iMacTV, Take 2- 24 September 1998
Dan
Knight
Last week I suggested Apple produce a set-top version of
the iMac with a DVD player, infrared keyboard, and the
ability to display as clearly as a TV screen allows. (See
I Want iMacTV.) Earlier this week, Somnath Banerjee of State of the
Macintosh wrote an article, cMac
and Mac game credibility, proposing something similar
but different: a consumer Mac geared toward the game
player. For the sake of simplicity (and consistency with my
previous article), I'll call the new machine iMacTV. Here are my design goals for iMacTV: - retail price $999 or less
- output to Mac monitor, VGA monitor, digital TV, or
analog TV
- DVD player and decoder
- infrared keyboard with trackpad and USB port for
mouse
- good 2D and 3D graphics engines
- 64 MB RAM -- plus one empty socket
- 300 MHz G3 (should be entry level when iMacTV
ships)
- LocalTalk/PhoneNet port for inexpensive networking
(speed is sufficient for multiplayer games, 4x faster
than a 56k modem)
- one IR game controller
You start with the iMac motherboard, boosting it to a 100
MHz bus, moving to a 300 MHz G3, and making 64 MB your
standard configuration. By next summer, that will pretty
much be a solid entry level computer system. Users can attach it to their TV (regular or digital) or a
monitor, either Mac or VGA. They can connect it to other
iMacTVs in the home using phone wire -- or to older Macs
with PhoneNet adapters. Instead of spending $400 on a decent DVD player, $300 on
a powerful game machine, and $800 on an entry level
computer, the iMacTV combines all these into a single
package. It should include a coupon for a special price on
Virtual PC, just in case they want to play DOS or Windows
games. The unit should look like consumer electronics, which
means not beige or Bondi-and-ice. Black and brushed aluminum
are the typical looks for VCRs, DVD players, and other
serious audio and video hardware, so Apple should adopt that
look for iMacTV. If possible, Apple should leave the mezzanine slot open.
With the upswing in digital video, adding a video input
board (possibly including FireWire, S-video, and NTSC
composite) could make the iMacTV an excellent video editing
system -- and a way to dub all your old analog tapes to
digital or make them into QuickTime movies. Of course, you'd still have the USB ports, an internal
hard drive, and all the other great features that would make
iMacTV not just a great consumer video device, but a real
Macintosh, too.  Further readingRecent Editorials- Graphics and game play,
Brian Rumsey, Low End Mac Gaming, 2/8. Our newest columnist looks
at gaming issue on new Macs and old.
- Pismo or Graphite
iBook?, Dan Knight, iBook/PowerBook Page, 2/8. A stunning
image of what a future black & graphite portable could look
like.
- A knowledgeable Mac bigot,
Kevin Thomas, My First Mac, 2/8. "Along the way, I have gone from
being an ignorant bigoted Mac user to a knowledgeable bigoted Mac
user."
- The dubious economics of
processor upgrades, Charles Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings,
2/7. Even if you can upgrade the CPU, should you?
- Wanted: A killer
PowerBook, Dan Knight, Low End Mac, 2/7. To replace my
desktop, I just want a PowerBook with a screen that shows
more.
- Where are the new Macs?,
Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 2/4. Everyone was predicting new hardware
at Macworld Expo....
- Backing up your Mac,
Charlie Ruggiero, Mac Daniel, 2/4. "What do you recommend for
backing up the data on your Mac?"
- Recovering a stolen
PowerBook, The iBook & PowerBook Page, 2/3
- iMac Channel banner contest, The
iMac Channel, 2/2
- New @ Low End Mac:
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