Apple Declares Luxo-Lamp iMacs “Obsolete”
8:39 am, July 27th, 2009, Leander Kahney
Apple has declared the iMac Flat Panel as obsolete. CC-licensed photo by Windell H. Oskay, www.evilmadscientist.com
Apple has officially declared the iconic “Luxo lamp” iMac as an “obsolete” computer.
Several models of the iconic machine, which won as many enemies as fans for its unusual lamp-like design, will be declared obsolete on September 15, according to HardMac.com.
The obsolete designation means that Apple service centers will no longer stock parts for the machines –and will no longer repair them — though third-party repair shops likely will.
The Luxo-lamp iMac caused a huge stir when it was introduced in 2002. It made the cover of Time magazine and is now exhibited in the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan.
The machine was the first iMac to feature a flat-panel display, which floated above its CPU, housed in a white plastic dome. The screen was attached by a double-jointed chrome arm, which realigned the screen with the slightest touch of a fingertip, but then kept it in place — no mean feat of design.
The machine was a bear to design, according to Apple’s head designer, Jonathan Ive. At first Ive tried to glom the guts of the computer onto the back of a flat panel display, but the early prototypes were inelegant. Then, during a walk in Steve Jobs’s back garden, Jobs told Ive that each element had to be “true to itself,” which led the designer to look at sunflowers as inspiration, and seperate the screen from the body.
A few years later, Ive was able to marry the guts to the screen, and newer iMacs are much closer to Ive’s original conception, but the freaky-looking Luxo-lamp iMac remains a firm favorite of many.
Posted by Leander Kahney in Apple, Hardware, Macintosh, News | Comment on this article
Joining a long long list…
of dead Macs
ger
gerald miller, on July 27th, 2009 at 9:12 am
I will always fondly remember my beloved lamp. It was a GREAT machine. A work of art!
Sully, on July 27th, 2009 at 10:29 am
RIP
Andy M, on July 27th, 2009 at 10:29 am
Probably the best Mac design ever IMO.
At least from the usability standpoint of the end user. Horrible to service though and all the models that were made are so slow by today’s standards they are hardly useful for anything.
Still, today’s iMacs are ugly compared to this thing though and every time someone comes into my office I have to swing the whole computer around whereas before I just had to swivel the screen.
Gazoobee, on July 27th, 2009 at 10:58 am
sad, sad, sad!!!!!!! I still have mine & it was my first love… ((sigh))
Stephanie, on July 27th, 2009 at 11:44 am
Best computer design EVER.
I’ll Never put mine in the trash EVER!
Deocliciano Okssipin Vieira, on July 27th, 2009 at 1:34 pm
And it had a great ad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FArpvvokqwU
djscott, on July 27th, 2009 at 1:50 pm
I’ve just bought one of these (AU$103.00) and put an Airport card in it. It sits in my kitchen to use for the internet, radio, and, best of all, a digital photo frame. Even with the Airport card it cost me much less than a similar sized photo frame – even assuming you can get a 15″ photo frame. It looks really good and does the jobs I want it to do.
Kevin Wright, on July 27th, 2009 at 2:09 pm
This is one Mac I will not be parting with ever! I really miss not being able to move the screen around when both my wife and I are sitting at the Mac.
Stuart Bainbridge, on July 27th, 2009 at 2:46 pm
Running fine, on OS 10.4.11
Added memory.
Syncs with new iPHone.
Bill, on July 27th, 2009 at 3:13 pm
This is my favourite Mac ever. I will always love the design of this.
nthn, on July 27th, 2009 at 3:32 pm
3 months ago this was still my main computer(and most powerful)
It is still on my desk.
It was bought by the end of 2002.
Is it really that old ?
really great computer, my first mac, my older PC’s couldn’t survive a week longer than four years.
Will it die on me? Some important info is on that thing
king, on July 27th, 2009 at 7:46 pm
I’ll always have fond memories of this Mac
When I entered high school, these were first installed as a brand new “Mac Lab” with our walkathon funds.
These were the first experience I had with OS X and would eventually lead me to purchase a macbook in college. Too bad they’re going to be considered obsolete. They were great machines.
Nicole, on July 28th, 2009 at 5:01 am
still have a g4/700 imac like that that i use as a music box in the bedroom. there it will stay until it dies.
firesign, on July 28th, 2009 at 8:48 am
– King:
You have lots of ways to save that important info. If it has a CD or DVD burner, that’s a good option for long-term archival storage. Or you can use a USB key, or use the Internet. Most on-line accounts (including Internet providers, aka Comcast or AT&T, etc.) have some free storage space.
dbg, on July 28th, 2009 at 8:58 am
Still use mine. It is running Leopard just fine.
Darin, on July 28th, 2009 at 4:59 pm
@Gazoobee: Hardly useful for anything!? I still use mine productively (admittedly the last and most powerful model built) for everything from word processing to internet to photo editing, all at the same time. Runs fine on Leopard if you cram enough RAM into it (2 GB ceiling). I’ll keep it as my main machine until Apple finally wakes up and offers another iMac with a matte screen.
davy, on July 29th, 2009 at 7:37 am
I was using one up until a couple months ago…when I switched to a mac mini but I adored it…it was my media hub running Leopard and doing it well
I gave it to my sister and I miss it…but she loves it…
great machine…and beautiful to boot
I do miss moving the screen around to my needs or to show someone something…it was so convienent
and a work of art…I’m sure it has a few years left in it…
yeah G4 iMac
Alexis, on August 27th, 2009 at 12:47 am