarly, my objection to the iMac's omission of a floppy disk drive evoked a torrent of suggestions -- some kind, some dripping with condescension -- that I get hip to e-mail for my file transfer needs. Dear readers, I live by e-mail, and my in box overfloweth. But there are times, especially at home, when it is simply faster to pop a floppy in than to dial up the modem and wait for a Net connection just to move a little file from one computer to another.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - -
Behind much of the negative mail I received lay an assumption that I was a PC user or "Wintel guy" who had obstinately and irrationally decided to bash Apple despite all the enlightening evidence out there against me. One reader even suggested that I must own Microsoft stock. (I don't.) Another told me, "22 million people use Macintosh computers every day ... and you have just made close to 22 million enemies." So let me repeat: I own three Macs at home. I am typing this on a Mac at my office. I use Windows PCs too, but I firmly believe that the Mac is, overall, a more elegantly designed and easy-to-use system. I recommend Macs to my friends and relatives.
But I also refuse to believe that holding these opinions obligates me, as a Mac lover, to applaud every move Apple makes or to withhold criticism of Apple when I think the company has goofed. Apple's more extreme followers have adopted a bizarre corporate loyalty program under which they not only maintain that the company can do no wrong but also believe that Apple is locked in a Manichaean struggle with Microsoft in which only one company can survive.
I tried to address these fanatics at the end of our iMac debate, when I wrote, "I fear that a lot of Mac lovers are engaging in an orgy of wishful thinking as they imagine the iMac winning over droves of Windows users. As a survival move, the iMac may be savvy, but it's not going to turn the world upside down."
This passage elicited dozens of rational arguments from reasonable Mac fans who believe that Apple is no longer at war and doesn't need to "conquer Wintel" to thrive as its own segment of the computer marketplace. One reader reminded me that it was Steve Jobs, after all, who told the crowds at MacWorld last year that "we have to lose the idea that for Apple to win, Microsoft has to lose." To these readers, let me say: I agree with you. You're right.
But there's another contingent out there that's still fighting the last decade's war. "iMacs and G3 have completely killed the WinTel platform," wrote one overexcitable correspondent. "Apple is in control of the entire industry once again." These members of the Apple corps are determined to twist every argument in Apple's favor: Thus, Apple's omission of a floppy disk becomes a praiseworthy move that "gives people the choice of whether to have a floppy"-- and choice is what Apple is all about! -- whereas Apple's one-piece iMac design, which limits users' monitor choice to the built-in 15-inch screen, is praised for its "convenience."
It is this group that needs to learn the basic lesson that Apple is not a religion or a cause -- it is a corporation looking to make a buck. Corporations sometimes create wonderful products (and Apple has historically produced more than its share); sometimes they make mistakes. More often they muddle through. My view remains that the iMac is a muddle-through kind of product that, thanks to relentless marketing, happens to have captured the public fancy for the moment.
This view received some support from a former Apple employee who wrote in to explain the history behind the iMac's lack of a floppy drive: The iMac began life as Apple's "network computer" (NC) project. NCs are designed for corporate networks and expected to store everything across such networks, and so the proto-iMac didn't even have its own hard disk, let alone a floppy drive. Since the iMac is an NC repurposed late in development as a consumer machine, the former Apple engineer wrote, "It's no surprise that it's a bit of a mismatch."
Now, there's nothing awful about this -- technology companies change plans all the time, and if Apple was nimble enough to do so successfully, it's a sign that the company has grown more flexible. But it's hard to hang on to an "Apple can do no wrong" attitude once you accept that Apple, like all companies, must make imperfect choices in an imperfect world.
Cheering on Apple as an alternative to Microsoft has always made a lot of sense to me. But I'll never understand what motivates the people who feel that any criticism of their favorite computer company is an act of treason. Where's the "Think Different" spirit in that?
The world in the iPod
The microchip that runs Apple's popular music player is made in India, Taiwan, China and Silicon Valley. Is this an example of how globalization works to everyone's benefit -- or a sign that the world economy is about to roll over America?
By Andrew Leonard, Salon
iLove it or iHate it
Is Apple's new blue bombshell a hit or a dud?
By Janelle Brown and Scott Rosenberg, Salon
An end to the Apple turnover
Steve Jobs accepts the inevitable -- and embraces the CEO title.
By Lydia Lee, Salon
Steve Jobs' iTunes dance
Now the Apple CEO says he would gladly sell songs without digital restrictions, if the record companies let him. That's hardly a brave defiance, and besides, I don't believe him.
By Cory Doctorow, Salon
Apple's iTunes sells 5 billion songs, but you don't own them
Why DRM means your music isn't really yours.
By Farhad Manjoo, Salon
Steve Jobs’ 2009 letter to the community about his health.
Terse and obfuscatory, this thing is Jobs all over.
Apple's obsession with secrecy grows stronger
Apple’s decision to limit communication with the media, shareholders and the public is at odds with the approach of other companies, which are embracing online outlets like blogs and Twitter.
By Brad Stone and Ashlee Vance, The New York Times
The Untold Story: How the iPhone blew Up the wireless industry
This 4.8-ounce sliver of glass and aluminum is an explosive device that has forever changed the mobile-phone business.
By Fred Vogelstein, Wired
A list of Steve Jobs' best quotes
An example: "The cure for Apple is not cost-cutting. The cure for Apple is to innovate its way out of its current predicament."
By Owen Linzmayer, Wired
The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs
Fake Steve Jobs tells all in this hilarious and often informative act of fraudulent auto-blography.
Apple Announces New iPhone OS 3.1 at Keynote
Good Vibrations Sold Everywhere
