Singapore's iMac Pre-Launch Bash

October 15, 1998

And I thought I'd be too early.

Excitement and Anticipation - Before 6pm, a long line had already formed outside the ballroom in Suntec City, and more people were already milling around inside sipping on specially-concocted bondi blue cocktails in the foyer while waiting for the doors to the ballroom to open. Kudos to the organizers for cleverly staggering the admission of people into the ballroom foyer. Their 'crowd control' strategy worked, causing a crowd to form in the lobby which invited curious looks from people passing by.

iMac Giveaway #1 - Only the first 200 people who turned up stood a chance of winning an iMac in the early bird draw, and believe it or not, I was the 200th in line and the last to get stamped with an 'iMac' on the back of my hand like they do you in discos. Well, like they say, winning isn't everything; it's the participation in the draw that counts. I guess you realize by now I didn't get the iMac.

All in, about 2,000 people turned up (my earlier guesstimate was way too modest, it seems). Mind you, this was a closed event, and those present were either industry insiders or AppleClub members and their friends. Judging from the turnout today, an even bigger crowd is expected at this Saturday's public launch, which will be occurring islandwide at Apple retail stores as well as Electric City outlets.

I also understand from Apple Singapore that there will be a Giant iMac Blimp outside the Electric City outlet at the Heeren in Orchard Road. The Giant iMac Blimp will be right by the building behind the bus-stop and should be quite eye-catching especially for the Orchard Road crowd.

All the major vendors were there with their own booths: Imation, Syquest, Hermstedt, Challenger, Pacific Internet, Adobe, Microsoft(!), etc., and each and every one of the vendors had at least one iMac on display with their products.

iMac ads were running on a giant video screen onstage which was designed to resemble the iMac's front.

To start off the event, Graham Long, the president of Apple Asia-Pacific, got onstage with an iMac T-shirt on, and after a brief welcoming preamble to the gathering of Apple fans and friends, turned the stage over to Steve Jobs. Virtually, that is. Jobs made his appearance on the video screen as the Oct 14 press conference held 18 hours earlier in Cupertino was played back to the people assembled in the ballroom.

Later, to the catchy strains of the Peter Gunn theme, Graham Long and co-host Joe Augustin of Singapore's Class 95 FM radio station sauntered back into the ballroom dressed as the Blues Brothers (or Men in Black, if you like) complete with dark suits, hats, and dark glasses, and with an attitude to match, before going onstage again to rattle off the string of giveaways and prizes for the evening, including what must have been the most welcome announcement of all. Then it was time for the buffet to begin, while the later events were being organized.

Great News for Citibank Cardholders - Citibank is offering its credit card holders 6 months of interest-free installments if they purchase an iMac with a Citibank credit card. Citibank credit card holders need only pay a S$600 deposit followed by 6 equal payments of S$298.

iMac Giveaway #2 - Many people have commented that the iMac's mouse resembles a yoyo, so it came as no surprise when yoyos which resembled the iMac mouse were given out as part of the early bird freebie packs. Plus there was a yoyo contest held where the winner walked away with an iMac. At one point during the contest, Joe Augustin quipped that the iMac was easier to use than a yoyo.

iMac Giveaway #3 - People who made pre-purchases of an iMac during the event were entered into another lucky draw for the last free iMac of the evening. And (I hope I heard this right) the first 200 purchases during the event come with Virtual PC thrown in for free.

For The Record - Apple's iMac will retail for S$2,388 and will now come with:

Hardware - Similar to the US configuration with the exception of the following:

• Built-in ATI Rage Pro accelerated 2D/3D graphics chip
• 6MB VRAM for maximum video support of games even at the highest resolution

Software

• Mac OS 8.5
• AppleWorks productivity software
• Microsoft Internet Explorer
• Netscape Navigator
• Nanosaur
• MDK
• William-Sonoma Guide to Good Cooking
• Adobe PageMill 3.0
• Free 6 months Pacific Internet Easy Access subscription (including activation)

Apart from these, Apple Singapore has also secured a number of deals with third-party vendors which should please iMac buyers.

Come by again Saturday for a report on the iMac launch in Singapore.

Related reports:

iMac to launch with Mac OS 8.5 in Singapore

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