Is Ti design getting long in the tooth?
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.
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.
Comments
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.
<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.
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.
And is it just me, or could the Apple logo be a bit smaller on the lid?
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
<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.
tsukurite
you mean with beeing an interactive
interface for photoshop..
*let designers do their work*
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.
Personally, the iBook's trackpad is much simpler and easier to use.
In fact, just use the same material as the iBook but keep it silver/metallic or black.
Increase the thickness by .15 inches to accomodate a tray loading drive or Superdrive.
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.
<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???
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)
(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
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.....
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.
<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.
<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.