Today I said goodbye to my prized and precious, the oldest and longest owned computer I’ve ever had the privilege of caring for, my Apple iMac G4.

It might not be the ideal computer for modern work, but I haven’t seen, nor owned, a more beautiful computer yet. I’ve used faster, more helpful, more able computers. But none that have been so simply beautiful, to the eye, and to the touch.

20 years on, never serviced or repaired, it still boots, the PowerPC CPU still computes, the hard drive still works, in-fasct all of the components still work. The optical drive, ethernet ports, all the USB ports still work, along with the USB tech accepting brand new USB keyboards, mice, and touchpads.

Who would of imagined that an almost 20 year old computer would mostly work today?

The only real negative impact 2021 had on this computer was browsing the modern web, the main problem being SSL.

If I was a wiser and richer man, I’d keep her in pristine condition and in a box, ready to take out and show my grandkids in 30 years, alas, I have not the time or the space, so instead I’ll leave them this 2021 blog post about a 2002 computer released in the aftermath of the Y2K bug, the Dot-Com Boom, and the fall of the Twin Towers.

A computer that was not matched in style for at least 20 years.