It鈥檚 official 鈥� Apple鈥檚 new iMac computer will look weirder than ever, with a flat panel display on a bendy stalk rising out of a rounded base.
Apple boss Steve Jobs released details about the new iMac at the Macworld convention in San Francisco yesterday, ending feverish anticipation that has been fed by an Apple teaser campaign, a leaked Time magazine article, and internet rumors.
鈥淓xpect to be blown away,鈥� Apple warned in the run up to the release of the new design, the first since 1998 when the company introduced the brightly-coloured iMacs that helped dig the company out of debt.
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The new look was a little less surprising than it might have been, after a Time magazine story was accidentally leaked onto the Internet through www.timecanada.com.
Design mantra
Other rumours proved to be just that. Jobs did not take the opportunity to release a handheld computer called iWalk, as a site called Spymac.com had predicted. The closest thing was a Palm executive announcing its handheld computers would be compatible with Apple鈥檚 new OS X operating system.
The mantra behind the new design was to 鈥渓et each element be true to itself,鈥� Jobs says. Somehow, that philosophy translates into a computer components tightly stuffed into a small hemispherical base and an attached flat-panel display with no visible cable.
Jobs also reiterated his intention to make the iMac a 鈥渄igital hub for a digital lifestyle鈥�. The idea is to make equipment and software that will turn the computer into an easy-to-use centre for music, movies, and photography. To further this goal, Jobs also announced a new photo editing package called iPhoto.
The new iMacs will retail at between $1300 and $1800.