Yeah, I was thinking about all of that. I don't guess there's a carved-in-stone rule that says an Apple cube type of computer HAS to have a cool removable core that houses the guts.
Although, that WAS a cool feature on the G4 Cube!
Maybe just a little "trap door" type of thing, like you'd find on the iMac DV series: a little swing-down door that you can open the latch on with a coin? I always liked that.
OR, take a page from the G4 towers and perhaps the entire back of this Cube thing opens and folds out, laying everything out flat and easily accessible?
Again, the sketch above isn't TOTALLY accurate and the location of some of the features is all subject to change. It is, however, correct as far as dimensions go (I based the flat planes on real measurements: 9" wide, 12" tall - including acrylic base, a CD used for reference which measures in at 4.75" round, the various ports are accurate in size as well.
Here's the thing: unlike many others here, I'm not a hardcore techie/engineer/hardware kinda guy, so I have to kinda fudge and guess and "wing it" with some of these things, until others here - more informed and up on sizes, placements, heat and ventilation factors, etc. of various components - can educate me a bit and offer suggestions.
I just know what I think looks cool...beyond that, I'm at a loss.
Imagine if I actually had a clue and knew about some of the more technical stuff!
Yeah, I was thinking about all of that. I don't guess there's a carved-in-stone rule that says an Apple cube type of computer HAS to have a cool removable core that houses the guts.
One of my favorite Apple designs dates back a ways...the Apple IIc. Granted the keyboard would be detached, but something that size would be fine for me. An iMac with an attitude....power and compact. The cube just seems a bit of a strange shape for a computer. Not bad, but a IIc shape or even a pizza-box LC or a vertical version of the NeXT station would be cool. Give that sucker a flip-down/slide-out side like the El-capitan and it would be great.
I don't see how side ports or a tray loader impede the ejectable core design. Obviously, the ports would have to be disconnected any time you opened up the case (a rare scenario to begin with)
The ports just have to line up to flush openings, having them on the side would let the core slide out and click or lock in place (to meet all the openings) when you slide it back. The drive bay door is a complete non issue. A small door hides the front loading tray, any standard 5.25" drive would meet the door (and push it down) without any trouble. When you eject the core (feels like a trekkie gathering, doesn't it?) the whole drive slides out with it: when you install the core, any standard optical meets the drive door in the same location. For tounge out aesthetics, Apple would make all the trays black, when/if you change your drive out, you can buy a black unit, if you care about that sorta thing, otherwise, when closed, no one will notice anyway.
I guess what I had in mind primarily was like the Apple Network Server with it's "slide-out" guts:
The logic board mount would slide out. I like the B&W G3 on up hidden door for the optical drive(s). But a slide-out logic board/expansion card scenario is rather handy.
Or the fold-down door of the El-capitans.
These things may seem like overkill in the Wintel world, but it sure is nice to be able to get at things when you need to, if nothing else for a quick dust-sucking maintenance routine.
I think handles would only be necessary if the sucker had the ability to achieve a fairly large mass, ala El-capitan. Otherwise, a single pop-out Apple IIc handle would be fine, just have to do a better job of hiding it don't cha know. Maybe on the rear of the unit. This thing is not going to be very large, as I envision it...nearly thin-client size.
OK, but a few changes then. Keep the slot loader and lose the feet, or have very minimal feet. Air should be drawn from front to back by a fan that dominates the entire rear execept for a thin vertical portion where the graphics card exits. Ports should exit at the side in a thin row not unlike that on current iMacs, flush, same color, and neat, not recessed. Some nice slotting on the back and thin vents can recycle the air. A big fan will move more than enough air, while still turning slowly. I say make the chassis out of finned Aluminium and cover it with translusent plastic. Via heat ducts, the CPU AND the PS can use the entire chassis as a giant heat sink -- air will pass between the fins and the platsic outer housing as well as having internal air vented in from the small thin vents all along the base, and out through the rear.
Am I the only one here who liked the ports on the bottom and slot-loading drive on the top? Having the ports on the bottom does make them a bit more difficult to get to, but it keeps the clutter down. I think the Cube should be "kept clean" around the outside. This is why I like the ports on the bottom and the drive on the top. The feet should also be kept. It gives it that "monolith suspended in air" feel.
Also, the cube is perfectly silent, and by adding a fan, that factor dissapears. Apple made a silent Cube before, and I'm sure that they can do it again. I don't think a Cube should have dual-processors. Leave that market up to the PM's. By making a single processor Cube, you eleminate the need for a fan, thus keeping it silent. The only time I ever hear my Cube is when the CDRW drive starts spinning.
How loud is an iMac FP? To me they aren't very loud at all, and they have a fan.
Seems to me the trick is to have a QUIET fan in an efficient case. The toaster oven effect is cool, but do we really want the cube to be dripping wires? I could still see the ports exiting on the bottom, at least the stuff that doesn't get continually plugged and unplugged -- the graphics card and the power plug, basically. Provisions for FW and USB have to be different, though. Personally I'd be happy with a USB2.0 hub built into the keyboard. That leaves firewire. An intriguing possibility of having the ports on the bottom, and faster firewire (say FW1600, at least 2 independent buses) would be to allow the cube to stack on top of a drive or PCI module.
Whatever they do, the drive needs to exit at the front. I don't like those openings at the top, you have to reach over to drop discs in, not ergonomic, minor, but weird. Discs should be fed into the front of a machine, facing you, like the rest of machine.
Actually, I've rethought the ideal layout.
Air should flow bottom to top, guided by internal baffles. Bring back the skirt, but not so tall. Put the BIG, SLOW, QUIET fan underneath and have it push air through the case where it exits through four perfectly symmetrical slits on the upper edges where the top meets the sides. Now the cube looks clean from all angles. Perch the CPU against one wall with air moving over it and out it's own slit. Perch the GPU against another with air similarly moving over it. The drives and PS sit squarely in the middle of the cube and air from the fan hits them directly, they all face forward. The CPU/Motherboard and GPU sit at right angles, mounted vertically inside, the GPU exits down, as does the power cord. Some ports also exit down, but a small discrete row exits the side (where the mobo is mounted.)
So, in retrospect, you're right about the clean exterior. But the cube should be simpler and cheaper, and just a little larger in order to facilitate the use of standard sized parts. A fan and forward facing drives can be made just as elegant as the original, and restore functionality sacrificed in the first design.
How loud is an iMac FP? To me they aren't very loud at all, and they have a fan.
Seems to me the trick is to have a QUIET fan in an efficient case. The toaster oven effect is cool, but do we really want the cube to be dripping wires? I could still see the ports exiting on the bottom, at least the stuff that doesn't get continually plugged and unplugged -- the graphics card and the power plug, basically. Provisions for FW and USB have to be different, though. Personally I'd be happy with a USB2.0 hub built into the keyboard. That leaves firewire. An intriguing possibility of having the ports on the bottom, and faster firewire (say FW1600, at least 2 independent buses) would be to allow the cube to stack on top of a drive or PCI module.
Whatever they do, the drive needs to exit at the front. I don't like those openings at the top, you have to reach over to drop discs in, not ergonomic, minor, but weird. Discs should be fed into the front of a machine, facing you, like the rest of machine.
Actually, I've rethought the ideal layout.
Air should flow bottom to top, guided by internal baffles. Bring back the skirt, but not so tall. Put the BIG, SLOW, QUIET fan underneath and have it push air through the case where it exits through four perfectly symmetrical slits on the upper edges where the top meets the sides. Now the cube looks clean from all angles. Perch the CPU against one wall with air moving over it and out it's own slit. Perch the GPU against another with air similarly moving over it. The drives and PS sit squarely in the middle of the cube and air from the fan hits them directly, they all face forward. The CPU/Motherboard and GPU sit at right angles, mounted vertically inside, the GPU exits down, as does the power cord. Some ports also exit down, but a small discrete row exits the side (where the mobo is mounted.)
So, in retrospect, you're right about the clean exterior. But the cube should be simpler and cheaper, and just a little larger in order to facilitate the use of standard sized parts. A fan and forward facing drives can be made just as elegant as the original, and restore functionality sacrificed in the first design.
Yes, a quiet fan is key. But what if they put the fan in the top of the case, with an opening like the current Cube? I'm no engineer, but it seems to me that pulling air top-bottom would be more efficent that bottom-top. Then you have to consider the fact that heat rises, so you might just be pulling hot air back in.
As I think about it, you're right about the front loading drive. The top-loading drive was never a problem for me because of the way my setup is oriented. Anything on the sides, however, should be flush with the case and unnoticable. Also, with that think clear plastic exteior that the Cube has, the drive would have to go through that plastic, and it seems to me that having it on the side might make the Cube structuraley unstable. Once again, I'm no engineer, so I have no idea if it would or not.
It seems to me that we haven't even talked about speakers yet. The current "Pro" speakers suck, and we all know that. Maybe the Cube itself could be used as a subwoofer. Perhaps using a much improved Soundbug-type thing. That would be cool.
I'm no engineer, but it seems to me that pulling air top-bottom would be more efficent that bottom-top. Then you have to consider the fact that heat rises, so you might just be pulling hot air back in.
The reason the Cube works at all is that it uses convection from an air reserve at the base of the unit. Drawing from bottom to top allows you to have either a much smaller or a much slower fan than normal. Drawing from top to bottom would require a much larger or a much faster fan than normal - not worth it.
The reason ATX cases (and the latest Macs) usually have such unbearable fans is that they are trying to cool the case via a rather inefficient airflow. By pulling front to back, you're trying to move air that sits stagnant in areas and to draw it down from the top of the case.
The Cube is really a very wonderful design in that regard. It moves air *very* efficiently relative to other cases and I'd really hate to see a new design lose that. In fact, I'd like to see a redeisgn of the traditional Powermac cases to introduce a more natural cooling convention.
Just to be clear, I would have the fan at the bottom, not to extract air, but to push cool external air INTO the case, pressure and convection would let it escape via vents on the top four edges of the case. This way, one relatively large slow fan might have a shot at cooling everything, the CPU, Gfx card, PSU and HDD.
don't feeel bad, I've no idea either, I think they're usually pulling air out of the case??? I just propose that they design it so a fan at the bottom push air into (and up) through the case instead.
yeah, the new iMac FP has the fan at the top just below the magic metal arm....it pulls air up through the iMac and out at the base of the arm...i wouldn't mind if the kinda kube had the fan at the bottom or at the top...just no fan at the back....
what i hate most about this freakin thread is that i now want a cube...you bastards...i always try not to get my hopes up before a show, or speculate too much...but now i will be somewhat disappointed if apple doesn't redo the cube soon...and i think the chances are good that apple won't (the once bitten, twice shy syndrome)...
g
bring on the cube baby...and the widescreen iBook G4 too
if paul continues to make more mock ups of things i will want to buy, i will hunt him down and bitch slap him
(first was the photo iPod, then the widescreen iBook and now the cube)
Hey, what can I say? I got my finger firmly on the pulse of the Mac geek population.
Apple could do worse than putting my goofy butt on their payroll.
I'd have dream gig (plus, I'd make sure everyone here - through coded posts and transmissions routed through Murbot - what the skinny was on upcoming goodies!)
promising leaks to the mac fanboys at AI will get you cheers here paul, but it won't do much to enhance your chance of getting a job at apple...SJ probably keeps better files on us than the FBI does on terrorists....
SJ to Mr Ives one day soon at infinete loop: "I am thinking of giving this pscates dude a job here at apple.....let me just check AI one last time before i give him a call....mmmmmm, workerbee was a lightweight??? ok, forget that thought, maybe i will just order a veggie delite from subway instead..."
Ah, that's okay. I wouldn't want to work at Apple anyway, truth be told. Then the mystique and coolness of it all would be gone and it would simply become "a job", you know...as mundane and run-of-the-mill as any other, I'd imagine. It's MUCH nicer looking in from the outside, don'tcha think?
I do!
But if I ever stumbled into it...sure!
And in the interest of covering my butt:
Dear Mr. Jobs, if employed at Apple, I hereby promise to NEVER divulge any insider secrets or goodies in any way, shape or form. You have my word.
Pscates, that is a fine piece of illustration. I have much to learn
What about this; putting all the USB, headphone and firewire ports on the side so you can eliminate the front mounted ones? The back would simply have video, speaker and the power plug, things you rarely need to always get at. And vents on the back instead of sides. But your base and general design are very elegant.
I'd like to see a "cube" with ports on the back, and a core that slided out of the back. Such a design would allow one access to internals without disconnecting any ports, much like the current tower design. As an added plus, the unit wouldn't have to be turned upside down to access ports.
Mount the optical drives horizonatally so they slide out with the core. Vertical drives pose too many problems.
Cooling this design would me more difficult than the original cube, but it would be more practical for access and everyday use. Keep the power supply in a brick and one should be able to use a fairly quiet fan on it.
I'd also like to see a full-sized agp slot. Don't tease us with an agp slot that only accepts specialized cards, that's cruel. A real agp video card would mean that it's more of a rectangle than a cube, but that's fine with me.
Finally, go easy on the case design. It shouldn't be designed with expensive materials/fabrication. No need to reinvent the wheel, just give it beautiful lines, a nice figure, and plastic something like the current iMac's.
I want it to be more "Best Buy" than "Sharper Image".
The Cube and the iMac can NOT however exist together as regular yearly products, unless the eMac gets dropped and the iMac takes it's price range. Why? Because when you get right down to it, the Cube is almost the same product as the current iMac, except the monitor isn't attached. Ones reasons for purchasing an iMac are nearly identical as they would be for purchasing a Cube.
I disagree.
First, the cube and iMac are entirely different products, aimed at different markets. The iMac is a great computer for computer-illiterate users, or for users that simply don't need expandability/upgradability. I do think that it's overpriced, but still the iMac is a nice package with a beautiful LCD display.
The cube is aimed at more computer savvy users than the iMac. It's for those who want some expandability, but less than the towers, and who don't have money to burn on Apple's finest. Many Cube buyers already have nice displays, so a cube makes more sense than buying an iMac and throwing out their current display. For switchers, the Cube is a great idea because they can use their existing monitor and spend the money on Mac software.
Finally, the eMac is essential for schools, where AIOs fulfill the need for space-saving, simplicity, and ruggedness. The iMac AIO seems too fragile for schools, and of course to expensive.
As for price, I also think you got this one backwards. A new cube should cost LESS than the iMac, because it doesn't have a display. No matter that the cube may have better, more expandable internals, for most consumers, when they see one computer with a quality LCD display, and one headless, they will balk at premium prices for the headless computer (of course the Powermacs are a different case, with far superior expansion capacity and performance). A new cube should definitely cost less than the iMac, and about the same or less than the emac. Since the emac has a CRT and is clearly a budget computer, then maybe Apple could get away with pricing a cube over it, otherwise, it will be the same fiasco all over again.
Of course, some of this depends on the CPU and motherboard. If the iMac and eMac remain G4-based for a few years, Apple could offer a PPC 970-based cube at iMac prices alongside the iMac, since such a cube would essentially be a "powermac-lite". In such a case the consumer recognizes that the cube is appropriately grouped with the towers based on performance. But even with a 970, if a cube is priced higher than the iMac it will be deja vu for Apple.
I can't emphasize price enough--to most consumers, a smaller tower computer, neutered of most of its expandability, should cost LESS than the towers, and less than the iMac with its included LCD display. Apple thought, wrongly, that people will pay for miniaturization, but that's missing the point, since the cube isn't a miniaturized tower, but a tower missing key features.
I strongly believe that an Apple Cube could be a great success, but there are countless ways it could be an unmitigated disaster.
Comments
Although, that WAS a cool feature on the G4 Cube!
Maybe just a little "trap door" type of thing, like you'd find on the iMac DV series: a little swing-down door that you can open the latch on with a coin? I always liked that.
OR, take a page from the G4 towers and perhaps the entire back of this Cube thing opens and folds out, laying everything out flat and easily accessible?
Again, the sketch above isn't TOTALLY accurate and the location of some of the features is all subject to change. It is, however, correct as far as dimensions go (I based the flat planes on real measurements: 9" wide, 12" tall - including acrylic base, a CD used for reference which measures in at 4.75" round, the various ports are accurate in size as well.
Here's the thing: unlike many others here, I'm not a hardcore techie/engineer/hardware kinda guy, so I have to kinda fudge and guess and "wing it" with some of these things, until others here - more informed and up on sizes, placements, heat and ventilation factors, etc. of various components - can educate me a bit and offer suggestions.
I just know what I think looks cool...beyond that, I'm at a loss.
Imagine if I actually had a clue and knew about some of the more technical stuff!
Originally posted by pscates
Yeah, I was thinking about all of that. I don't guess there's a carved-in-stone rule that says an Apple cube type of computer HAS to have a cool removable core that houses the guts.
One of my favorite Apple designs dates back a ways...the Apple IIc. Granted the keyboard would be detached, but something that size would be fine for me. An iMac with an attitude....power and compact. The cube just seems a bit of a strange shape for a computer. Not bad, but a IIc shape or even a pizza-box LC or a vertical version of the NeXT station would be cool. Give that sucker a flip-down/slide-out side like the El-capitan and it would be great.
Kinda like this shape, overall:
The ports just have to line up to flush openings, having them on the side would let the core slide out and click or lock in place (to meet all the openings) when you slide it back. The drive bay door is a complete non issue. A small door hides the front loading tray, any standard 5.25" drive would meet the door (and push it down) without any trouble. When you eject the core (feels like a trekkie gathering, doesn't it?) the whole drive slides out with it: when you install the core, any standard optical meets the drive door in the same location. For tounge out aesthetics, Apple would make all the trays black, when/if you change your drive out, you can buy a black unit, if you care about that sorta thing, otherwise, when closed, no one will notice anyway.
The logic board mount would slide out. I like the B&W G3 on up hidden door for the optical drive(s). But a slide-out logic board/expansion card scenario is rather handy.
Or the fold-down door of the El-capitans.
These things may seem like overkill in the Wintel world, but it sure is nice to be able to get at things when you need to, if nothing else for a quick dust-sucking maintenance routine.
I think handles would only be necessary if the sucker had the ability to achieve a fairly large mass, ala El-capitan. Otherwise, a single pop-out Apple IIc handle would be fine, just have to do a better job of hiding it don't cha know. Maybe on the rear of the unit. This thing is not going to be very large, as I envision it...nearly thin-client size.
Originally posted by Matsu:
OK, but a few changes then. Keep the slot loader and lose the feet, or have very minimal feet. Air should be drawn from front to back by a fan that dominates the entire rear execept for a thin vertical portion where the graphics card exits. Ports should exit at the side in a thin row not unlike that on current iMacs, flush, same color, and neat, not recessed. Some nice slotting on the back and thin vents can recycle the air. A big fan will move more than enough air, while still turning slowly. I say make the chassis out of finned Aluminium and cover it with translusent plastic. Via heat ducts, the CPU AND the PS can use the entire chassis as a giant heat sink -- air will pass between the fins and the platsic outer housing as well as having internal air vented in from the small thin vents all along the base, and out through the rear.
Am I the only one here who liked the ports on the bottom and slot-loading drive on the top? Having the ports on the bottom does make them a bit more difficult to get to, but it keeps the clutter down. I think the Cube should be "kept clean" around the outside. This is why I like the ports on the bottom and the drive on the top. The feet should also be kept. It gives it that "monolith suspended in air" feel.
Also, the cube is perfectly silent, and by adding a fan, that factor dissapears. Apple made a silent Cube before, and I'm sure that they can do it again. I don't think a Cube should have dual-processors. Leave that market up to the PM's. By making a single processor Cube, you eleminate the need for a fan, thus keeping it silent. The only time I ever hear my Cube is when the CDRW drive starts spinning.
Seems to me the trick is to have a QUIET fan in an efficient case. The toaster oven effect is cool, but do we really want the cube to be dripping wires? I could still see the ports exiting on the bottom, at least the stuff that doesn't get continually plugged and unplugged -- the graphics card and the power plug, basically. Provisions for FW and USB have to be different, though. Personally I'd be happy with a USB2.0 hub built into the keyboard. That leaves firewire. An intriguing possibility of having the ports on the bottom, and faster firewire (say FW1600, at least 2 independent buses) would be to allow the cube to stack on top of a drive or PCI module.
Whatever they do, the drive needs to exit at the front. I don't like those openings at the top, you have to reach over to drop discs in, not ergonomic, minor, but weird. Discs should be fed into the front of a machine, facing you, like the rest of machine.
Actually, I've rethought the ideal layout.
Air should flow bottom to top, guided by internal baffles. Bring back the skirt, but not so tall. Put the BIG, SLOW, QUIET fan underneath and have it push air through the case where it exits through four perfectly symmetrical slits on the upper edges where the top meets the sides. Now the cube looks clean from all angles. Perch the CPU against one wall with air moving over it and out it's own slit. Perch the GPU against another with air similarly moving over it. The drives and PS sit squarely in the middle of the cube and air from the fan hits them directly, they all face forward. The CPU/Motherboard and GPU sit at right angles, mounted vertically inside, the GPU exits down, as does the power cord. Some ports also exit down, but a small discrete row exits the side (where the mobo is mounted.)
So, in retrospect, you're right about the clean exterior. But the cube should be simpler and cheaper, and just a little larger in order to facilitate the use of standard sized parts. A fan and forward facing drives can be made just as elegant as the original, and restore functionality sacrificed in the first design.
I had a cube but sold it when I finished my thesis. Now, I'm thinking about buying one again as the sound of a computer fan is driving me crazy!
Originally posted by Matsu
How loud is an iMac FP? To me they aren't very loud at all, and they have a fan.
Seems to me the trick is to have a QUIET fan in an efficient case. The toaster oven effect is cool, but do we really want the cube to be dripping wires? I could still see the ports exiting on the bottom, at least the stuff that doesn't get continually plugged and unplugged -- the graphics card and the power plug, basically. Provisions for FW and USB have to be different, though. Personally I'd be happy with a USB2.0 hub built into the keyboard. That leaves firewire. An intriguing possibility of having the ports on the bottom, and faster firewire (say FW1600, at least 2 independent buses) would be to allow the cube to stack on top of a drive or PCI module.
Whatever they do, the drive needs to exit at the front. I don't like those openings at the top, you have to reach over to drop discs in, not ergonomic, minor, but weird. Discs should be fed into the front of a machine, facing you, like the rest of machine.
Actually, I've rethought the ideal layout.
Air should flow bottom to top, guided by internal baffles. Bring back the skirt, but not so tall. Put the BIG, SLOW, QUIET fan underneath and have it push air through the case where it exits through four perfectly symmetrical slits on the upper edges where the top meets the sides. Now the cube looks clean from all angles. Perch the CPU against one wall with air moving over it and out it's own slit. Perch the GPU against another with air similarly moving over it. The drives and PS sit squarely in the middle of the cube and air from the fan hits them directly, they all face forward. The CPU/Motherboard and GPU sit at right angles, mounted vertically inside, the GPU exits down, as does the power cord. Some ports also exit down, but a small discrete row exits the side (where the mobo is mounted.)
So, in retrospect, you're right about the clean exterior. But the cube should be simpler and cheaper, and just a little larger in order to facilitate the use of standard sized parts. A fan and forward facing drives can be made just as elegant as the original, and restore functionality sacrificed in the first design.
Yes, a quiet fan is key. But what if they put the fan in the top of the case, with an opening like the current Cube? I'm no engineer, but it seems to me that pulling air top-bottom would be more efficent that bottom-top. Then you have to consider the fact that heat rises, so you might just be pulling hot air back in.
As I think about it, you're right about the front loading drive. The top-loading drive was never a problem for me because of the way my setup is oriented. Anything on the sides, however, should be flush with the case and unnoticable. Also, with that think clear plastic exteior that the Cube has, the drive would have to go through that plastic, and it seems to me that having it on the side might make the Cube structuraley unstable. Once again, I'm no engineer, so I have no idea if it would or not.
It seems to me that we haven't even talked about speakers yet. The current "Pro" speakers suck, and we all know that. Maybe the Cube itself could be used as a subwoofer. Perhaps using a much improved Soundbug-type thing. That would be cool.
Originally posted by CubeDude
I'm no engineer, but it seems to me that pulling air top-bottom would be more efficent that bottom-top. Then you have to consider the fact that heat rises, so you might just be pulling hot air back in.
The reason the Cube works at all is that it uses convection from an air reserve at the base of the unit. Drawing from bottom to top allows you to have either a much smaller or a much slower fan than normal. Drawing from top to bottom would require a much larger or a much faster fan than normal - not worth it.
The reason ATX cases (and the latest Macs) usually have such unbearable fans is that they are trying to cool the case via a rather inefficient airflow. By pulling front to back, you're trying to move air that sits stagnant in areas and to draw it down from the top of the case.
The Cube is really a very wonderful design in that regard. It moves air *very* efficiently relative to other cases and I'd really hate to see a new design lose that. In fact, I'd like to see a redeisgn of the traditional Powermac cases to introduce a more natural cooling convention.
what i hate most about this freakin thread is that i now want a cube...you bastards...i always try not to get my hopes up before a show, or speculate too much...but now i will be somewhat disappointed if apple doesn't redo the cube soon...and i think the chances are good that apple won't (the once bitten, twice shy syndrome)...
g
bring on the cube baby...and the widescreen iBook G4 too
if paul continues to make more mock ups of things i will want to buy, i will hunt him down and bitch slap him
(first was the photo iPod, then the widescreen iBook and now the cube)
Apple could do worse than putting my goofy butt on their payroll.
I'd have dream gig (plus, I'd make sure everyone here - through coded posts and transmissions routed through Murbot - what the skinny was on upcoming goodies!)
Worker Bee was a lightweight...
SJ to Mr Ives one day soon at infinete loop: "I am thinking of giving this pscates dude a job here at apple.....let me just check AI one last time before i give him a call....mmmmmm, workerbee was a lightweight??? ok, forget that thought, maybe i will just order a veggie delite from subway instead..."
g
I do!
But if I ever stumbled into it...sure!
And in the interest of covering my butt:
Dear Mr. Jobs, if employed at Apple, I hereby promise to NEVER divulge any insider secrets or goodies in any way, shape or form. You have my word.
Respectfully,
Paul
What about this; putting all the USB, headphone and firewire ports on the side so you can eliminate the front mounted ones? The back would simply have video, speaker and the power plug, things you rarely need to always get at. And vents on the back instead of sides. But your base and general design are very elegant.
Mount the optical drives horizonatally so they slide out with the core. Vertical drives pose too many problems.
Cooling this design would me more difficult than the original cube, but it would be more practical for access and everyday use. Keep the power supply in a brick and one should be able to use a fairly quiet fan on it.
I'd also like to see a full-sized agp slot. Don't tease us with an agp slot that only accepts specialized cards, that's cruel. A real agp video card would mean that it's more of a rectangle than a cube, but that's fine with me.
Finally, go easy on the case design. It shouldn't be designed with expensive materials/fabrication. No need to reinvent the wheel, just give it beautiful lines, a nice figure, and plastic something like the current iMac's.
I want it to be more "Best Buy" than "Sharper Image".
Instead ship it with a bluetooth mouse and keyboard. Buy a pair of bluetooth headphones and you're set.
I can see it now, using Wi-Fi for connectivity I'll only have my monitor and power cord to trip over. Heaven.
Originally posted by Cory Bauer
The Cube and the iMac can NOT however exist together as regular yearly products, unless the eMac gets dropped and the iMac takes it's price range. Why? Because when you get right down to it, the Cube is almost the same product as the current iMac, except the monitor isn't attached. Ones reasons for purchasing an iMac are nearly identical as they would be for purchasing a Cube.
I disagree.
First, the cube and iMac are entirely different products, aimed at different markets. The iMac is a great computer for computer-illiterate users, or for users that simply don't need expandability/upgradability. I do think that it's overpriced, but still the iMac is a nice package with a beautiful LCD display.
The cube is aimed at more computer savvy users than the iMac. It's for those who want some expandability, but less than the towers, and who don't have money to burn on Apple's finest. Many Cube buyers already have nice displays, so a cube makes more sense than buying an iMac and throwing out their current display. For switchers, the Cube is a great idea because they can use their existing monitor and spend the money on Mac software.
Finally, the eMac is essential for schools, where AIOs fulfill the need for space-saving, simplicity, and ruggedness. The iMac AIO seems too fragile for schools, and of course to expensive.
As for price, I also think you got this one backwards. A new cube should cost LESS than the iMac, because it doesn't have a display. No matter that the cube may have better, more expandable internals, for most consumers, when they see one computer with a quality LCD display, and one headless, they will balk at premium prices for the headless computer (of course the Powermacs are a different case, with far superior expansion capacity and performance). A new cube should definitely cost less than the iMac, and about the same or less than the emac. Since the emac has a CRT and is clearly a budget computer, then maybe Apple could get away with pricing a cube over it, otherwise, it will be the same fiasco all over again.
Of course, some of this depends on the CPU and motherboard. If the iMac and eMac remain G4-based for a few years, Apple could offer a PPC 970-based cube at iMac prices alongside the iMac, since such a cube would essentially be a "powermac-lite". In such a case the consumer recognizes that the cube is appropriately grouped with the towers based on performance. But even with a 970, if a cube is priced higher than the iMac it will be deja vu for Apple.
I can't emphasize price enough--to most consumers, a smaller tower computer, neutered of most of its expandability, should cost LESS than the towers, and less than the iMac with its included LCD display. Apple thought, wrongly, that people will pay for miniaturization, but that's missing the point, since the cube isn't a miniaturized tower, but a tower missing key features.
I strongly believe that an Apple Cube could be a great success, but there are countless ways it could be an unmitigated disaster.