Letters: Feb. 4, 2002

Flat-Out Cool!

"Like the iMac, Steve Jobs is cheeky and iconoclastic. And visionary. By comparison, other computer makers appear stodgy." KARL NYQUIST Glasgow, Scotland

In the wake of recent events, social and economic, Apple should be commended for its bravery in the high-tech marketplace [TECHNOLOGY, Jan. 14]. The new iMac computer is an eye-catching symbol of Apple's vision and leadership. Apple's user-friendly operating system, Mac OS X, is employed by everyday users who are happily unaware that it is a state-of-the-art system. TOBY SMITH Pittsburgh, Pa.

The new iMac is cute, but after cute, then what? At my local computer store, Mac-compatible software titles are vastly outnumbered by those for the PC. Apple grabbed the graphics industry, while the PC people took over the rest of the field. The number of users who want to edit movies and sound is small, and you can do these things on a PC as well. If Apple is to survive, it must become a bit more mainstream and a lot less cult driven. BARRY PEARLMAN Chesterfield, Mo.

It is refreshing to see Apple get some of the credit it so richly deserves. Every day I am amazed at the effect the original iMac has had on industrial design, from computers to dustpans. Apple's computers make our workday fun. AIMEE GIESE Denver

Steve Jobs is out of touch with today's consumers. More than ever, the personal computer is seen as simply another home appliance, much like an expensive toaster. Most machines, regardless of their operating system, incorporate the same general functionality. The new iMac is not revolutionary. It is simply a prettier toaster. BRIAN LAVALLEE Quebec City

Jobs has an uncanny gift for knowing what people want their computers to do. Nearly all Apple's good ideas have been copied by others, but they can never make the concepts work as well or with as much style. Apple says, "Think Different," and I agree. So I say to computer users: Watch out. If Steve is doing it, you are likely to see an imitation of it soon. MICHAEL KLEIN San Antonio, Texas

Once again Apple releases a cute but basically irrelevant desktop computer, and the media fawn over it. Any Joe Average can go to a store and walk away with a Windows box that has a nice, fast Pentium 4 processor and is compatible with almost everything. Apple can sell overstyled toys to its fanatical 5% of the market, but why should the rest of us care? MIKE YURKOVICH Lincoln Park, Mich.

I own a Mac, but even for Mac fans, your story on the new iMac was over the top. Writer Josh Quittner gushed so much, I felt as if I had been under Niagara Falls for an hour. Jobs is a miracle man and knows his creation best, but I'm willing to bet that the new machine won't live up to the hyperbole. JEFF TOPPING Phoenix, Ariz.

The new iMac is just another Apple with a pretty face. What's next, a racy-looking vacuum cleaner? TRACY J. EVANS Albany, Ore.