ARC Clients: Apple: Creative To the Core

Today, most computer manufacturers make their mark with lower prices and extended specifications. Then, there's Apple Computer, which really does seem to "think different." Marching to its own drumbeat, the plucky Cupertino, Calif.-based company has created marketing buzz and media hype with an assortment of products sporting a unique look and feel. In the past few months, Apple rolled out its Power Mac G4, which features a modern look-and-feel and standard duel processors, as well as the Power Mac G4 Cube, which measures only one-quarter the size of traditional PCs.

The company, which finished second in the client category in this year's Annual Report Card survey, is also fighting against the Windows' tide with its colorful iMac, priced at $799,significantly lower than the last generation of iMacs. It's a hit with the hip college set.

"Bringing the price down from previous models by $200 is an impressive feat, considering we didn't compromise in any way to bring it to market," says Linda McNulty, director of desktop product marketing at Apple. "Obviously, the new price point makes them highly attractive."

The iMacs are available in a rainbow of eye-catching colors that include indigo, ruby, sage, graphite and snow. "All of the colors are popular because they are rich jewel tones," McNulty says. "The range of different colors is making these computers even more friendly and exciting."

In the portable space, the company is also doing some cool things. It started shipping PowerBook notebooks that come standard with a DVD player, Firewire support and a 14-inch screen for on-the-go video studio capabilities. In the iBook, Apple doubled the memory and the memory expandability, and added a 6-GB hard disk. The iBooks come in a wide array of colors, including blueberry, tangerine and graphite. The colorful nature of the products are just part and parcel of what differentiates the machines.

Despite a recent profit warning that saw its stock price plummet, Apple officials remain positive about potential notebook computer sales. "We've had the best portable year we've ever had, and the look of the units are a part of that," says Greg Joswiak, director of portable product marketing at Apple. "We have worked to design something to capture people's attention but still make the design a part of the functionality of the machine."

Apple offers an optical mouse as standard issue on all its units. It provides both precision tracking and easier maintenance. And the new generation of Macs also ships standard with iMovie 2, a feature that lets users edit, enhance and disseminate their own desktop movies.