The iMac is credited with rescuing Apple during the darkest days. Designed by Sir Jony Ive, this is the first Apple machine I remember really being aware of. The colorful array of computers were first sold in the United States in August 1998, and five million had been shipped by April 2001. On Compsmag, William Gallagher reflected on the amazing success of the device.
This machine took the innovation that Apple had done before, it took the business ethics of solid design and a complete device-like tool and screamed about it. Where the Mac literally said ‘hello’, the iMac metaphorically said ‘look at me’. And people listened. The iMac was announced by Steve Jobs on May 6, 1998, but did not go on sale in the United States until August 15 of the same year. Two weeks later it was released in Europe and Japan. Two years, eight months and four days later, on April 19, 2001, Apple announced it had shipped its five millionth iMac. That’s about 5,112 iMacs sold every day. It’s an iMac every 1,183 seconds. No wonder it saved the company.