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John C. Dvorak: Apple iMac G5 is ‘reminiscent of a 1954 DeSoto’
Wednesday, September 01, 2004 - 08:02 PM EST

"On Tuesday, Philip Schiller walked onto a Paris stage at the Apple Expo 2004 to announce new products. Apple's senior vice president for worldwide product marketing was replacing the recuperating Steve Jobs. He mentioned that the founder and chief executive would be back in September, and that 'September cannot come soon enough.' If he checked a calendar he'd find that, in fact, September came the next day. The company seems to have lost track of time, and it showed with the G5 iMac... the machine comes in one old-fashioned color: 1988 platinum white. The design is hardly inspirational. In fact, if you put two headlamps on it and a metal sun visor over its 'windshield,' it would be reminiscent of a 1954 DeSoto," John C. Dvorak scribbles for CBS MarketWatch.

"The architecture is risky. First of all, they jammed the entire computer into the screen, making the idea of changing 'monitors' or screens impractical... What's worse, the engineering required that all of the USB, audio, Ethernet and modem connectors (10 of them, not including the power line) are awkwardly and inconveniently placed on the back of the bulky monitor-computer. With all these wires running off the back of this top-heavy machine, there's a good possibility that one will get tripped over. I suspect the iMac will go flying. This lash-up just does not look stable," Dvorak opines. "Even if I'm wrong, I'd still like to know what happened to all those fancy colors Apple was promoting."

"The fancy colors are now relegated to the iPod, which now seems to be Apple's primary focus. Schiller spent a lot of time bragging about Apple's 59 percent market share in the MP3 player market. Is this something to be proud of? Where does this market head? Almost anything with a small amount of memory can be turned into an MP3 player nowadays; you just need a headphone jack," Dvorak fumes.

It goes on and on and on here.

MacDailyNews Take: Unfortunately, the original "Big Fat Idiot," John C. Dvorak, has managed to put crayon to construction paper yet again. The new iMac G5 looks nothing like a 1954 DeSoto, except on John's home planet, the ever-cloudy and perpetually dark Ignoramus. If you put two headlamps and a metal sun visor on John's head, you'd have a moron dressed as a car. The idea of changing monitors has always been impractical in an all-in-one computer design going back to even before 1984's original Macintosh, but John's just catching up now. If top-heavy Johnny has another doughnut, there's a good possibility that he'll be the one tripping over; we can only pray it's off the side of The Golden Gate Bridge. Next, John wants to know "what happened to all those fancy colors Apple was promoting?" The answer is that Apple hasn't had a color other than white or metal in its Macintosh line since the iMac G3 was introduced in July 2001. That's over three years ago, Mr. Dvorak. '54 DeSoto John sure is current, huh? The iPod has 58% market share according to Schiller, not 59% as John mistakenly scrawled. Still, yes, it's something to be very proud of and the iPod is Apple's Trojan Horse that shows the Wintel masses what quality really is and causes them to consider why they don't have a Mac, too.

Bonus MacDailyNews Trivia: Did you know that John C. Dvorak and his two cohorts, Rob Enderle and Paul Thurrott, avoid being seen together at trade shows due to the inevitable chaos that ensues? It seems that as a trio, the group simply cannot avoid being mistaken for these guys.

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Sep 01, 04 - 09:24 pm Comment from: sam

Dvorak deserves to be castrated. I remember the massive amount of abuse he got from the mac community when he said apple would go with intel for the G5 mac.

The Idiot

Sep 01, 04 - 09:31 pm Comment from: Charly

"Almost anything with a small amount of memory can be turned into an MP3 player nowadays; you just need a headphone jack,"

Yes,It's called Dell DJ

Sep 01, 04 - 09:41 pm Comment from: Scotty

Hey, I take offense a the libelous statements being made about the three stooges. The stooges are cool, D, E, and T are idiots, and the stooges could take them in the ring any day! A little pop goes the weasel, and curly will tear them up!

Sep 01, 04 - 09:47 pm Comment from: JD

Dvorak is a hack who has been consistently wrong about computing trends for more than 2 decades. What else is new...?

(But, please lay off the physical appearance attacks, it's juvenile and just hurts your arguments.)

JD

Sep 01, 04 - 09:47 pm Comment from: neomonkey

Somehow, I knew when I clicked on the "these guys" link it would be the Stooges. Dvorak is still bitter from being ousted by TechTV. His hyperbole as a writer is tiresome, but I don't think it's fair to lump him with Enderle and Thurrott. Dvorak doesn't know what the view is like inside Bill Gates' ass nearly as well as the Two Stooges. He's like Mikey, he hates everything.

Sep 01, 04 - 09:49 pm Comment from: Moe

Stooges RULE!!!

Sep 01, 04 - 09:52 pm Comment from: blurg

Wow. Hilarious.

Sep 01, 04 - 09:52 pm Comment from: MikeD

Ah, Dvorak. Haven't heard from that shill in a while. He apparently crawled out from under his rock to slam the new iMac.

Looks like in his time out of the spotlight that he hasn't yet found a clue. The piece smacks of a tirade from someone who's just plain lost it and is clutching at straws, any straws, for SOMETHING negative to say.

Sep 01, 04 - 09:55 pm Comment from: rageous

dvorak fears the iMac will topple when a cord gets tripped over? When exactly is the last time someone has tripped over a cord coming off the back of their monitor I wonder?

As for the colors Apple was promoting: Um, when? Does anyone else recall Apple promotion colors as being an option with the new iMac? Neither do I.

Sep 01, 04 - 10:02 pm Comment from: kirk

Monitors and whatnot ARE hard to change out in all-in-one computers (which isn't automatically a bad thing). However all-in-ones go back long before the original Mac.

In the olden days, when we had microcomputers (IBM had yet to create "Personal Computers"), there were several. I remember Heath (later Zenith) had an all-in-one Z-80-based machine. There was a machine called the Color Computer (I can't remember who made them). Was it the first Comodore that was all-in-one with a funky tiny keyboard and even the cassette tape deck built-in? Of course, Radio Shack's TRS-80 Model II and III were both all-in-ones. And I think they had a "Tandy One" that pre-dated all of them.

The history of the all-in-one is long and varied. Mr. Dvorak just doesn't get it.

Plus I guess you consider every notebook/laptop computer and all-in-one. They seem to be selling well.

Sep 01, 04 - 10:11 pm Comment from: Boeing777

He sounds like Arnold wanting to do politics. Of course this guy tried to talk techie but in truth he lost sense of what he wrote just before starting his nonsense.

Sep 01, 04 - 10:20 pm Comment from: all-in-ones

As kirk said, the history of the all-in-one is long and varied.

This site is interesting for a brief history of the all-in-one: http://www.blinkenlights.com/pc.shtml

I am very happy about what Dvorak wrote. I'd be more worried if he liked it. That would be the kiss of death.

Sep 01, 04 - 10:22 pm Comment from: notatotalsucker

Funniest MDN response yet.

ps thanks for the Mac Daily Chuckle.

Sep 01, 04 - 10:27 pm Comment from: iSteve

My parents still talk about how they loved the Desoto Adventurer they owned in the late 50s.

I guess Gateway is the Pinto of the industry, Dell is the Pacer and MS' products are the Pontiac Aztec (good on paper, bad in execution).

Sep 01, 04 - 10:50 pm Comment from: Cobra

Only difference is that Arnold obviously knows what he's talking about while this idiot Dvorak will never have a clue. He, Turdrott and Enderle are indeed the Three Stooges of ANALysts...

Sep 01, 04 - 11:00 pm Comment from: Chuck

I think the 54 Desoto was a way cool car. To me it always looked like it was inspired to be futuristic. It suggested speed just sitting still. The design suggests something a car should be. A symbol of power, speed and comfort. Some design elements are still mimicked today, Hum....

The New iMac looks like a sleek white box, rather stark. My wife said that it looks like the Computer she always wanted. Something that was so small, simple and elegant that the screen was the computer. Sort of what the Mac 128 wanted to be, but the technology was just not there... The design seems inspired to be futuristic.... It suggests something a computer should be. A simple elegant tool, and not be the center of attention. I wonder if these design elements will still be mimicked in 50 years?

Perhaps the fat old fool was correct. Apple has a classic on their hands!

Thats why I ordered 3 for my office today....

Sep 01, 04 - 11:15 pm Comment from: meat of moose

John has apparently stopped taking his medication, but he still has some cogent points amongst his mental ramblings.

I, too, am uninterested in Schiller’s lavish self-promotion of Apple. Good grief, Schiller, show a little class and stop the annoying self-congratulatory backslapping and embarrassingly obsequious pandering. The facts interpret themselves and require no additional editorializing or boring adjectives. I thought that if Schiller used the word “Great” one more time I was gonna mute the presentation until someone else appeared on the video stream.

I don’t really like the pure white simplicity of the iMac either. Honestly, I was expecting an aluminum enclosure. This is just aesthetics and like they say. “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”

Maybe the iMac attachment provided by Apple is a bit too flimsy, I don’t know. With more money one could attach a VESA mount. Something Apple has apparently recommended. This is something I would do if I bought the iMac.

Who needs 10,000 songs on an iPod? Not a person like me with a limited budget. I would prefer longer battery life if the iPod would hold 1,000 songs. Besides, if you are days away from an electrical outlet battery life takes on a whole new meaning. Of course, if you are no more than 2 days from 120V AC and you like audio books I suppose a larger hard drive is essential or if you use the iPod as a portable storage device to carry files from place to place extra disc space is a good thing.

Everything else John mentioned in his article seemed irrelevant to life on this planet.

Sep 01, 04 - 11:22 pm Comment from: Pee Turd-rod

John Dork knows nothing about cars nor computer. All he knows is to write craps for living ( just like me, hee hee), and to kiss Bill's ass!!!

Sep 01, 04 - 11:32 pm Comment from: chuckie c

This jerk and M$ sellout is so screwed up that he thinks people would actually put the new iMac G5 on the floor so they are prone to trip over the wires!!! Ha Ha Ha,that's so funny! What kind of drug was he on when he wrote this garbage? Feel sorry for this poor soul 'cause he is so out of tough! His time has passed, and we can ignore him from now on. Next!!!

Sep 01, 04 - 11:38 pm Comment from: BuriedCaesar

Funny take, that! So does MDN now translate to "Mac Daily Nyuk"?

Sep 01, 04 - 11:45 pm Comment from: Jim

In the future, please do not bother telling us what Dvorak, Enderle, or Thurott are scribbling about Apple, iPods, or Macs. If we are interested in their blatherings, we can find them on the web, but I doubt that many will bother. They are drones and shills not worth the bits wasted on them. The best thing about their nonsense appearing on the web is that at least they aren't killing trees.

Thanks,
Jim

Sep 02, 04 - 12:07 am Comment from: Mister Ed

Looks like John has been reading (or writing) too much of Enderle and Thurrott's work.

You know, it began to hit me that these guys can publish stuff like that and immediately get 20,000 extra visitors to their site. Up go the numbers. Then, they (Dvorak, Enderle, Thurrott) all sit around and laugh at the Mac users who hit their site and flame an imaginary email account.

So, all they're after is extra hits. A little controversy sends the Mac minions running after someone else to conquer, right?

There's one thing interesting about all these guys; no one ever checks their predictions, opinions, prognostications, and puts them in a database to compare with what really happens.

That's worth some time and effort.

Sep 02, 04 - 12:38 am Comment from: BuriedCaesar

Jim, I'd rather come to THIS site and find out what the various and sundry "shills" for M$ are saying against Apple and their business than find it out elsewhere, or after it's too late. There is an old saying to which I don't know the exact reference, but it's certainly apropos here - that is, to "keep your friends close and your enemies closer." That's especially true when it comes to getting news.

I, for one (and I believe I'm not alone here), appreciate what MDN does for letting us know not just the good being said about Apple's doings, but the bad and the ugly side, too. After all, what gets more viewers on a news site? All sweetness and light 24/7? Of course not. It's the blood and guts and gore and the sensational these days that draws. Plus, it's just lots more fun when something like this comes up to put the knock-down on those who "think" they know everything and have the be-all end-all answers to what's "really going on". These folks more often than not have seen their "analysis" revealed on this site to be ignorant or misleading or poorly-informed or just plain stupid when it comes to all things Mac, especially after the folks who frequent this site get ahold of it in the feedback section.

So, Jim, if you just want the positive "news" about Apple, then perhaps you could just visit the Apple website from time to time.

Sep 02, 04 - 12:46 am Comment from: Mac Beth

he cant seriously be making fun of the color white ??

1988 white is what we call biege now and its every pc out there. that wasnt real white, i know cuz my friend has an old platinum white mac still smile

Sep 02, 04 - 12:59 am Comment from: first

first post!

Sep 02, 04 - 01:15 am Comment from: John C. Dvorak R.I.P.

He is dead right? only a decomposing decayed brain could erupt with all that nonsense.

So long Johnny Boy, burst far away: you smell putrefaction.

Sep 02, 04 - 01:17 am Comment from: Seahawk

Looks like the Fat Boy got angry, fuming over Apple having done it once again.

Sep 02, 04 - 02:00 am Comment from: Badpop

John DorkVac - a bitter loser, unable to reconcile the FACT that he has less 'credentials' to slag Apple than he does M$ for Fsck-sakes!

Look, John. Why don't you and Blob Glaser go and kill yourself with a palate of Krispy Kremes. At the very least, your embarrassed family can use any insurance money you pennyfathers skrimped up to console any greivance against/for (likely, against) you with a nice iPod and a couple of Target ITMS cards!

Fscks like you are still bitching to your 80yr old Mommies about how they lied to you about Santa Claus. They killed themselves - putting themselves in hawk, likely - to make you happy - you worthless, miserable, sack of lard.

Sep 02, 04 - 02:14 am Comment from: Alasdair Scott

"If you put two headlamps and a metal sun visor on John's head, you'd have a moron dressed as a car."
Fantastic!!

The only valid point he makes is that having a shedload of ports on the BACK of the unit mean lots of futzing around, whereas when they're on the front [qv. the PowerMac G5] it's a doddle.

But ports on the front look crap, particularly so when there's 10 of them.

Mr Ive, what's the solution?

Also, has anyone else noticed that the iMac looks like a QuickTime window [but in white]?? Like the way the industrial design reflects the interface design.

Sep 02, 04 - 02:27 am Comment from: Willy

So this is the Tablet Mac we were all expecting. Hey I hope this iMac ain't running on those Toshiba 60giger's. We need them for the next iPod.

Sep 02, 04 - 02:30 am Comment from: BigAl

Dvorak's head is obviously so far up his ass that he needs night vision goggles, an oxygen tank, and ............ nose plugs !

Sep 02, 04 - 02:42 am Comment from: stevej

Just looked at all the titles of his columns on that web page. I think Dvorak is just Andy Rooney of computing!

Sep 02, 04 - 05:22 am Comment from: Harry

Some F.. k in the darkness, others after studying the object !

Sep 02, 04 - 05:23 am Comment from: mike

bwahahah.. yes okay.. rumours are the same as apple promotions, right?

lol.. good one john..

You put the cables through the hole and .. yeah.. the computer sits on this thing called a DESK.. and.. uhm.. you don't walk behind a desk, there's usually a wall there of some kind.. when was the last time you saw the back of a freakin' Dell Dimension.. it's hideous and it faces the wall.. DUH! That's why it's called the back of the computer.. pfffft.

Damn apple.. first computer to have cables.. so easy to trip over.. pfft

what exactly is the criticism here?!?! the iMac will tip over.. the all-in-one computer will never sell (need he be reminded of the iMacs introduction.. pffft.)

With over 70 mp3 players out there.. i'd say 58% IS something to be proud of... you know.. unless you're an imbecile and can't imagine how successful that is...or what the number even means..

Sep 02, 04 - 05:54 am Comment from: Mac & PC Guy



10 (John) = this
20 rem :this = see above posts
30 (John) = that
40 rem :that = see above posts
50 Let (John)= average MDN poster
60 Print (John)
70 rem :(John) looks and sounds pretty much the same as the original

Forgot my BASIC... lotsa SYNTAX errors :(

Sep 02, 04 - 06:16 am Comment from: pkradd

You see. He got the attention he so desperately needs as he has been below the radar for a long time. This will pass, as I hope his kidney stone will as well. Out of mind, out of sight.

Sep 02, 04 - 07:25 am Comment from: DudeMac

DeSotos were an awesome car in their day. So I find this as a compliment. As for Dvorak, he's still grumbling over his dumb prediction that Apple was going to disappear back in the '90s.

Sep 02, 04 - 07:50 am Comment from: Arnold

blowing777 = girly man

Sep 02, 04 - 08:25 am Comment from: Red Wings

Blow it out your ass Dvorak, you pathetic windows apologist. I bet you hide in the bushes outside gates home and have to change your pants every-time you see a show in a curtain.

Sep 02, 04 - 08:56 am Comment from: Neil

Alasdair;
The expressive and affable Mr Ive did find the solution to the cable location problem: Put them on the back where they belong.
Where are they on 99% of towers? On the frelling back!
How much time does a user spend fiddling with cables? 1%? 0.5%?
The rest of the time you have a nice looking computer to use.
Just when I was wondering how on earth Apple could improve on the inspiration that sits on my desk (occupying a scant 10.5inches) they go and blow everyone away. Again.
Btw, the only Dvorak I pay any attention to is Antonin, who passed from our sphere 100 years ago this year but still sounds so much sweeter than our modern bane, the ignorable Mr John.

Sep 02, 04 - 08:57 am Comment from: Glick7

Dvorak has an agenda and his work shows it.

Glick7 also has an agenda... its called "Dumping the last two Dells at the office and replacing them with new G5 iMacs."

Done, ordered.

Sep 02, 04 - 10:03 am Comment from: Joe McConnell

Wow, castrated AND thrown off the bridge?

Anyway, it is too bad that the new imac was not the headless sub $1000 design I and most others were looking for.

Sep 02, 04 - 10:16 am Comment from: pkradd

Sorry Joe. "most others" were not looking for a headless Mac. You were of course, but you don't speak for me and millions of "others". ;-]

Sep 02, 04 - 10:36 am Comment from: Viridian

Joe McConnell,

Will you please give the "headless iMac" crap a rest? If it's headless it's not an iMac, period. Asking for a G5 mini-tower is a different story however, and I certainly see the attraction there. Let's reiterate: iMac=all-in-one; not all-in-one, not an iMac.

Regarding Dvorak, by coincidence I read Daring Fireball's April 2003 piece about Dvorak's OS X-on-Intel "prediction" just yesterday. Selected quotes:

"John C. Dvorak’s modus operandi is to instigate. He is a button-pusher, seldom if ever trying to inform, preferring instead to inflame."

"Dvorak is a pundit, not a reporter. When he makes a prediction, it is usually based on nothing more than his own conjecture, not actual sources. And looking at his track record, his conjecture usually has more to do with what he thinks will be controversial, rather than what might actually happen."

"To the best of my knowledge, he’s never had a serious scoop regarding Apple — a significant prediction that turned out to be right — and he’s been on the job for at least two decades."

"Just remember that Dvorak is pulling all of this out of his ass. He has no sources, on- or off-record, claiming knowledge of such a project."


And that pretty much sums up Dvorak's entire "writing" career. Read the entire piece for a true handle on the nature of the beast, it's excellent. John Gruber is dead on target, and although the piece was about Dvorak's prediction that Apple would abandon the PowerPC architecture in favor of x86, you can substitute any of his pronouncements and see the same pattern of rubbish emerging. The more things change...

Sep 02, 04 - 11:08 am Comment from: max

Hey John, I wouldn't be attaching my photo to my articles if I looked that fat. Been super sizing too much. Maybe 40 million Americans could afford healthcare if you and your fellow stooges would drop a few hundred pounds and get healthy.

Sep 02, 04 - 11:11 am Comment from: pkradd

Dvorak, of course, writes for PC users. Each new introduction of an Apple product brings out his nasty demeanor. He's a very morose individual, unable to see the forest through the trees. He exists not only to needle Apple users, but give his PC constituency a reason to hold on to their computers. He has no insight into anything he writes. As are many so-called Tech writers (not all) he's an incompetent hack.

Sep 02, 04 - 11:12 am Comment from: Al

Joe,

It's a bodiless iMac. At least they got rid of one part. Dyslexia strikes again.

Here's hoping Dvorak is as right about this iMac as he was back in 1984 when he said the mouse would not gain wide acceptance.

Do not give this troller any hits.

The real reason Dvorak, Enderle and Thurott are never seen together is that they suck so bad that their combined forces would cause a black hole to form. They have a mutual 1/2 mile exclusion zone in their mutual restraining order.

If you ever hear sirens going off all over the place at a tech show, run for your lives.

Sep 02, 04 - 11:23 am Comment from: Jayplus

If white is sooooo 1988, what's beige?

Oh I see, beige is the new white. Got it.

Sep 02, 04 - 11:38 am Comment from: G-Spank

Look for the Republicans to hire John Dvorak as part of their Spinopoly soon...he'd fit right in.

Sep 02, 04 - 11:58 am Comment from: Joe McConnell

Al, good one.

PK, Viridian, et. al. , a couple months ago we had several threads about the next imac model and many MANY people agreed with me that a sub $1000 g5 headless "imac" was desirable. Many others came up with similar ideas on their own and posted them in other threads. If the nomenclature is actually that precise excuse me.

I don't read every thread, especially recently during the new hardware drought, but I don't recall ANYONE longing for what the new imac has become.
It IS one piece. It IS called an imac. It IS an interesting design concept, but it is closer to an etch a sketch than anything else I can think of. It is Steve Jobs vision, not mine, but once again he didn't ask my opinion, nor, it would seem, pay attention to many of the posts on this site. No reason he should, he has a nice life, and a slightly enlarging band of sychophants to encourage him.

Have a nice long weekend everyone.

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