Hey guys, it’s Greg with Apple Explained, and today we’re going to explore the history
of the eMac.
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Now in this video we’re going to cover the eMac, but it’s important to note that this
product was actually a spinoff of the iMac G3.
So in order to fully understand the eMacs place in the market, we’re going to cover
the iMac as well.
So let’s begin by turning the clock back to 1998, when the personal computer industry
was turned upside down with the introduction of the iMac.
You see, personal computers were becoming more and more popular, both in the education
setting and for personal home use.
People were starting to understand and realize that these fantastic machines could cut production
time, make life easier by offering information at the touch of a finger, and open lines of
communication they had never experienced, and all for a pretty affordable price.
Computers at the time were essentially boxes of technology that weren’t expected to serve
an aesthetic purpose, but rather a functional purpose.
So although they got the job done, they were all pretty ugly and boring to look at.
But in 1998, the concept of the personal computer was about to change forever.
And it was all thanks to the iMac G3.
This machine was a revolutionary product that featured a colorful egg-shaped design that
was so unusual that it appeared to be from a another planet.
This new machine also featured a USB port instead of the Serial Bus connector that was
standard at the time.
There was one thing it was missing, though, and that was a floppy drive.
Instead it had a CD drive, and other computer manufacturers followed suit which eventually
led to the floppy drive becoming obsolete.
So the iMac proved to be an extremely important product for Apple, especially considering
it saved them from near-bankruptcy.
Now one of the headlining features of the iMac was it’s ability to quickly connect
to the internet right out of the box.
In fact, the “i” in iMac originally stood for internet.
And this may have been one of its most important features since the internet was booming during
this time and consumers were looking for an easy way to get online.
But the internet wasn’t only being used for messaging in chatrooms, or playing web-based
games.
It was the largest, most accessible source of information in the world.
And this had a huge appeal to the education market.
After all, the internet was first tested by universities after it was invented by the
US department of defense.
So schools naturally took interest in the iMac G3 since the product was built around
the internet.
Apple recognized this demand from the education market and set out to create a more affordable
machine for schools and universities.
But there was one problem, because in 2002, Macintosh computers began the switch from
CRT to LCD displays.
This was an expensive change, and Apple knew they couldn’t afford to put an LCD display
in a low-cost machine.
So it was at this point when Apple launched a lower-priced version of the iMac called
the eMac.
Where the “e” was short for education.
So the eMac was an all-in-one desktop computer aimed at the education market and sold exclusively
to schools and universities.
It was priced at $999, which was much more affordable than the $1,799 entry price of
the iMac G4.
The eMac’s design appeared to be very similar to the iMac G3.
But Apple made some changes in order to cut production costs.
For example, it’s shell was no longer translucent like the iMac’s, it didn’t feature an
integrated handle, and it was only sold in white.
That way Apple could save money on manufacturing and price the eMac in reach of the education
market.
As for the internals, Apple didn’t compromise since it featured a PowerPC G4 processor that
was quite a bit faster than most G3 chips, and it had a 17” flat CRT display.
This was a huge improvement over other offerings for educators, and many schools took note.
But it wasn’t just teachers and professors who expressed interest in the machine.
Because after being on the market for just one month, the popularity and demand for the
eMac was just as high among consumers as it was among educators.
And Apple quickly opened sales of the emac to consumers, offering the computer as a less
expensive alternative to the second-generation LCD iMac G4, although its price for consumers
was $1,099, $100 more than its price for educators.
But there was a downside to the eMac, and that was its weight, at 50 lbs or 31.7 kg,
paired with the absence of a handle, the eMac lacked portability which could’ve been an
issue for schools who move machines around depending on where they are needed.
Now I should also mention a technical issue that plagued quite a few eMacs during their
lifespan.
And that was a problem called the “Raster Shift” where the bottom portion of the computers
display would go black, shifting images up and off the top portion of the display.
This was caused by a faulty video cable and Apple did offer a solution by replacing the
effected video cable.
As with all Apple computers, improvements to the eMac were made over its lifespan.
Yearly upgrades in speed, graphics and memory made the eMac computers even more popular.
In 2003 an eMac was released that had a faster ATI Radeon 7500 Graphics processor and AirPort
Extreme Support.
In April 2004, the first upgraded eMac appeared on the market.
This machine had increased RAM, faster memory, a faster ATA bus, faster optical drives and
a faster graphics chip.
It also received a $200 price drop.
There were two models available; a “low end” model with a 40 GB hard drive and a
combo drive for $799, or a “high end” model with an 80 GB hard drive and a SuperDrive
for $999.
2005 brought an even faster version of the eMac, which again had increased RAM, and a
faster dual-layer SuperDrive on the high-end model.
There was also a larger hard drive and a faster graphics chip on both models, so it was up
to the consumer to decide how large of a hard drive and how much RAM they wanted.
The “low end” model offered an 80 GB hard drive and 256 MB of RAM and a combo drive
for $799.
While the “high end” model featured a 160 GB hard drive, 512 MB of RAM and a SuperDrive
for $999.
Now in October 2005, without making any major announcements, Apple withdrew consumer sales
of the eMac and sold it exclusively to education customers.
There was no explanation as to why Apple decided to pull the machine from the consumer market,
although some analysts believed Apple wanted to force consumers to purchase the more expensive
Mac mini or iMac which had higher profit margins.
The eMac’s lifespan was short-lived, from 2002 to 2006, and was ultimately discontinued
in favor of the iMac, which Apple could manufacture more inexpensively than the eMac.
So, in 2006 the eMac was pulled from the market and replaced by a lower-end iMac, which again,
was sold only to the education market.
Now within the past few years, education consumers have integrated the use of Apple’s iPad
into the elementary and middle school classrooms.
Up to now, Google and Microsoft have led in the education market, despite Apple’s long
history in the space.
But with the iPad, Apple is positioning themselves in a very interesting way.
The company continues to lower the iPad’s price to make it more accessible in an attempt
to conquer the post-PC education market.
Although the iPad is an educational front-runner with its ease of use, accessibility, and app
marketplace, they’ve been severely lacking when it comes to integration with existing
educational systems and software.
At its recent Apple Education Event, the company announced it was going to be releasing some
new learning tools on the iPad.
Including the Apple Pencil, Classroom (an app that assists teachers in managing lessons),
Schoolwork (an app where assignments can not only be created, but also monitored), and
an update to the iWork Suite of apps.
They’ve also allowed students 200GB of iCloud storage space for free, but it’s limited
to students who have Apple IDs that were provided by their school.
Apple also announced a new iPad model during their education event.
It weighs just 1.03 lbs or 16.5 oz, and offers support for the Apple Pencil which was previously
only available on the higher-end iPad Pros.
And when considering how the iPad compares to other notebooks on the education market,
it’s easy to see why an iPad could be more appealing.
It’s lighter and more versatile than a notebook computer.
Not to mention how the Apple Pencil transforms a students ability to take and organize notes.
Pricing is also a major factor when it comes to education.
And Apple realizes that although software and apps are important, the iPad needs to
be affordable in order to appeal to students and their parents.
And when considering the 2018 iPad’s price of $329, it beats out most of its notebook
competitors.
This means that the iPad has more to offer educators and students at a lower price than
its competition.
And if you’re wondering why Apple doesn’t offer a low-cost notebook for the education
market, it’s because they believe tablets are the future of technology in today’s
post-PC era.
And while computers aren’t going away anytime soon, the use of tablets make technology in
education more accessible to younger students in elementary school and to students with
special needs.
In fact, many elementary and middle schools today are requiring students to use iPads
in their daily studies.
And there are definite advantages to this decision, including helping to give students
who excel in academics the opportunity to move ahead in the curriculum.
And this could prevent students from stagnating and becoming bored because there is no room
to grow without actually skipping a grade.
The use of technology also allows instructors the opportunity and ability to help students
outside of the classroom.
Students can be in touch with teachers in real time and get answers to questions without
physically being in the classroom.
So many believe that the use of technology offers a win-win for both teachers and students.
And the use of iPads not only helps students learn basic technological skills, but also
gives them more freedom in learning, prepares them for more advanced technology use in their
higher grades, and helps them gain more knowledge for real-world technological experiences.
Apple’s development of the eMac started a domino effect in education that is still
in use today.
Children are beginning to access technology much earlier in life and the opportunity to
use this tool for learning purposes should not be ignored.
The iMac, eMac, and iPads are and always have been user-friendly and easy for children and
adults to understand.
The days of writing your papers on actual lined paper are, for the most part, a thing
of the past.
Where you used to only type final drafts on a computer, today nearly all the work, from
research to actual writing, is being done on tablets or notebooks.
In fact, many high school students are required to bring notebooks or tablets into the classroom.
And many don’t realize that Apple and the eMac opened doors in educational institutions
that may have never been opened without Apple’s developments in technology.
So that is the history of the eMac, and if you want to vote for the next video topic,
don’t forget to subscribe.
Thanks for watching, and I’ll see you next time.