High Five - 5 Apple Products I Never Owned (But Wish I Had)

This is the first in a new AAAD feature - the High Five. A list of 5 items that fit into a common theme. Today, the top five Apple products I never owned, but that I'd really wanted. (And in many cases, still want, and plan to incorporate into our new house.)

Some of them were flops that washed out of stores before I'd had a chance to get one - others were major sellers that came out when my only disposable income was a weekly allowance. One is a best-seller that's still part of the product line. 

This isn't a list of "quirky Apple products no one remembers", like the QuickTake camera or the 20th Anniversary Macintosh, or the Mac TV. Today's list consists of 5 Apple things that were well-known enough for me to Apple-geek-out over, but that for one reason or another, I never acquired.

Let's get started after the jump with the computer pictured right here.....

5. Apple IIc - This thing made the Apple IIe look absolutely primitive, at least to my 3rd-grade eyes. The keyboard was built right into the computer! And so was the floppy drive! The tiny monitor seemed MORE advanced to me, due to its smaller size resulting in higher resolution. A friend had one, and since it was so small, his parents let him keep it in his bedroom. We'd play Aztec and (especially) Wings of Fury all night. 

This was around the time that my dad picked up a Mac II for his office, and brought it home on weekends. I knew that the Mac was a better computer... but man, I loved that Apple IIc.

Almost thirty years later (REALLY?!) I still love the look of this little thing and its green-on-black monochrome monitor. I know, it always appears on lists of Apple's Greatest Flops, but I still think it's awesome. Totally ahead of its time - back in the early 80's, Apple fans didn't put a premium on product design and miniaturization the way they do today. 

4. iSight webcam - This was just an all-time great-looking webcam. It looks like the lens from a Sony NEX-5! Now that we live in a world of invisible webcams hiding in our iMac glass bezels, I'll never actually USE one, but I sure wanted one back in 2003. Of course, they were $150, and I was a young attorney with little use for a webcam and "better" things to spend my cash on.

3. PowerMac G4 Cube - Another mainstay on lists of Apple Flops - but come on. It's awesome looking. I don't even know if I want to use it as a computer, or pay the premium for a working model on eBay.... but if I could find a non-working one, I'd buy it as an object of art. 

2. Mac Mini - I've been planning to use a Mac Mini in our home theater system ever since they were first introduced in 2005. It's 2013, and I've still never purchased one, even as they get better and better for my intended purpose. The reason is pretty clear - I've owned every AppleTV, and they do a pretty good job of getting media to the HDTV. But the Mac Mini can do more - at this point, it's a tiny, speedy, silent and cheap aluminum HTPC. Seriously, I need at least one of these things.

1. Apple Hi-Fi - Who can forget the keynote where Steve announced the $100 iPod sleeve and the $350 Apple Hi-Fi? This may be the only product for which the Reality Distortion Field failed. Steve said he was getting rid of his home stereo and replacing it with this GIANT BRICK. (I don't know if that was ever corroborated.) 

The design was minimalist, and yet.... not very well planned out. The iPod had to stick out of the top, which meant that the Hi-Fi couldn't be used in shelves without a foot or so of clearance on top. It didn't even last 2 years as an active product.

However, I've been scouring Craigslist for one of these, and I'm definitely going to acquire one and use it in our basement. It has an AUX IN port, which means it will pair nicely with an Airport Express and function as a high-quality AirPlay speaker (while extending our wi-fi range in the basement). And I won't have to worry about an iPod sticking out of the top anymore.

HONORABLE MENTION: Black 2nd Generation 8GB iPod Nano, U2 iPod, Apple IIGS, iPhone Bluetooth Headset/dock (funny how everyone used bluetooth headsets from like 2003-2005 and then never again ever)