[hmurchison2001]

Apple likes the All-In-One computer for various reasons. Although some claim the setup is easier I believe Apple likes it because it allows them to get the revenue on the built in monitor.

Why not give users clamoring for a headless computer a break. No I'm not saying ship a headless computer but design the iMac3 as a computer with an LCD monitor attached from the factory. The catch is this LCD would be removable with a wee bit of work. This has two nice effects.

1. Apple gets the revenue that they want.
2. Users aren't locked into an LCD. The iMac3 LCD would be DVI.
3. More flexible setup options. Some people like the look of just the LCD sitting on the desktop.

Yes I'm well aware that if Apple did this they would instantly hear "why can't you just ship it without the monitor?". Well the hell with that. I'm willing to compromise and as long as the iMac3 LCD is DVI selling that puppy is easy greasy on ebay. Therefore my ideal iMac would be as follows.

PowerPC G5 1.6Ghz
17" Widescreen LCD with built in speakers.
256MB RAM/120GB HD
AGP 8X upgradable graphics(Base 128MB)
Digital I/O, 10/100/1000
8X DVD-R burner

$1599

PowerPC G5 1.4Ghz
15" LCD with built in speakers
256MB RAM/ 80GB HD
AGP 8x upgradable graphic(Base 64MB)
Digital I/O, 10/100/1000
8X DVD Burner

$1299

Again a two piece design so that you have flexibilty in placement or you can swap out the LCD someday. Nice coverage between eMac at $799 and $999 segueing to iMac3 15" at $1299 and 17" at $1599. Now these systems would get peoples attention.

[Eug Wanker]

My comments on the subject are here.

I'm not sure they'd go the proprietary mount/connector route if they went in the direction of easily replaceable screen. That way you might still have the problem of an orphaned LCD if you already had an LCD. Anyways, as I've said in the blog, I still expect them to go AIO though.

[hmurchison2001]

Originally posted by Eug Wanker:
My comments on the subject are here.

I'm not sure they'd go the proprietary mount/connector route if they went in the direction of easily replaceable screen. That way you might still have the problem of an orphaned LCD if you already had an LCD. Anyways, as I've said in the blog, I still expect them to go AIO though.

Oh yeah I expect Apple to go AIO. And despite having a G5 I don't think sales will drastically increase. Apples consumer offerings are not losing because they are slow. That's a fallacy. A family looking for a new computer generally is replacing a much slower computer so they realize that anything they get is a lot faster than what they have at home. Apple's problem is price. My sales experience quickly showed me that only a small subset of people desire AIO units regadless of product. I remember consumer reluctance to buy TVs with built in VCR and other "integrated" products. They don't like the idea that if one part breaks they whole unit has to go in for service.

Apple has only so many options for an AIO. Jonathan Ive is great but he's still limited by real world constraints. If Apple cheaps out again and makes an AIO unit with non-upgradable graphics. A G5 isn't going to save it. Sales will spike the first qtr and then quickly fade off to mediocrity.

I'm hoping for some "Think Different" action here.