The Latest Toys for High-Tech Trendsetters

When you look around at most of the computers on the market, it seems clear that computer makers can’t quite understand a fundamental truth: Millions of people find computers, well, dull.

Apple Computer broke that mold in 1984 with the original Macintosh and after years of struggle in the wilderness has done it again with the iMac.

Part fashion statement, part object lesson in simplicity, this machine is nonetheless a capable computer ready for serious-minded number crunching, page layout, game-playing or Web surfing. Credit Apple with another brilliant stroke.

True, the $1,299 iMac is more costly and less expandable than competing PCs. It lacks a floppy drive, so it requires additional hardware, and it isn’t quite the speed demon that Apple ads claim.

Judging from burgeoning sales, the public considers such drawbacks a small price to pay. Even a few Windows users have moved over to the Macintosh camp because of it.