During a Special Media Event in October 1999, Steve Jobs presented the new MacOS 9 and new enhanced iMac Desktop Compters, which sported integrated Hi-Fi Stereo Speakers manufactured by Harman Kardon. A great accessories kit for 99 US-Dollar was the optional transparent 20 Watts Subwoofer iSub which was designed by Apple Designer Jonathan Ive, who created the iBook and the iMac.
Timeless design, beautiful sound: It was a pity that the iSub was designed to collaborate only with Harman Kardon Speakers of the iMac and Apple Pro Speakers which came with the PowerMac G4.
Not compatible with the iBook: The iSub will not work with you Clamshell running MacOS 9. When OSX Panther or Tiger is installed, you will notice that the iSub and the poor integrated 1W Mono Speaker are totally out of sync.
One year later Harman Kardon lauched a standalone version named Soundsticks, which came with additional two small but powerful 10 Watts Satellites. The audio connection was made via USB, so it was not an ideal solution for a Clamshell iBook with a single USB Port. The succeeding versions Soundsticks II and Soundsticks III came with a standard audio cable and can hook up to all devices without using drivers.