Only a few months after introducing the flat-panel iMac, Apple added the eMac, a lower-cost all-in-one built around a 17-inch CRT (cathode ray tube) monitor. The model was initially introduced for only the education market, but Apple quickly started selling it to consumers as well.
The arrival of the flat-panel iMac also coincided with a shift among Apple buyers, and computer owners generally, toward laptops. Portable machines now account for nearly half of Apple's unit sales.
The flat-panel iMac's 30-month life was comparatively long for computer designs but only about half as long as the 5-year run of the original iMac, which debuted in 1998 and was finally discontinued in March 2003, more than a year after the arrival of the flat-panel machine.
Nonetheless, design experts say that both generations of iMacs made their mark on the computer industry.
"The iMac clearly had a significant impact on the design of IT products and a very positive impact both in its original form and in the flat panel," said Mike Nuttall, a co-founder of industrial design firm Ideo.
Nuttall said the fact that few Windows computer makers followed suit with flat-panel all-in-ones may be a sign of the different ways Mac users and PC owners view their devices.
"A PC user is so used to the precedent of being able to buy displays separately from the (computer) and enjoys that freedom," Nuttall said. "I think the typical Mac user is very committed to Apple... Having the computer all in one is maybe more acceptable to a Mac user."
