Is Ti design getting long in the tooth?

The biggest flaw of the current model is the need for and /or over use of the fan. That's the biggest flaw.

As long as they're going to use a wide screen (and I think it's a great selling point) it's helpful to keep it an inch think. It would be too big if it were thicker and still had the wide screen.

[quote]Originally posted by satchmo:
<strong>This pertains more to it's design--not it's technical specs.
What if any design enhancements would you like to see made to the Powerbook?

Slightly thicker? More scratch resistant? Different coating? Different colour?

I would like all of the above, but mostly, a new trackpad with a different colour keyboard. I don't mind it remaining it's thickness but make it more durable.</strong><hr></blockquote>

I'm not sure why, but when I read this, I thought to myself: Why mess with perfection? And anyway, it hasn't been out THAT long. The basic design of the G4 case remains that same after four years, Same with the old iMac, etc. Sure colors have come and go, but the design remains the same. Apple designs products that are beautiful, yes, but every aspect of that design serves a purpose. To re-engineer the Ti book would be folly.

it's not perfect.

As far as design issues, I'd like to define design as the process of solving problems, NOT deciding which colour to use.

VERY FEW PEOPLE KNOW WHAT DESIGN IS. I'm not talking about what constitutes good design, but the dicipline itself.

I hope there are REAL designers here that can back me up but the world is caught up in sensory candy, and this has done a huge diservice to the design industry. Evey time I get asked to add "more pictures" to my designs I feel like exploding. I call it trhe drape effect.. I want it red bacause my drapes are red, and I like my drapes. I'm here to solve problems, not be an interactive interface to photoshop.

OK, enough ranting, back on topic.

I think the next evolution of the Powerbook needs to address the concerns of the users so far:

1. HEAT
2. Display resolution
3. slot loading concerns
4. interface

1. Heat.. that's up to the engineers = Aerogell insulation?

2. Display resolution.. let's get 1600x1024 or close to that.

3. Slot loading conerns like shaped CD's need to be addresed.

4. Interface - here's where ID can come in handy. I think the idea tossed aroud about a glowing keyboard is great, and I think Apple should increase the size of the trackpad and make it able to accept a pen. Also, softkeys (with little e-ink displays on them) which are user customizable would be cool, and so would bluetooth, audio inputs, DVI (?) and more robust case protection.

Titanium is really strong, but not very hard. Carbon composite would be lighter and stronger, as well as harder coating options. If we can just get high yeild cheap carbon nanotube production and cheap Aeogell (near vaccuum level heat protection) we can have the coolest (literally) hardest, lightest strongest Ti Pb possible.

A larger pen friendly trackpad would be fantastic, there's certainly room for one, and moving the button slightly lower would also be better. I'm really not a fan of the black keyboard - think the iBook looks far cooler with the white one.

And is it just me, or could the Apple logo be a bit smaller on the lid?

I think the keyboard should lower a few millimeters when the thing is closed - because my screen is scratched from the keyboard. Which is lame, of course.

Larger resolution would be fine, I guess, but all the programs I use work great - FCP and so on.

I like it being so thin - it's nice and easy like that. I don't like seeing the screen get all waterlike when I accidently forget to open or close it using the corners of the screen.

I don't use shaped CDs - they seem silly to me.

Andrew

[quote]Originally posted by JasonPP:
<strong>*snip!*

Titanium is really strong, but not very hard. Carbon composite would be lighter and stronger, as well as harder coating options. If we can just get high yeild cheap carbon nanotube production and cheap Aeogell (near vaccuum level heat protection) we can have the coolest (literally) hardest, lightest strongest Ti Pb possible.</strong><hr></blockquote>

So just how far along is nanotube development anyway? Last I'd heard, it was just in the lab. It was going to be a few years before it could be pushed to production. Right? Or did I miss something?

Carbon composites would rock!
We'd have to change the apple to a superman symbol since it could stop a bullet!



Aerogell, isn't that what's used on the Space Shuttle for the tiles? Wouldn't insulation that was that good effectively cook the cpu? I thought we want to let the heat out.

Oh, wait, you could use it on the case, not the cpu. Duh. As long as there's a vent, I guess convection currents, or a fan can pull the heat out.

tsukurite

jason. i know so much what
you mean with beeing an interactive
interface for photoshop..

*let designers do their work*

This is what Apple needs to make!! And fast!

Sorry! I mean this...<a href="http://www.dynamism.com/gt3/gallery.shtml" target="_blank">Bad ass laptop!!</a>

I dunno about nanotubes, but composites are pretty far along. Last week I went looking for a tennis racket for a gift, and I couldn't believe how light, strong, and cheap they've gotten. Carbon-fiber + titanium weaves are really very strong. They could still market the whole Titanium thing, but make an even stronger case that wouldn't transfer so much heat to users' laps. Some are saying that the Ti is acting as a giant heat sink, but in retrospect that may not be the greatest idea. Cooler chips would help. But, if the case material were changed, that doesn't mean the inside of the case could not incorporate an efficient venting and heat sink design.

And get rid of the slot load. Nice gimmick sure, untill a disc gets stuck or you need to load up a 3" disc, and they're out there. Plus a tray load where the whole mechanism comes out (not a bay) -- just an optical mounted so that it could slide out completely would make it easier to change out a defective drive, upgrade the mechanism, or even use a second battery (shaped to fit) -- provided you store the optical in a little enclosure when it ain't in the book.

I would rather they kept the 1 inch thickness and added external superdrive burner functionality to iDVD. That's a little bulkier, and of course an internal 1 inch superdrive would be the best....

I don't foresee any significant changes to the overall design. You don't mess with the kind of success the TiBook has been enjoying.

The Titanium can also be coated, which would both allow for different colors and (more importantly) provide a great deal more resistance to scratches and dings. Someone was speculating about a carbon-fiber cage under the titanium shell, and that would also help the laptop's durability immensely.

I agree that the slot-loader should go. It's a cool gimmick, but it's trouble-prone. And if Apple goes to a tray-load design they can add a SuperDrive easily once they and Pioneer manage to squeeze one into a slimline form.

The display needs to be brighter and sharper.

The battery needs to be Li-polymer. I'm increasingly taken with the idea of a built-in battery a la iPod, which li-poly makes easy, but since it's such a wide machine it could accomodate a second battery as well.

AirPort should be standard, if only so that nobody has to disassemble the notebook just to add it.

Better cooling is a given, and if they do a really good job with it I'd love to see a dual-processor TiBook. I know there's not a lot of room in there, and I know there are heat issues, but if they could pull it off... damn. :cool:

DVI out standard with a DVI-to-VGA adapter bundled. DVI-to-ACD adapters are too expensive to bundle, but at least the option would be there for a fully digital connection to an Apple LCD. And VGA would still be available.

Other changes would be incremental: A move to the newer, faster, cooler G4s; a bump to the graphics card; increased HD capacity.

[quote]Originally posted by JasonPP:
<strong>Titanium is really strong, but not very hard. Carbon composite would be lighter and stronger, as well as harder coating options. If we can just get high yeild cheap carbon nanotube production and cheap Aeogell (near vaccuum level heat protection) we can have the coolest (literally) hardest, lightest strongest Ti Pb possible.</strong><hr></blockquote>

You're suggesting a problem. Titanium is pretty nice in that it can conduct the heat away, cooling the processor. Sure, your lap gets warm, but that's an awful thing to do to the elctronics. Carbon nanotubes are too far off, carbon composites may be used, in moderation, but anything to replace titanium lead (Get it, TiPb??? anyway...) must be able to be both strong and thermally conductive. Although forced air convection is an alternative, fans are noisy. I would rather see a cooler electronics requirement passed onto Moto.

Carbon nanotube development is still in the lab so far. But over the next few years we should see some conceputal high yeild production become cost effective. These things are the strongest fibres known to man. They have a tenstile strength of over 150Kpa which means you can theoretically build an elevator to space with them (honest).

They are much stronger than diamond fibre (still pretty much thoery) and can be coaxed into being insulative, conducting or semiconductive. They conduct heat better than copper (ultralight heatsink) and are about as revolutionary as plastic was, what, 50 years ago?

Aerogell is sort of like liquid smoke. There is another thread her taking about battery technology and using them in the future. You can vary the density of the substance and you can make carbon or silica based aeogells. To give you some idea of the surface area a bar-of-soap sized chunk has as much surfae area 5 football fields. That's about 1000 sqm/g!!!! ( source <a href="http://www.studentgroups.ucla.edu/gsj/air.pdf" target="_blank">www.studentgroups.ucla.edu/gsj/air.pdf</a> )

No, Aeogells are not used on the space shuttle, I belive that's an advanced ceramic. I think there are plans to replace these with Aeogell tiles, but aerogel is very, very delicate.

I love the idea about the sinking keyboard! that's like the new Sharp 3/4" laptop.

Lithium Poylmer battery is a must moving forward, but I think Apple has this planned for use soon.

I've never seen carbon/titanium weaves.. do you have any links, I'd love to read up on it. I have heard of titanium-plastic matrix, which sounds pretty sci-fi to me, but I can't confirm anything.

Anybody think about removing the LCD completly?

Microvision had demonstrated a SVGA retinal scanning laser they're bringing to market. What if instead of a display you just put on a pair of glasses or a clip on (this would need at least SXGA resolution and full colour,, not sure when)

-thumb print scanner for increased security
(not at all likely, but still cool)

-if they make the powerbook tray loading, then they should make it into a bay where you can add different stuff. If they took the whole cd area and pack that with a battery (bay add-on) (like the ipods battery that's supposidely really good). you could get some really good usage time out of that. and, people could make a bay for zip, etc.

-another firewire port would be nice

-change some of the lines of the pb to give it a refreshed look. for example, the piece of metal that runs around the edge of the pb could possibly be combined with the bottom or top plates. I don't know what's technically possible, but a revision of some of the lines would be cool

-color: even though i do like the whole white, gray theme, it needs another color that works well with white and gray. nothing like the lime green ibooks, but maybe and additional color for the powerbook and ibook

I don't personally like the idea of a non-removable Lithium Polymer battery because 1) It would make the feature for swapping out a dead battery while in sleep mode impossible. This is a very attractive feature to me, and as long as they keep it in the next REV or PBG5 lol, it will add immensely to the value.
2)When the battery goes dead (as in broken), you would not be able to swap it out, and would be required to send it back to Apple.

Maybe if they put it behind the cd bay or something, but of course that would present the problem of having to take out the drive first etc.....

I think all the Powerbook needs are a few cosmetic changes to be considered the best designed portable in the world thoug it may even be that now.

Make it more solid and stable, take away the drastic brished metal look and bump he resolution of the screen up.

The iBook is what I see as the portable in Apple's line that could use a redesign that actually matters. Apple could make it much thinner and lighter... I would love to see a 1 inch thick and 4 LB weight Apple consumer portable with a compromised 13.x inch screen.

[quote]Originally posted by Macintosh:
<strong>
The iBook is what I see as the portable in Apple's line that could use a redesign that actually matters. Apple could make it much thinner and lighter... I would love to see a 1 inch thick and 4 LB weight Apple consumer portable with a compromised 13.x inch screen.</strong><hr></blockquote>

if apple did that to the iBook they could kiss their education sales away. the iBook already isn't as strong as it could be.

iBook is not a subnotebook. it's suppose to be a rugged small portable that will withstand abuse from kids and even adults.

[quote]Originally posted by applenut:
<strong>

if apple did that to the iBook they could kiss their education sales away. the iBook already isn't as strong as it could be.

iBook is not a subnotebook. it's suppose to be a rugged small portable that will withstand abuse from kids and even adults.</strong><hr></blockquote>

Ok, ok, forget the weight factor and make it out of steel and lead.

[quote]Originally posted by warpd:
<strong>Sorry! I mean this...<a href="http://www.dynamism.com/gt3/gallery.shtml" target="_blank">Bad ass laptop!!</a></strong><hr></blockquote>

wow, that is ugly. all those rounded corners... some nice ideas, but what an ugly implementation.

the problem of heat should be dealt with at the source, a cooler apollo is what is needed.

[ 02-25-2002: Message edited by: janitor ]</p>

The heat from a highspeed processor need sto go somewhere. If not disipate through the bottom then where? It would be nice but an engineering nightmare to thread a watercooling system up through the display hinge. You have to design plastics to bend thousnad s and thousands of times without cracking. i suppose it's been done/ Anywhoo, you can make the thing a little more lap=cifrnedly if you push the heat oue somewhere else. The palmrest? The heatsink should be the ENTIRE metal surface of the computer.

[quote]Sorry! I mean this...Bad ass laptop!!<hr></blockquote>

No no no, you mean this:



Intel® Pentium® III processor 1.1GHz,
512MB SDRAM,
Toshiba Personal Theatre 15" UXGA active matrix display (1600 X 1200),
NVIDIA® GeForce4 440 Go graphics controller with 32MB DDR VRAM
DVD/CD-RW multifunction drive,
40GB Hard drive,
Yamaha Sound System featuring harman/kardon® Stereo Speakers with subwoofer

How thick is it? Great specs all the same! It still runs that, what do they call it? Windows?

[ 02-25-2002: Message edited by: Macintosh ]</p>

[quote] No no no, you mean this: <hr></blockquote>
Yes, but is in not really a desktop replacement, as much as it is a desktop!! The thing weighs a ton, and is about as attractive as Yassir Arafat in the shower. Sure is cheap though!

[quote]Originally posted by Jeremiah Rich:
<strong>I don't personally like the idea of a non-removable Lithium Polymer battery because

1) It would make the feature for swapping out a dead battery while in sleep mode impossible. This is a very attractive feature to me, and as long as they keep it in the next REV or PBG5 lol, it will add immensely to the value.</strong><hr></blockquote>

I'd forgotten about sleep-swapping, but still, my design called for a second, modular battery as well. So if you wanted you could have a laptop with 5-6 hour battery life and no possibility of the battery falling out, or you could plug in the second battery and get 10-12 hour battery life! You'd only have to sleep-swap when the internal battery was down on power: Otherwise you could hot swap the second battery.

[quote]<strong>2)When the battery goes dead (as in broken), you would not be able to swap it out, and would be required to send it back to Apple.</strong><hr></blockquote>

This is already true of the miniscule internal battery that Apple uses to allow for sleep swapping. Since batteries don't break often, I don't see that as much of an issue. I could amend the design to have the "built-in" battery modular, but screwed in like the original iBook's, so that it was absolutely secure but easily removable if it needed to be removed.