Two decades ago Steve Jobs stood on stage and unveiled the original iMac that completely changed everything for Apple. At the time, Jobs was Apple's “interim CEO” and introduced a translucent computer with whacky colours to the world. It was unveiled on May 6, 1998, and was probably the tipping point for the company to re-invent itself. 

© Apple

Just like how Apple shocked the world by removing the headphone jack on the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, the original iMac garnered its fair share of controversy in 1998 as well. At the time, Apple opted to remove the SCSI, ADB, and GeoPort and swapped with a USB port and a CD-ROM drive. It was considered a controversial move back then which somewhat feels a norm today, thanks to every other company adopting the same configuration until today. 

© YouTube

The original iMac was also forward-thinking in terms of connectivity as most PCs at the time did not include a built-in modem. The original iMac was the first desktop computer to include a built-in modem that would be able to support 56 kbit/s speeds. Sure that seems awfully slow when compared to today's internet speeds; however, it was a marvel at the time as broadband was still developing at the time. 

© Apple

The iMac today is a very different piece of hardware when compared to the original as it has gone through some drastic changes with every passing year. The original iMac sold for a period of 4 years before Apple introduced the iMac G4 in 2002. It was the first time a computer had embraced an LCD that was suspended on an angle-poise neck. This design has remained prominent from numerous iteration to the iMac and iMac Pro today. 

Apple is expected to completely revamp the iMac line again as the company is now looking to build custom processors just like the company already does for the iPhone. Apple is expected to completely end its dependency on Intel's chips by 2020 and introduce a new range of iMacs and MacBook Laptops with custom-made chips. This would not only be revolutionary but also allow Apple to innovate more aggressively with software changes that work in tune with the custom chips.

If you want to go back in the past and see the unveiling of the original iMac, you can watch the video below: