Why did Apple remove the floppy from the iMac G3? Why not include a Zip disk?

Although this question is rather amusing in retrospect, the original answer published on August 17, 1998 follows:

There are several reasons that Apple removed the floppy. First of all, the floppy disk really is obsolete technology. Just take a look back through EveryMac.com and you'll realize that removing the floppy is long overdue. In 1984, when the original Macintosh 128k was released it had one single 400k floppy disk. The floppy quickly progressed to 800k capacity in Macs like the Macintosh SE in 1987. Then in 1988, the 1.44 MB floppy was used in the Macintosh IIx which also included a 40 MB or 80 MB hard drive. Since then, hard drives have gotten larger and faster while the floppy has yet to progress beyond 1.44 MB, more than 10 years later.

It also makes the case sleeker looking, and gives everyone something to debate. As for including a Zip, any technology that isn't backwards compatible with the floppy would have caused many to complain, while, at least initially, it would have raised the cost. If you need an external floppy or Zip drive you have the choice to decide which technology you're willing to pay for, or if money is no object, you can always get both.

Is the iMac G3 PCI-based? Does it have a PCI slot?

The iMac G3 is PCI-based, but it does not have a standard internal PCI slot. In the iMac G3/233 Original - Bondi (Rev. A & B) there is a 160-pin slot on the bottom of the motherboard labeled "Mezzanine" that is a modified PCI slot, but according to Apple it was designated for internal use only and was removed with the iMac G3/266 (Fruit Colors) line.

Is the iMac G3 CHRP-based?

The iMac G3 is not purely CHRP-based, but work previously done on the CHRP/PPCP architecture did benefit the development of the iMac. The iMac includes OpenFirmware and USB which were both elements of CHRP. Keeping costs low were also a high priority of CHRP design, which was also a high priority in the development of the iMac.

Does the iMac G3 have a ROM?

The iMac G3 does not have the traditional 4 MB ROM that the original "Beige" Power Macintosh G3 series has, but it does have a Boot ROM that is around 1 MB. The Boot ROM contains software to initialize the computer, OpenFirmware, the MacOS ROM image, and device drivers. The remaining 3 MB of ROM is loaded into RAM by OpenFirmware. The result of the ROM being loaded into RAM is that many instructions are executed more quickly, making the iMac slightly faster, but 3 MB of RAM cannot be used by the system or applications.