8 Responses to “[ Retro Scan of the Week ] Black Tie Optional”

1. SirPaul Says:
   October 10th, 2011 at 5:01 pm

   The first thing I thought of when I saw it was something along the lines of “I didn’t know Fisher-Price made computers…”

   13 years later, even after possessing an iMac DV Special Edition, I still think the first-gen iMac and iBook looks more like a toy than a computer.

2. Matt Says:
   October 10th, 2011 at 6:46 pm

   I thought it looked a little old, 90’s, “blobject” even then in 2000. I did like whatever the cube one was though. I guess it got kind of bad reviews as a machine, but it looked pretty neat.

3. ednixxon Says:
   October 10th, 2011 at 8:37 pm

   Oddly enough, what I remember most about the iBook was the apple was upside-down when someone was using it. Maybe I was still mad at them for killing off the ][gs and had quit buying their products. (I’m happy to say they fixed the problem and the apple on my MacBook is the right way up!)

4. Lawrence Says:
   October 11th, 2011 at 4:52 am

   I’ll be honest here – I’m anti-Apple. Not anti their products per se, just their business model.

   Which is why my views are possibly a little warped; I much prefer the first-gen ones. Until that time, everything was a very dull grey or light-khaki. Everything since has been sleek black, white or silver in a sea of products.

   For me, the original was a stand-out product that almost made me buy into Apple – had I not been a poor student at the time, I likely would have!

5. technotreegrass Says:
   October 11th, 2011 at 11:45 am

   I agree with SirPaul; I thought the original looked like a toy and not the high quality machine it was supposed to be. However, I did like how the iMac offered a variety of colors, which has since led to the color being a significant factor whenever buying computers or video game consoles.

6. Braybett Says:
   October 11th, 2011 at 12:13 pm

   Lawrence was a poor student and thus earned D grades, so he didn’t get an iMac. You see, his father said he would have to keep a B average to get one.

7. Donn Says:
   October 11th, 2011 at 3:12 pm

   I thought it looked pretty darn cool! I was still in the PC world at that time, but my dad and stepmom were Apple people (she worked there at the time), so I had a toe in enough to know a few things. By the time the fruit flavored iMacs came out, I was working as a developer alongside designers who were all using Macs, so I really came to respect the platform. Besides, they had no problem going toe-to-toe with the PCs in the Quake III demo, so that did a lot to promote their equality. Then I went to my first Macworld with those guys, and it was only a matter of time.

8. lilimist Says:
   October 12th, 2011 at 6:59 am

   I liked the Rev B Bondi Blue iMac that came out here in Aus in late ’98 so much that I went out and bought one. Prior to that, I’d only owned PCs, though I’d dealt with Apple for digital audio (Sound Designer/Session 8/Pro Tools) and in my graphic design course. It was my first personal internet computer, which I also used for programming and web design, Hypercard, irc/icq/aim, scanning pics (I had a matching Bondi Blue scanner put out by AGFA), writing my novels, joining mailing lists, and on and on. It truly is the computer that changed my method of communications with the world. 13 years later it still works, I replaced the logic board in it once, and it’s travelled with me all around the country, about 10,000 kilometres, though I don’t have space for it on my desk alongside the g4 eMac, g4 iBook, laser printer, and Z88, so it lives in a cupboard, for now. But the soundclip of Outlook Express 4(.5?) receiving mail still brings a rush of wistful nostalgia, and given my current computing line up, it obviously left me very impressed as to what I could achieve with an Apple machine. 😉

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