Unclutterer

1. Posted by Ryan - 08/08/2007

   Course Apple makes the PC look like hentai pr0n!

   The iMac is perfect for someone looking for a simple computer to do pictures and movies and stuff, but for power hogs like me, you need something a bit more customizeable. A Mac Pro or a Dell XPS.

   And Mac Pros are waaaay too damn expensive. They parade them around as competitively priced, but they’re not.

   I was disappointed Apple didn’t ditch the stupid iMac “chin”. But the keyboard is niceness.

2. Posted by Jack - 08/08/2007

   What kind of games can you play on that iMac? Can you upgrade anything in it yourself?

3. Posted by Ryan - 08/08/2007

   @Jack

   Breakout! And you can get a wireless keyboard upgrade! W00T!

4. Posted by Jon - 08/08/2007

   Actually, Apple did introduce a wireless keyboard. It has the same profile as the wired keyboard, although it’s missing the numeric keypad on the right. And of course, there’s always the Bluetooth Mighty Mouse (although I personally prefer my Logitech) to make the set complete.

   http://www.apple.com/keyboard

   It’s almost enough to make me want to get more clutter….

5. Posted by Paul - 08/08/2007

   Heh. I play my games on — get this sh*t — a GAME CONSOLE.

   I get my WORK done on my Mac.

6. Posted by r - 08/08/2007

   As long as you know you’re sacrificing flexibility for optimization under specific conditions… but don’t forget that non-sealed cases and multiple plug options are what let you swap cards and memory and connect a second monitor someone lends you when you’re doing work that will really be sped up by it, etc.

   For your purposes that may be fine. For my work needs, it would be a disaster – and would inevitably mean buying multiple different systems for different tasks sooner than would otherwise be necessary.

   Also, if you take half the premium you pay to get an apple product and put it towards getting a nicer PC, you can get something much smaller and tidier (and quieter, which I love!) than what you have shown. Your photos are unfair comparisons.

   Just to keep the trade offs clear.

7. Posted by PJ Doland - 08/08/2007

   @r – You CAN swap the memory on an iMac by removing 1 screw. You can also connect another monitor to the mini-DVI connection on the back.

8. Posted by Matt M - 08/08/2007

   The biggest problem in my life is that my PC has too many cables. Well, at least I think it does, I have not looked at the back of it ever since I set it up. Oh how I wish I could put it in the middle of a desk and put the desk in the middle of a room with no cable clutter for the entire world to see. Then I would really be successful.

   I use XP/Vista 99% of the time and have had maybe six crashes over several year. I have used the family Mac 1% of the time and have had two crashes over the same period. Stability is a non issue.

   Bluetooth works on PC’s too folks.

   It’s okay to like the small form factor for the sake of design appreciation. Don’t try to justify it by comparing it to other computers or be smug about it. They assume every PC is alike. Let’s see this comparison against the tower Mac. They are different things serving different users.

9. Posted by Betsbillabong - 08/08/2007

   Oh, come on. I’m a music and video professional, and I’ve been making do with a G4 powerbook for quite some time. No, the iMac isn’t the right machine for an edit studio or similar, but for 95% of people it’s plenty powerful. Most people do not end up customizing their machines, other than adding a second monitor. Are you really going to put a new processer in in three years? Or just upgrade to a new computer? I think the iMacs rock.

10. Posted by Lana - 08/08/2007

    Rock on, Paul! Me too. I bought a MacPro last year and my clutter went down immediately as I dumped my custom built pc and all of the crap that I needed to maintain it:

    NOD32 anti-virus, Kerio, AdAware, Spybot, Spywareblaster, CrapCleaner, Hiren’s boot cd, my slipstreamed dvds of Win Xp Pro, ALL of my collection of maintenance and troubleshooting books, my ugly-@ssed Creative Labs speakers with it’s gigantic subwoofer and serpentine tangles of speaker wire, a USB hub (MacPro has USB and firewire ports which I use for my scanner), and the three external hard drives I needed to keep my system properly backed up. Now all four of my drives are internal and I use Mozy for offsite backup.

    Buying a Mac was the best money I ever spent and I don’t regret it for a second. This baby has never given me a moment of trouble and has saved me countless hours I would’ve otherwise wasted maintaining my pc. If my Mac had lips, I’d kiss it!

11. Posted by Josh - 08/08/2007

    r: I agree. It’s impossible to do a true comparison.

    FWIW, the iMac supports external displays (mirroring; spanning requires software hack).

    I’m considering getting a new iMac and decided to do a price comparison using the XPS 410 (shown in the messy pic). The price premium for the Mac was approximately $150/10%, although like we said before, it’s hard to compare. I’m not sure how far $150 would go towards getting a smaller and tidier PC.

12. Posted by PJ Doland - 08/08/2007

    Let’s set aside the OS issue, as you can run Windows natively on the newer Intel Mac hardware.

    There is something to be said for an integrated solution like the iMac. If you opt for a wireless mouse and keyboard, you can conceivably get by with a single power cable. It might not meet your particular needs, but a single power cable is a beautiful thing.

13. Posted by Jeri Dansky - 08/08/2007

    I’m jazzed, too. I love my old iMac – but it’s 5 years old, and due for an upgrade. And getting rid of all the wires is going to be wonderful – the last touch I need to really make my office ideal, as I mentioned here: http://tinyurl.com/2jpmt5 .

14. Posted by PJ Doland - 08/08/2007

    @Josh – You haven’t needed the software hack for screen spanning since the Intel iMacs first came out. They support it right out of the box.

15. Posted by Ed Eubanks Jr. - 08/08/2007

    Ryan and R: fair points, but only to a point. I’m not sure what exactly qualifies you, Ryan, as a “power hog” but I’d be surprised if this iMac’s capacity didn’t meet your needs. 2.8Ghz core2duo processor? Up to 4 GB of RAM? Up to 1TB of HD space? Not to mention the capacity to dual-boot into Mac OS X or Windows… or run Windows within OS X.

    Also, it is a popular misconception that the iMac is a closed, sealed case. It is very easy to upgrade an iMac– I have done memory and HD upgrades on them– and no more trouble than a PC tower (less, in my experience). There is not as much expansion capacity– that is true– but unless you need something like an eSATA interface card, the iMac will suit you. (It’s also frequently overlooked that there is a built-in video out for a second monitor.)

    Yes, there are some more elegant solutions on the PC side than those shown. But there is no disputing the uncluttered quality of the iMac– which was, after all, the point of this post– and a little more informed investigation might quell other concerns, too.

16. Posted by linuxguy - 08/08/2007

    considering this has 3 usb ports on the computer, firewire 400 AND firewire 800. you don’t lack for expansion options unless you were looking for internal bays, and if you are you wouldn’t look at an imac.

    for people who want to do all sorts of general tasks (word processing, manage photos, music), internet (web surfing, email, video chatting), and plenty of popular games, this is going to be one nice box that can do it all. if you’re a “power user” who wants SLI video why are you even looking at this? don’t cry it isn’t powerful enough for you, it wasn’t even designed for the likes of you!

    spec up a dell or hp with the same stats and you’ll find the imac is a pretty good value. consider that most macs last 4-5 years before replacement (and pc’s every 2 or so) you’ll find this to be very good value indeed.

17. Posted by Sijmen - 08/08/2007

    I think the “Macs don’t need replacement in 2 years” argument is pretty lame. I’m a Mac lover and user myself, but I can’t see myself using this PowerBook 12″ I bought almost 2 years ago for another 3 years.

18. Posted by Matt M - 08/08/2007

    “consider that most macs last 4-5 years before replacement (and pc’s every 2 or so)”

    Let’s reconstruct this statement to: consider that most pc’s last 2 or so years before replacement.

    If by “or so” you mean 4-5, then I am with you, otherwise I am not sure what you mean. I have had PC’s last a long time, laptops included. If the value you receive from a Mac is that you are more inclined to keep it longer, then so be it.

19. Posted by Brad M - 08/08/2007

    As big a fan of the Mac form factor that I am, I fail to truly get the clutter argument here. Practically speaking, when you add all of the peripherals you are going to need, you end up with as much of a mess with an iMac as you do with a Windows desktop. Add a printer + USB cable and power, scanner + cable and power, external hard drive for backup + cable and power, iPod cable + dock, etc…

    Computers are always going to bring rat’s nest of cables unless you have a laptop that you never backup or print from. And honestly, Apple could have done better by Dell and used some zip ties or something.

20. Posted by Matt Turner - 08/08/2007

    External Peripherals and clutter.
    I have a MacBook Pro that I both print from AND backup.

    The printer is on the network so it can be shared by anyone in the house.
    The external HD is out of the way in a cupboard and (as I have a laptop) I take the computer to it in order to have it backup (I just do a whole disk backup at night).

    At work I use it with a Keyboard, Mouse and extra monitor. At home I don’t bother. The lack of clutter is certainly nice, better than a rats nest at the back of the desk I used to have until I went to using laptops about 3 years ago.

21. Posted by nan - 08/08/2007

    @Sijmen – hell, I’ll take that powerbook off of your hands if you don’t want it!

22. Posted by Ryan - 08/08/2007

    @Paul, you’re missing out if you only game on consoles.

    @Eubanks, you’re forgetting the most important thing: Video Cards. The new iMacs come with a really nice one. But at the rate I buy new gfx cards, it wouldn’t be feasible.

    Besides, buying the spec’d out 24″ iMac for $3450 would be a waste of money when I can customize a PC to better suit my needs for around $2200 and upgrade it for around $500-800 within a year and half or more.

    Now if you’re a creative professional, I’d imagine you’d want to go Pro slapping down around $4K up for the Mac Pro and the big ass monster screen. Why waste all the moola on an iMac?

    But like I said, if you’re an average user just storing photos and browsing the internet, go for the decluttering iMac. Cost wise, I think it’d be better to buy a nice iMac than a Dell or something similar.

    @Lana, I use one free anti-virus software to maintain security on my windows box. Don’t download a buncha shady crap, and you won’t have any PC problems.

23. Posted by Niels K. - 08/08/2007

    I have here the previous model of the iMac with a BT-Mighty Mouse and a full fledged BT-keyboard from Apple. I do not see any cable on the desk. It’s designed in a way that that I can’t see any of the cables (power cord, ethernet, external hdd for backup) attached to it.
    With the new iMac I have to add one cord on the table because the new BT-keyboard doesn’t have a num block or I get some non-Apple keyboard which doesn’t look as good as the one in front of me which fits to the rest of the design of the iMac and the mouse.
    The new BT-keyboard w/out a numblock sucks.

    Btw. I’m totally satisfied with my iMac. I do not really play games and use it only for studying/research/translation work, surfing the web, mailing and stuff. I don’t want to go into the OSX/Linux/Win-war and therefore I let that out – just satisfied with the design, silence and footprint with the iMac in front of me.

24. Posted by Ryan - 08/08/2007

    I wonder if people complain enough, will Apple make a good, full bluetooth keyboard.

25. Posted by Greg - 08/08/2007

    If the number of cables attached to it is a first (or even second) order consideration in determining what computer to buy, you should seriously consider buying a used computer for $100, a package of rubber bands for cable management for $0.50, and putting the $1000+ you save into something that’s actually going to affect your life.

    Buying a computer for its cable management is like buying a car for its paint job. Pick the car first on its merits, and then worry about the paint.

26. Posted by zero_emissions - 08/08/2007

    Kudos to Apple for making the enclosure out of full recycleable aluminum.
    That toxic plastic stuff is nasty.

27. Posted by juice - 08/08/2007

    Can’t tell if this is simply completely dumb, or just a really poor attempt at humour. Either way, it’s a waste of space and time.

28. Posted by Harold - 08/08/2007

    This apple vs microsoft debate is completely drawing away from the real point of this article – to point out that the iMac reduces clutter. This is not a debate about the OS or that Mac is superior to PC. Sometimes I’m amazed by out-of-hand this whole debate can get.

29. Posted by juice - 08/08/2007

    Maybe, then, if the debate was to be avoided, the use of a deliberately inflammatory PC pic might have been avoided, possibly by not using it at all?

30. Posted by Charles - 08/08/2007

    I agree – the point of this post is missed. I’m a PC user, but one of the things I am really jealous about is how tidy the Mac is.

    That being said though, I don’t see myself owning a Mac very soon for two reasons: First is the cost. Im pretty convinced that I could build a comparable system for much less. Second, upgrade-ability is important to me. I do switch out video cards. I often start with a decent system, and then as I can afford better components, I swap them out.

    Oh, I guess there is a third reason too: I know how to use a cable tie

31. Posted by dale - 08/09/2007

    yawn!

32. Posted by Jonathan Pfeiffer - 08/09/2007

    Well, okay, but it’s not like the new iMac is much different from the old.

33. Posted by greg - 08/09/2007

    what matt said earlier is spot on. i use bluetooth on my PC. there have been bluetooth keyboards and mice developed for both platforms for a long time. i use both PCs and Macs. they’re both tools, they both have pluses and minuses. but bluetooth isn’t one of them, it’s just as valid on both.

    fanbois and bashers on both sides really come across as smug idiots who aren’t smart enough to look at the actual facts and make logical decisions.

34. Posted by Cottser - 08/12/2007

    @juice: That’s an Apple photo, straight from their press conference.

    To all those talking about the “price premium”, realize that most comparisons you do will not include the OS (not to mention system integration) that a Mac provides.

35. Posted by greg - 08/13/2007

    really cottser? how many PC sellers can you point out to me that don’t include the OS when they sell a PC?

36. Posted by hungry - 08/16/2007

    I hope everyone here has enough sense to realize that the picture of the PC above is a dramatization… it’s called marketing. If you look closely, there’s a USB hub sitting on top of the PC… it’s probably been 6 years since i needed one of those, as all PCs these days have 2-4 USB ports mounted right on the front. i’m sure if a mac user wanted more than 2-4 inputs they’d also have some god-awful USB attached.

    Oh, and i’m typing this from my laptop (PC) which has exactly 1 cord, for power… but only when i need it. it has every conceivable input slot in the way of flash cards, etc. I’m a multimedia student and do both heavy 3d graphics and video editing on this machine. I know, I know.. this is about saving space with desktop machines… well most people I know don’t plop thier windows box on thier desk… it’s usually in a cabinet in thier computer desk.

    I think in all fairness, there should be a list of what external devices are attached to that PC, as many of the cords just disappear off the side. There could be a printer, scanner, wacom tablet and who knows what else attached, just for the sake of making an unfair marketing angle.

37. Posted by spork - 08/16/2007

    Greg above said:

    “If the number of cables attached to it is a first (or even second) order consideration in determining what computer to buy, you should seriously consider buying a used computer for $100, a package of rubber bands for cable management for $0.50, and putting the $1000+ you save into something that’s actually going to affect your life.

    Buying a computer for its cable management is like buying a car for its paint job. Pick the car first on its merits, and then worry about the paint.”

    I think that’s the most intelligent comment here

38. Posted by steve Klinck - 08/22/2007

    I looked at the i’mage in the keynote, and what was included in that cable clutter was a Media Center remote, webcam, speakers (attached to monitor), and usb hub

39. Posted by steve Klinck - 08/22/2007

    there was also an ir sensor

40. Posted by Sijmen - 08/24/2007

    @nan

    Sure, you can have it I’ll trade it for your.. MacBook Pro? j/k, I’m in love with my Mac.

41. Posted by tam - 09/12/2007

    iMac is a Rolls Royce….PC’s are Volkswagens….iMacs are cheaper in the long haul…

Subscribe to this entry's comments