Robert Cole's Profile

While your article is well concieved, you go on too long about the "unnecessary" eMac. While for a home user's or business perspective, I could see how one can view an eMac as dated, and unnecessary, but let me tell you from my perspective, having worked for 4 years in the educational market (where the "e" in the eMac comes from, actually). Back in 1998, when Apple released the original iMacs, there was much rejoicing. No longer did we have to deal with floppy drives (forcing many teachers over to the network drives for files that had insisted for years on floppies over our network store because they were stubborn), and it was an all in one machine that was inexpensive as compared to the AIO PowerMac G3, and mostly as powerful, albeit not as expandable. This was a major boon for us, since we could roll out labs much faster, with only 2 cables to connect (plus keyboard/mouse), and the profile made it much more indestructible for students' use. Really the only part that students could destroy now (and they did) was the CD-ROM drive. Then there was the slot-loading iMacs. This took care of the cd-rom destruction issue, and allowed schools to continue the trend of iMacs for students' use. This worked wonderfully for years, and with the iMac DV models, even teachers could use these machines. Initially, when Apple replaced the iMac G3 models with the iMac G4s, with their beautiful LCD displays, administrator's hearts stopped around the world, mine included. Never would I put an LCD where students found any way possible to break a machine, including sticking pencils and cheese in floppy drives, carving out the lens of the Bondi iMac's cd-rom tray, and stealing mouse balls. It was just asking for destruction. When Apple did this, they announced about 2 months later the introduction (I'm sure due to these complaints from schools) of the eMac. These schools don't want a fancy machine, just something that has a small footprint (the eMac is a fraction of an inch shallower from front to rear than the original iMac) so that it can fit on a desk, and do what it needs to do; namely word processing, internet browsing, and some other minor applications. And there were some requirements: CRT display for it's durability, similar footprint as the original iMac, all in one, and be as inexpensive as possible. The eMac hits all of these well, and with it's G4 processor it is perfect, even still today, for schools. Some home users will use them because they're cheap (about the same specs as a Mac Mini, with a 17" display, but a little cheaper if you don't already own a display), and my sister actually owns one. But by and large, this machine is not targeted for home use, rather, for educational use, where an LCD display would be suicide, and a G5 processor would add an unnecessary cost. If anything, add a model to fit in the middle, but for heaven's sake, leave the eMac alone.