Original iMac G3 Bondi Blue (Rev B)

This original G3 Bondi Blue iMac is a glorious piece of personal computing history; unique design, and a “first” in many respects.

This was the first computer that Apple called iMac; promoted as a new Mac for the Internet age, hence the “i” prefix. The form factor of the All-In-One computer was also unique at the time. This was the first Mac to include USB ports; and to exclude a floppy drive. This iMac also included the now infamous “hockey puck” mouse; a fascinating design for a mouse but really awkward to use. The built-in ethernet port made networking easy, something its windows counterparts were still struggling with at the time.

This particular iMac has some cosmetic damage to the plastic facia around the monitor. When I moved a while back, I dropped it on some black top from about 2 feet. The monitor didn’t get a scratch, but the plastic is marred.

This system originally sold for $1200 in 1998.

Some Tech specs:

• PowerPC 750 (G3) @ 233MHz
• 512 MB RAM (2x 256MB SODIMMS)
• ATI Rage Pro Turbo video with 6 MB of VRAM
• built in 15″ (13.8″ viewable) monitor
• 24x CD-ROM
• 25 GB hard drive (see below)
• 2 USB, 1 modem, 1 Ethernet, 1 audio in, 1 speaker out, 1 headphone
• built in speakers
• Mac OS 10.2.8 installed
• will also boot Mac OS 9.2 (installed)

Note: The BIOS on the iMac does not recognize a partition larger than 8GB for boot. So this drive has been partitioned 8GB/17GB to get it to boot. (We are dealing with 1998 technology).

Even more pointless information about this iMac: The internal components closely resemble the components of Mac power books of the same era.