Er ... hopefully the PM G5 design variants are not close to the all new
iMac design in spe. The entire design seems way too technoid. iMac customers do want Elegance. Simple. And these mockups are everything but
elegant.
BTW, nobody mentioned any possible changes concerning the
KEYBOARD. Do you guys think it is quite possible that apple
builds something like the scrollwheel ala iPod into the new iMac Keyboard?
That would make great sense to all iApps.
What do you think?
my2c
I think the likelihood of the keyboard being updated with features like that is pretty low. Tacking on extra non-standard controls to a standard keyboard reeks of the PC side. You are more likely to see a two button mouse (and that will be shortly after Hell organizes its own hockey team).
Er ... apple customers seek elegance. This "elonex thing" is far away from beeing elegant, it is quite the opposite. I assume nobody really wants that bulk sitting right on their desk.
Cnet is reporting that the new iMac will look nothing like the current one and will a brushed aluminum finish ala PowerMac possibly similar to what lucida posted above - that's a very barebones illustration people, remember that).. No proof is offered just an "informed source". In a month we'll know and the usual gang will complain, etc.
Er ... apple customers seek elegance. This "elonex thing" is far away from beeing elegant, it is quite the opposite. I assume nobody really wants that bulk sitting right on their desk.
nice try
That's why I said "along the lines". By the way, this thing can host a 3.2 GHz P4 (their site includes up to 3.0 GHz P4). I saw this model today in person and, although a little bulky for the taste of a Mac user, it is rather nice with a very bright display. Unless the iMac3 is something radically different (and I don't know how could this happen), it seems that such designs are already tried. Now it remains to see what Apple's talent can pull out in the design sector.
I think the likelihood of the keyboard being updated with features like that is pretty low. Tacking on extra non-standard controls to a standard keyboard reeks of the PC side. You are more likely to see a two button mouse (and that will be shortly after Hell organizes its own hockey team).
Actually I heard not long ago that Apple is designing a two-button mouse. But we'll leave that to another thread.
That's not bad - I imagine the plate which is supporting the monitor slides up and down to raise and lower the display, right? (maybe it slides in a telescopic manner)
I like the perforated metal theme linking it to the PowerMac. The concave curves are a little 'retro' looking, might be harder to manufacture.
Also, no built-in speakers. External speakers are better because (a) consumers expect to be able to position and replace them (the fact that the eMac and old iMac have them notwithstanding) - it's a cheap and easy upgrade, and (b) offices expect to leave them off.
Er ... apple customers seek elegance. This "elonex thing" is far away from beeing elegant, it is quite the opposite. I assume nobody really wants that bulk sitting right on their desk.
nice try
It may not be very elegant, but it DOES have some nice features and the demo movie shows a few things that I think the iMac2 can and should have done a little better:
1. Interaction is not first and foremost via a keyboard! Unlike most of the QWERTY-centric folks in these fora, most people don't like getting music and entertainment via a keyboard. The keyboard is there for most websurfing and email and that's about it. Obviously mom may do word processing and kids do homework, but as with the iPod, the spokes of the digital hub will not be tied to the keyboard anymore than necessary.
2. Touch screen: I have always hoped that Apple could engineer touchscreens very cheaply into their crt iMacs and eMacs to give them that cool "standard feature" and to make them more approachable to toddlers, etc.
3. Quick starting: I don't know if the gui in the video is MSoft, but it shows the beginning of a cool and efficient way to navigate media. I also don't know how long it takes to startup and how it moves from being turned on to the main desktop/window, but it would be nice to get to the media parts of the digital hub without waiting for the os to get set to run FCP. That is the beauty of the iPod and Palm pda - always-on and ready.
4. Relatively slim form factor. I don't like it's looks personally, and I think the current iMac lcd is far superior, but Apple didn't market it as a "media center" it marketed it as a cool version of a computer and that gave people conflicting expectations, I think. I always thought Apple should have kept the iMac name with the crt AIO, and given the iMaclcd a special "media centric name" and kept both.
Anyway, I personally don't like the fat-flat-screen look and I hope it isn't too aluminized! I don't like the perferated metal look of the angelfire image either. The iMac should be the desktop version of an iBook - inviting, not daunting. It should come in colors....they are still popular as the iPod Mini is proving...and it should be simple, but upgradeable.
I don't think the next iMac will be headless... I think it will always be an AIO. However, I think that eventually Apple will get it through their head that we need a headless low- and mid-range computer.
There have been a few mockups of how that could look, typically taking on a ShuttlePC or short PowerMac form factor. How about going for tall-and-slim, though, instead of short-and-fat? I think it might look a bit more elegant.
Here's a mega-cheap Photoshop job to show what it could look like... not a very good rendition, but it gets the point across. Vents would be along the bottom and the top to allow as much passive cooling as possible, although fans would also be required if this Mac used a G5. Note that there are two USB, one FireWire, and a headphone jack up front, with additional ports at the back. Plus, there's a vertically-mounted slot-loading drive.
I'm not sure if the dimensions of this thing are quite right... it would probably have to be a bit thicker, but hopefully not by much. I'm imagining it being built along the lines of a 17" PowerBook, but with full-size desktop components, no battery or screen (duh), an upgradeable video card (hopefully), and no PCI slots. It could probably be made fairly cheaply, but still have a heckuva lot more style than your typical PC.
Yeah, that picture looks pretty thin. It's more like a powerbook with out a flip up screen. Neat concept, space saving, but not very upgradable.
Well, doubling the width wouldn't make it look horrible or anything. And it's not meant to be PowerMac-upgradeable... just more than iMac-upgradeable. Upgrade the RAM, maybe upgrade the internal hard drive, and (wishful thinking, probably) upgrade the graphics card. No PCI or anything.
As for access to the internals, the whole side can pop off, like the PM G5, or fold down like the PM G4. Everything would be laid out for you like in a PowerMac, but in vertical orientations, and with plenty of space for air to flow through.
I like that, although I think the ports would all be on the back-- maybe the bottom. Probably on the back, though, because it would be much cleaner looking.
Comments
Originally posted by Jimzip
Haha.. You just ripped that from that japanese site..
Yes, LOL!
Er ... hopefully the PM G5 design variants are not close to the all new
iMac design in spe. The entire design seems way too technoid. iMac customers do want Elegance. Simple. And these mockups are everything but
elegant.
BTW, nobody mentioned any possible changes concerning the
KEYBOARD. Do you guys think it is quite possible that apple
builds something like the scrollwheel ala iPod into the new iMac Keyboard?
That would make great sense to all iApps.
What do you think?
my2c
Originally posted by Lemon Bon Bon
Sizes? 15/17/20/23/30.
Yes! The consumer model definitely needs a monitor which alone is in the 2000 - 3000 $ range. Will sell like hot cake.
Originally posted by Vox Barbara
Yes, LOL!
Er ... hopefully the PM G5 design variants are not close to the all new
iMac design in spe. The entire design seems way too technoid. iMac customers do want Elegance. Simple. And these mockups are everything but
elegant.
BTW, nobody mentioned any possible changes concerning the
KEYBOARD. Do you guys think it is quite possible that apple
builds something like the scrollwheel ala iPod into the new iMac Keyboard?
That would make great sense to all iApps.
What do you think?
my2c
I think the likelihood of the keyboard being updated with features like that is pretty low. Tacking on extra non-standard controls to a standard keyboard reeks of the PC side. You are more likely to see a two button mouse (and that will be shortly after Hell organizes its own hockey team).
Originally posted by PB
How about something along the lines of eXentia?
Er ... apple customers seek elegance. This "elonex thing" is far away from beeing elegant, it is quite the opposite. I assume nobody really wants that bulk sitting right on their desk.
nice try
Originally posted by Vox Barbara
Er ... apple customers seek elegance. This "elonex thing" is far away from beeing elegant, it is quite the opposite. I assume nobody really wants that bulk sitting right on their desk.
nice try
That's why I said "along the lines". By the way, this thing can host a 3.2 GHz P4 (their site includes up to 3.0 GHz P4). I saw this model today in person and, although a little bulky for the taste of a Mac user, it is rather nice with a very bright display. Unless the iMac3 is something radically different (and I don't know how could this happen), it seems that such designs are already tried. Now it remains to see what Apple's talent can pull out in the design sector.
Originally posted by Bancho
I think the likelihood of the keyboard being updated with features like that is pretty low. Tacking on extra non-standard controls to a standard keyboard reeks of the PC side. You are more likely to see a two button mouse (and that will be shortly after Hell organizes its own hockey team).
Actually I heard not long ago that Apple is designing a two-button mouse. But we'll leave that to another thread.
Jimzip
Originally posted by Outsider
here's a mock up:
http://www.angelfire.com/mac/outsider/imacg5.html
That's not bad - I imagine the plate which is supporting the monitor slides up and down to raise and lower the display, right? (maybe it slides in a telescopic manner)
I like the perforated metal theme linking it to the PowerMac. The concave curves are a little 'retro' looking, might be harder to manufacture.
Also, no built-in speakers. External speakers are better because (a) consumers expect to be able to position and replace them (the fact that the eMac and old iMac have them notwithstanding) - it's a cheap and easy upgrade, and (b) offices expect to leave them off.
Originally posted by Vox Barbara
Er ... apple customers seek elegance. This "elonex thing" is far away from beeing elegant, it is quite the opposite. I assume nobody really wants that bulk sitting right on their desk.
nice try
It may not be very elegant, but it DOES have some nice features and the demo movie shows a few things that I think the iMac2 can and should have done a little better:
1. Interaction is not first and foremost via a keyboard! Unlike most of the QWERTY-centric folks in these fora, most people don't like getting music and entertainment via a keyboard. The keyboard is there for most websurfing and email and that's about it. Obviously mom may do word processing and kids do homework, but as with the iPod, the spokes of the digital hub will not be tied to the keyboard anymore than necessary.
2. Touch screen: I have always hoped that Apple could engineer touchscreens very cheaply into their crt iMacs and eMacs to give them that cool "standard feature" and to make them more approachable to toddlers, etc.
3. Quick starting: I don't know if the gui in the video is MSoft, but it shows the beginning of a cool and efficient way to navigate media. I also don't know how long it takes to startup and how it moves from being turned on to the main desktop/window, but it would be nice to get to the media parts of the digital hub without waiting for the os to get set to run FCP. That is the beauty of the iPod and Palm pda - always-on and ready.
4. Relatively slim form factor. I don't like it's looks personally, and I think the current iMac lcd is far superior, but Apple didn't market it as a "media center" it marketed it as a cool version of a computer and that gave people conflicting expectations, I think. I always thought Apple should have kept the iMac name with the crt AIO, and given the iMaclcd a special "media centric name" and kept both.
Anyway, I personally don't like the fat-flat-screen look and I hope it isn't too aluminized! I don't like the perferated metal look of the angelfire image either. The iMac should be the desktop version of an iBook - inviting, not daunting. It should come in colors....they are still popular as the iPod Mini is proving...and it should be simple, but upgradeable.
There have been a few mockups of how that could look, typically taking on a ShuttlePC or short PowerMac form factor. How about going for tall-and-slim, though, instead of short-and-fat? I think it might look a bit more elegant.
Here's a mega-cheap Photoshop job to show what it could look like... not a very good rendition, but it gets the point across. Vents would be along the bottom and the top to allow as much passive cooling as possible, although fans would also be required if this Mac used a G5. Note that there are two USB, one FireWire, and a headphone jack up front, with additional ports at the back. Plus, there's a vertically-mounted slot-loading drive.
I'm not sure if the dimensions of this thing are quite right... it would probably have to be a bit thicker, but hopefully not by much. I'm imagining it being built along the lines of a 17" PowerBook, but with full-size desktop components, no battery or screen (duh), an upgradeable video card (hopefully), and no PCI slots. It could probably be made fairly cheaply, but still have a heckuva lot more style than your typical PC.
So? Whaddaya think?
Yeah, that picture looks pretty thin. It's more like a powerbook with out a flip up screen. Neat concept, space saving, but not very upgradable.
Well, doubling the width wouldn't make it look horrible or anything. And it's not meant to be PowerMac-upgradeable... just more than iMac-upgradeable. Upgrade the RAM, maybe upgrade the internal hard drive, and (wishful thinking, probably) upgrade the graphics card. No PCI or anything.
As for access to the internals, the whole side can pop off, like the PM G5, or fold down like the PM G4. Everything would be laid out for you like in a PowerMac, but in vertical orientations, and with plenty of space for air to flow through.
I like that, although I think the ports would all be on the back-- maybe the bottom. Probably on the back, though, because it would be much cleaner looking.
Originally posted by lucida
More Doodles...
Looks straight out of an episode of Dr. Who.