What's the Next Design Direction you Want to See for the iMac?

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
Lats year when the iMac was introduced i don't think anyone will disagree that it was very much unlike what anyone had thought it would be.



But after a year it has lost some appeal to me. The arm is great. Can't imagine something better than that at this point. But the base is bland and unimaginative. The white is even blander. As they age and get dirty the base becomes even less attractive. The ports behind the base are not as functional as one would hope. The machine still uses the clumsy "trapdoor" type optical drive bay.



Is there anything that can be done to add some excitement design wise back into this line? and is there anything else apple can do as a complete replacement that would seem new and imaginative?
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 136
    addisonaddison Posts: 1,185member
    Well I dissagree, I still like them a lot. If I could add anything I would LOVE that 20" LCD and a larger HD, 120gb?. I am not bothered about FW800. 400 is fast enough, but they can keep bumping the processor.



    Other tan that it seems almost perfect, I think I would love a PDA phone that could sync perfectly via bluetooth, and I don't count the T68i, preferably a Palm-Phone.
  • Reply 2 of 136
    thttht Posts: 5,421member
    <strong>Originally posted by applenut:

    Is there anything that can be done to add some excitement design wise back into this line?</strong>



    I think the iMac, an all-in-one machine, in general form and function has been driven to it's ideal design. It needs to be at least $300 cheaper. It needs more performance. It needs more LCD screen options like higher resolutions.



    As for ergonomics, obviously, putting a USB and Firewire port somewhere in front. Bluetooth keyboard and mice with appropriate recharge cradles. Like, there should be a recharge port in the front of the iMac in which to insert the keyboard for recharge, and something along those lines for the mouse. Possibly rotating the screen (between landscape and portrait) could be a feature.



    <strong>and is there anything else apple can do as a complete replacement that would seem new and imaginative?</strong>



    Holographic screen? Projection screen? Projection keyboard?
  • Reply 3 of 136
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,419member
    The iMac needs to become a Network Computer.



    Get rid of the Superdrive and move to small 2.5 HD for the internals. Shrink the MB to miniscule porportions.



    This computer would have outstanding connectivity. AE, HPNA, 10/100, USB2 and FW800 would all be standard. Increase the LCD size.



    Integrate more user friendly interfaces like standard RCA for Audio and S-video/RCA for video. The computer is a hub now and soon we need hubs connected to other hubs.



    This IS the future.
  • Reply 4 of 136
    rickagrickag Posts: 1,626member
    monitorless
  • Reply 5 of 136
    [quote]Originally posted by hmurchison:

    <strong>...Get rid of the Superdrive and move to small 2.5 HD for the internals. Shrink the MB to miniscule porportions.



    ...Increase the LCD size...</strong><hr></blockquote>



    When you are talking about shrinking the internals, I am assuming that you want to do that in order to shrink the entire base.



    If I am right, and you do want to do this, don't you think that the thing would become really unstable (top heavy) once you pop a 19 or 20" monitor on top?
  • Reply 6 of 136
    pscatespscates Posts: 5,847member
    Gee, I don't know. That's a tough one. I was one of those people that saw the LCD iMac and went "ohmigosh...that's perfect!".







    A year later, I still believe so.



    We're talking strictly design/ergonomics here, right? We all know they'll get faster, bigger hard drives, faster SuperDrives, etc.



    But the actual body, arm and screen design? I'm very impressed because, as Jobs says, it addresses the things he wanted so perfectly: keeps the drives mounted horizontally AND allows for awesome screen tilt, swivel, etc.



    Those AIO flat screen computers from Gateway and all just don't do this. I wouldn't never dreamed about the solution Apple came up with (the screen mounted on this cool chrome arm). I wracked my brain through most of 2001 trying to imagine "how are they going to do a flat screen iMac without just sticking the guts onto the back of a Studio Display?"







    I guess about the only thing I'd like to see, design-wise, in the LCD iMac is some sort of front-facing USB and FireWire port access. Whether it's covered by a little door or recessed gracefully into the body to not take away from the clean look of the dome area, there should be a way for all the digital camera, camcorder, PDA, iPod, etc. owners and users out there to quickly get their data on and off the iMac. Since it's kinda promoted as the ultimate "digital hub" and all, it's constantly irritating to have to keep reaching around to the back to access these ports. And I don't even own any of the above devices!



    :eek:



    Imagine how much I'd hate it if I did.







    Easy-access USB and FireWire port (just one of each would be sufficient...the others can still hang around in the back for printers, scanners, etc.) is about all I'd like to see change.



    I like slot-loading optical drives (like my old iMac DV), but I understand that they don't accept all types of media and that people often don't like them as much. So I'm even okay with a tray-loading set-up, in that light.



    The iMac is wonderful, IMO.
  • Reply 7 of 136
    murbotmurbot Posts: 5,262member
    .



    [ 02-07-2003: Message edited by: murbot ]</p>
  • Reply 8 of 136
    applenutapplenut Posts: 5,768member
    uhg... i thought you were banned
  • Reply 9 of 136
    amorphamorph Posts: 7,112member
    I think the unexceptional appearance of the base is intentional. I sat down in an Apple Store and used one for a while, and I can confirm the reports that the machine just sort of disappears, and you focus on the screen floating as if in thin air in front of you. I think the matte finish and the round shape of the base contribute to that effect. It's supposed to recede, but if you need it (to put in or take out a CD) then it's right there.



    Apple could tweak the design, but I have to agree with pscates: As an intersection of form and function, it's damn near perfect.



    I suppose it wouldn't hurt if they could find a way to make the ports more accessible, though. That was one of the real strengths of the CRT iMac.
  • Reply 10 of 136
    pscatespscates Posts: 5,847member
    [quote]Originally posted by applenut:

    <strong>uhg... i thought you were banned</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Who, me? Or murbot?



    <img src="confused.gif" border="0">
  • Reply 11 of 136
    stunnedstunned Posts: 1,096member
    Metallic black. White just seems ordinary now.
  • Reply 12 of 136
    applenutapplenut Posts: 5,768member
    [quote]Originally posted by pscates:

    <strong>



    Who, me? Or murbot?



    :confused: </strong><hr></blockquote>



    murbot of course.... i love you.
  • Reply 13 of 136
    thegeldingthegelding Posts: 3,230member
    hey get a room you two....



    maybe some color again (white is becoming a bit overdone)...other than that, higher res screen (once again the 17" answers this)...but as for shape and function...no change needed...



    and i have hidden ports on the front now that i bought my UFO....g



    [ 02-07-2003: Message edited by: thegelding ]</p>
  • Reply 14 of 136
    torifiletorifile Posts: 4,024member
    Well, I still think that the design is near perfect. I agree, the two glaring problems with the iMac are the dirt accumulation and the ports on the back. The first one I guess could be solved by using a different material. The second is tougher. The ports need to be on the back for the look to be as clean as it is. But they need to be accessible as well.



    I think that they should make the base swivel-able. I mean, they could have the base, the ports and the body on ball bearings or something. Then the ports part could be swiveled around for quick, easy access and then could be hidden easily. Anyone know what I'm talking about? Maybe one of our resident graphics gurus could whip something up.
  • Reply 15 of 136
    Here's an idea for the next design direction for the Macintosh of the future: a resurrection of Jonathan.



    "Jonathan" was an idea cooked up by Frogdesign, who did Apple's ID during the mid 80's. It was designed to be the next generation Macintosh, and it worked by decentralizing the traditional "box" idea of desktop PC's, and, to make a long story short, was a victim of the political infighting that characterized Apple back then.



    It worked by being based on a "bookshelf" metaphor, where the "shelf" was a rack which housed the I/O and the powersupply. You would attach modules called "books" to the "shelf", and the modules could be of various shapes, sizes and functions. The original idea was, among other things, to have a Wintel-compatible "book", a Mac OS "book", and a Unix "book" (made by AT&T) as some of the options people could choose. The system as a whole was made up of "books" docked to the "shelf", which made the system almost infinitely customizable and upgradable.



    You could think of it this way in a more modern context. A home user could buy a smaller "shelf" with bare bones components: the Mac OS module, and a Combo drive module. If he/she wants to upgrade, that person could simply buy more modules and additional "shelves" to extend the rack. Apple could make a Power Mac rack by selling a longer rack with 970, G3/GOBI or 7457-RM "books" with SuperDrive books to go along with them...To save space the shelf could be designed to be used vertically as well as horizontally, like the way some upgradable RAID systems are built.



    Or you could even place just the CPU and its support chips into one "book", so you could buy one 970 book, and an Apple-made AMD Athlon or Intel P4 "book" for PC compatibility...need more power? Buy more modules. Voilá, you now have an instant multi-processor system. Apple could make "empty" "books" that would work like FW drive enclosures, where you could install any drive you wanted and place it on the shelf. Apple could also make other modules for upgrading RAM, or graphics cards. The high speed I/O between the books and the shelf would be a perfect use for FireWire 800.



    If you need a better idea of what I'm thinking of, look at the photos of the Jonathan prototype in the book AppleDesign: The Work of the Apple Industrial Design Group.



    So? What does everyone think? Blue-sky idea? Or is it something Apple could feasably do if they wanted to?



    Personally, it sounds like a pretty good idea to me.
  • Reply 16 of 136
    bartobarto Posts: 2,246member
    Sounds very cool. Not as an iMac replacement, but a Power Mac replacement, sure!



    I can't think of anything better than the current iMac 17". Just Beautiful.



    Barto
  • Reply 16 of 136
    torifiletorifile Posts: 4,024member
    rampancy, that sounds awesome. I'd be all over something like that and it would allow people to ease into a nice computer and feel secure in the ability to upgrade it in the future. Surely, OS X is better suited to an idea like this than the classic Mac OS ever was. I'm afraid it won't ever happen, though. Too radical, even for apple.
  • Reply 18 of 136
    algolalgol Posts: 833member
    Not bad but it sounds expensive making all those books. If apple was only going to make these book computers then I would agree, but as of now this doesn't seem to be the direction they are going. Apple has a lot of different lines and it would be to costly to make all those different parts for just one line. Over time Apple could create all their lines around this idea. Not bad...
  • Reply 19 of 136
    satchmosatchmo Posts: 2,699member
    [quote]Originally posted by torifile:

    <strong>Well, I still think that the design is near perfect. I agree....

    I think that they should make the base swivel-able. I mean, they could have the base, the ports and the body on ball bearings or something. Then the ports part could be swiveled around for quick, easy access and then could be hidden easily. Anyone know what I'm talking about? Maybe one of our resident graphics gurus could whip something up. </strong><hr></blockquote>



    I agree. It's still a head turner and destined to be a classic and museum piece. I've mentioned this before, but one can always put a lazy suzy under your iMac for that swivel effect. Granted, it won't work unless the cords connected at the time have some slack.



    Way back, I also questioned whether or not the iMac could possibly have a swivel screen so it can be viewed vertically (remember those Radius monitors?).

    As well, a telescopic arm would make this the ultimate ergonomic machine. The trick would to make it as smooth moving as the arm is today.



    As far as colour? Keep it white. Matches my iPod perfectly.
  • Reply 20 of 136
    [quote]Originally posted by applenut:

    <strong>



    murbot of course.... i love you. </strong><hr></blockquote>

    <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laughing]" />
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