Products |
Apple iMac Desktop Computer
By
Published: Jan 01, 2006
Category:
Gifts and Gadgets
Here is how lame I am when it comes to technology: Anything beyond plug-and-play eludes me. Once, in an America Online training session, I was so fried I had to ask: “Where’s ENTER?” I didn’t learn how to download documents to Word until 1997, when my bonus depended on it. Indeed, my Computer Tutor was once asked by another writer: “Am I your stupidest client?” His response: “Do you know Jesse?”
So I have muddled along for two decades with Dell desktops and IBM laptops, upgrading every two years. There was an air of resignation each time I bought a computer — these things seemed so generic, so-made-in-China-by-a-cast-of-millions, that I could never get very excited about them. Anyway, I knew I could never get too attached to these machines because they were destined to break.
A few years ago, everything changed. We produced a child, and, in the way of new parents, bought a digital camera. We took a lot of pictures. We sent almost none. Why? Because the box to my Dell sits under my desk. I have to get down on my knees, fight through the dust kitties and popcorn kernels — to say nothing of a rat’s nest of wires — in order the plug the USB cord into the back of the computer. And did I say the desk is small, so I have to twist into an entirely unnatural position in order to deal with the computer in the first place?
There’s more, and worse. Because I was running Microsoft products, viruses were everywhere. You know the drill: Add protection. But the anti-virals slowed the computer down. Working on my Dell was like showing up daily for a truck pull. Add all the glitches — I often had to reboot to use the printer, and the screen had a tendency to freeze just when I was on deadline — and I didn’t exactly mourn when a Fatal Error struck the Dell and killed it dead. (Yes, I have an external hard drive for backup. I mean, any fool could see that was not optional.)
For once, the gods of technology were on my side. As my Dell was giving up the ghost, Apple was installing Intel chips in its new iMac — and the new iMac, as pretty much everyone knows, is a stunning breakthrough. That is, it has no “box.” The whole deal is a big, beautiful screen, a keyboard and a mouse. The “computer” itself? Tucked neatly (and silently) behind the screen.
Everyone who has ever used a Mac tells you how easy it is to use. And about the absence of viruses. Now add to that a unit that lives only on top of the desk, has a modest footprint, and has plugs-ins you can reach just by turning the screen. It comes with wireless capability and Bluetooth. Its speakers are built into the monitor and sound damn good at almost any volume. And it goes without saying that this machine has a mind-meld with the iPod and iTunes.
I have not read the manual, but I’m using my iMac like a pro. (Okay, like a gifted amateur.) I went for the 20-inch screen because why not? (The iMac comes with a remote so you can sit on the couch with pals and watch stuff on the monitor.) If you’re into movies or extensive picture-editing, I’m told that 512 GB is not going to last forever — you’ll want to buy more memory and move up to one gig.
For wireless printing, I’ve added Airport Express so my wife — who now has an iMac of her own — can print without wires snaking through two rooms. And I bought AppleCare Protection, because who wants to pay to have a computer fixed?
Flaws? It doesn’t like AOL much (although that could be the other way around). I’m not used to a mouse without left and right click. And as the son of a merchant, it galls me that there’s no discounting on Apple products (though there is a rebate).
These are minor quibbles. They don’t begin to touch the pleasure I take in walking into my office and seeing a beautiful piece of sculpture — and then sitting down and discovering all over again how functional it is. No wonder Dell sales are slumping. No wonder Apple is soaring, not only because of its astonishing iPod sales but because people like me are discovering that Apple computers are equally user-friendly.
Just one thing: Trying an iMac and walking away, knowing it won’t be yours, must be grim. Don’t try one if you don’t plan to buy one. Or, as in my house, two.
