New Forum proposal- Concepts
I can see why moderators would shy away from this, but I just wanted to float the idea of having a forum here devoted to fleshing out some of the more common concept devices. I've seen a few good design mockups and tech proposals from time to time, but they tend to rise and fall with the rumors. I would like to see a forum where such things are cultivated, maybe even to the point where someone (if not Apple) says, "Damn, that's a good idea! Let's build it!" or at the least it would give some watchful eye at Apple an idea of their customers' expectations.
Here are the major recurring proposals that I can think of, each deserving it's own dedicated sub-forum, IMO.
iTablet
iCam
Mac PVR (iTV)
Mac PDA (iWalk)
iPhone
I may have missed some. New sub forums could be added when a demonstrated interest arises.
Just a suggestion.
Here are the major recurring proposals that I can think of, each deserving it's own dedicated sub-forum, IMO.
iTablet
iCam
Mac PVR (iTV)
Mac PDA (iWalk)
iPhone
I may have missed some. New sub forums could be added when a demonstrated interest arises.
Just a suggestion.
Comments
Oh wait. We <a href="http://forums.appleinsider.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=forum&f=11"; target="_blank">do</a>.
EDIT - added smiley... didn't mean for this post to come off rude...
[ 01-27-2003: Message edited by: murbot ]</p>
This is only my second post. My first one was in the thread "PowerPC Handhelds" which looks like its falling by the wayside now. My argument was that it is now possible to roll your own PPC handheld using Mac-on-Linux and some PPC based embeded boards. My correspondance with the head of the MOL project appears to support this conclusion.
If there were a Concepts category, this is where my post would have gone (along with alot of others). It has no relevence to "future hardware" that apple may be releasing, but it doesnt fit any other category either.
The new category would cover custom projects, mock-ups, and anything not specifically related to what we think apple will actually be releasing. It probably wont happen, but I like the idea.
If Future Hardware were being overwhelmed by such things, we'd give them their own forum. If there aren't many, and the concept threads that there are are languishing, that probably means there isn't enough interest to justify a whole new forum. As it is, I think Apple has discouraged them merely by releasing one eye-popping piece of industrial design after another. I know that discouraged pscates, once an inveterate author of mock-ups.
Moving to Suggestions.
[ 01-27-2003: Message edited by: Amorph ]
[ 01-27-2003: Message edited by: Amorph ]</p>
I don't know how Apple is going to top the LCD iMac, so the chances of a doofus like me contributing anything worthwhile to it are slim to none.
Here's a take on it that I've cultivated recently: during that wonderful iEra of colored hardware and wild swoops and curves, you had so much to go on, either stylistically OR because there were indeed so many curves you felt that space could've been used smarter (think of the original "toilet seat" iBook to its current - and superior in every way - Chiclet-esque successor).
Apple lopped those swoops off and managed to get a really small, light and compact consumer laptop.
Now most of Apple's stuff seems to be so damn efficient and smart when it comes to size, weight, port placement, internal access, etc. that I just don't know what I would change, given my limited abilities, no true industrial design background and complete lack of technical or engineering knowledge.
Basically, I have no business whatsoever doing this sort of thing, although I succumbed to my nighttime urges and recently posted a silly "what I'd like the iPod to become" mockup a few weeks ago.
But the iMac and iBook? Forget it. Damn near perfect, IMHO. The PowerBooks just got incredibly cool and I don't even have a beef with the towers (other than not really caring about the pro gear in general).
Right now, again, I don't see enough traffic in there to justify a split.
I would like to see an Apple Humour section though with some of the more wacky suggestions in there.
Also it would be nice to have daily opinion polls on topics raised in the boards, which can be archived and viewed by everyone.
<strong>Problem with a future concepts forum might be Apple legal threatening to tear Appleinsider down.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Apple doesn't care one bit if people post concepts. There are entire websites dedicated to such things, and Apple hasn't blinked. People have even sent such mockups to Apple as suggestions.
If you want to get Apple Legal's attention, you post leaked information about what they actually are up to.
[quote]<strong>I would like to see an Apple Humour section though with some of the more wacky suggestions in there.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Our forum creation policy is driven by need: If a particular subtopic becomes a significant part of the total traffic in a forum, to the extent that it's pushing other topics off the first page, then it will get its own forum. This doesn't happen often. As I mentioned above, sometimes the reverse happens, too.
[quote]<strong>Also it would be nice to have daily opinion polls on topics raised in the boards, which can be archived and viewed by everyone.</strong><hr></blockquote>
As long as we're on UBB, our hands are basically tied. We've had a lot of problems, and we've basically just been trying to keep UBB from breaking any more than it already has until we're able to move to vBulletin.
But we'll definitely keep that in mind, when it becomes possible.