Electronics 2000
Apple
What makes an iMac an iMac.
FROM THE PRINTED PAGEOriginal ad copy
OCR transcription from the archived page. Scanning and reading-order errors may remain.
From the box to the Internet in 10 minutes. Just plug in the power, plug in the phone line and follow the easy on-screen instructions. You'll be surfing the Internet and emailing on your very first day. Starts up in about 12 seconds. iMac automatically goes to sleep when you leave and then wakes up quickly when you return. Just tap any key and you're right back where you left off. No need to wait while your computer regains consciousness. Runs in virtual silence. iMac has been ingeniously engineered to be cooled without a fan, making it one of the quietest computers ever built. So when you use your iMac, you can actually hear yourself think. And you can leave it turned on, ready to use at any time. Optical mouse. iMac comes with a state-of-the-art optical mouse to give you perfect precision on almost any surface without a mousepad. It has no moving parts to clean, and it's ergonomically designed to fit any size of hand. Harman Kardon speakers. iMac sounds as good as it looks. With a pair of Apple-designed Harman Kardon stereo speakers built in, you get the full range of sound and maximum enjoyment when you watch DVD movies, play advanced 3D games or listen to CDs and MP3s. Slot-loading CD/DVD drive. Just slide a CD or DVD into iMac's media slot and it's gently pulled in, automatically. There are no delicate parts exposed and there's no fragile CD tray for the kids to use as a cup holder. What makes an iMac an iMac. Make your own Hollywood movies. iMac DV models let you make high-quality movies like a pro. Just plug in a digital camcorder, fire up the easy-to-use iMovie software (included) and edit using titles, transitions and your favorite CD soundtrack. Then transfer your movies to videotape, or post them on your free Apple-hosted website. Wireless home networking. Have more than one Mac? With Apple's amazing AirPort wireless networking, up to ten Macs can share one Internet connection, using a phone line, cable or DSL modem with no wires. Almost magically, it works through walls and ceilings, up to 150 feet away. So the whole family can have access, anywhere in the house. There are all kinds of PCs in the world, but only one iMac. It's the ultimate combination of award-winning design and amazing features. And the perfect surfing, emailing, movie-making, music- and game-playing machine. For details, visit us at www.apple.com or call 1-800-MY-APPLE. Think different. [Small bottom-edge legal line is illegible.]
Commentary
The blue shell is the first clue, but the ad spends remarkably little space simply admiring it. I can see the iMac’s internal shape through the translucent case; above and beside it, the spread becomes a field guide to what the machine does. Nine short sections describe setup, waking, cooling, mouse control, sound, discs, video editing, and home networking. The headline arrives in the middle: “What makes an iMac an iMac.” Apple treats design as a combination of visible form and everyday behavior.
Each feature answers a small irritation. The box-to-internet claim addresses setup anxiety; the 12-second start and sleep mode address waiting; the fanless case addresses noise. The slot-loading drive gets the liveliest demonstration: no tray for children to use as a cup holder. The lower half moves from maintenance to ambition. A camcorder and iMovie might make the household a film studio, while AirPort might let up to ten Macs share one connection. These are the ad’s promises, including qualifications such as “iMac DV models,” rather than a guarantee about every iMac configuration.
The phone line is an especially useful time stamp. The ad can promise internet access on the first day and still tell the buyer to plug a line into the machine. It also imagines posting a film on a free Apple-hosted website after making it on a local computer. A present-day reader may expect wireless setup, cloud sharing, and online video as ordinary background services. Here each step receives its own paragraph because the work of connecting, creating, and publishing still needs explanation.
For a new copywriter, the repeated short headings are the mechanism. “Optical mouse” and “Wireless home networking” name features, but the sentences beneath them translate those nouns into a missing mousepad or internet access anywhere in the house. “What makes an iMac an iMac” lets the list answer a larger question about identity. The lesson is to give a complicated product a consistent rhythm of feature, friction, and benefit, while keeping model-specific limits visible.
Apple’s July 2000 iMac announcement confirms the period’s optical mouse, fanless operation, AirPort support on DV models, and slot-loading drives. Apple still sells an iMac, now with a very different display, processor, and connection set.
The lasting promise is a computer whose details make everyday tasks easier. The dial-up setup, optical-disc drive, and free hosted movie page locate this version of ease in 2000 rather than in the current product.