Idea for a new Power Mac case:

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
You call that a tower? THIS is a tower



~200mm deep, ~150mm wide, ~600mm high.



Front perspective:



Have 2 optical drives at the base and 4 hard disks above that in a L shaped cage, a motherboard on the right overlapping a bit with the cage, and a powersupply suspended at the top.



The cables from the optical drives run between the optical drives and the HDD, turn 90º, exits the cage through a hole and connects with the overlapping lower part of the motherboard.



The cables from the HDDs turn 90º and connect with the lower part of the motherboard, behind the optical connection.



The power supply cables run down the front of the inside, and connects with the motherboard at the base, and follows the ATA (or whatever) cables of the drives.



There are 2 80mm exhaust fans, one in the power supply and one to the right of the portsThe CPU heatsinks are aligned with the fans to draw air out.



Their is a 120mm intake fan behind the hard drives and the lower part of the motherboard (where there is no expansion slots), sucking in cool air and the hot air exiting the case at rises away.



The drive cage is screwed into the case at the front by screws in a metal plate, jutting out to make the L look like it has an arm-rest.



The right side of the case is a door (which swings out), and the motherboard is on a door in the middle of that door (which swings down). Change CPU/RAM/Graphics/PCI, open the mobo door. Change drives, open the mobo door, disconnect the drives, then open the case door.



On the front you would have the power/reset/interupt buttons and a speaker. The power cables would be to the right of these.



Sorry I don't have a vector program installed or a scanner to show you what I mean. But I think that this would be cool <img src="graemlins/smokin.gif" border="0" alt="[Chilling]" />



Barto



[ 06-25-2002: Message edited by: Barto ]</p>
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 27
    the cool gutthe cool gut Posts: 1,714member
    You should summon Jonathan to your flower garden.
  • Reply 2 of 27
    salmonstksalmonstk Posts: 568member
    Seems a bit complicated to me. I do think the next Tower could be a bit thinner however.
  • Reply 3 of 27
    [quote]Originally posted by the cool gut:

    <strong>You should summon Jonathan to your flower garden.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Yeah, but then there's all that tea ceremony b.s.



    Plus, then ya gotta contemplate the Picasso(again), and that bloody Eskimo carving (oh god, not another lumpy bear) ...



    It's tough being an aesthete I'll tell ya, tough.



    Chateau Lafite? Why yes ... "when" ha ha ha ha aw-f^ck-it
  • Reply 4 of 27
    macroninmacronin Posts: 1,174member
    Don't you mean NeXT tower...?!?



    ;^p



    <img src="graemlins/smokin.gif" border="0" alt="[Chilling]" /> Maya for Mac OS X <img src="graemlins/smokin.gif" border="0" alt="[Chilling]" />
  • Reply 5 of 27
    nebagakidnebagakid Posts: 2,692member
    can we get a picture?
  • Reply 6 of 27
    bartobarto Posts: 2,246member
    [quote]Originally posted by Barto:

    <strong>

    Sorry I don't have a vector program installed or a scanner to show you what I mean.]</strong><hr></blockquote>



    But I'd be happy if someone did a mock-up



    Barto
  • Reply 7 of 27
    I don't see that anyone realizes that this is a really tall, really skinny tower.

    Perhaps with the addition of a lead weight or suction cups at the bottom the thing would be somewhat stable.

    [code]

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  • Reply 8 of 27
    bartobarto Posts: 2,246member
    Why do you think I put the drives at the base of the tower? Thats right, to lower the center of gravity so it's more stable!



    The current case is unstable, with it's curvy base. I've had one tip over on a desk, and it's just scary to place it on carpet.



    Barto
  • Reply 9 of 27
    vvmpvvmp Posts: 63member
    It should have a chrome kickstarter out the side of the case with a choke knob up front. The bootup sound it would make is patato-potato-potato....all without the 4 stroke smoke!
  • Reply 10 of 27
    cool idea, im working on a mockup now... problem is it will never happen, and here's why:



    BIGGEST MARKETING DISASTER EVER



    Apple launches new tower computer in New York.



    Think about it, to tell you the truth, I don't care, but the rest of the world would see it as bad taste, espescially to do it in the city where the towers used to be... its just dicey...



    But i think it would look cool so I'll do a mockup anyway....
  • Reply 11 of 27
    junkyard dawgjunkyard dawg Posts: 2,801member
    People need to chill out about 9-11. Just because Apple releases a new Powermac case design, and it happens to be a "tower" computer, well it doesn't have ANYTHING at all to do with the WTC disaster. Nothing.



    We still use the word "airplane" in everyday language, and also you probably talk about going to the GAS station to fill up your car (thus turning it into a human piloted BOMB!!!), and what about the NYSE? People still TRADE stocks! huh, huh, huh, I said "trade"!





    See, you can take this to the limit and turn into a neurotic psychopath, or you can just go on with your life and not give the terrorists the satisfaction of having made a dent in American culture. I say a big "fsck you" to the terrorists, let's have a new Powermac TWIN TOWER announced at MWNY!!! And if some wussies don't like it, then can go grovel about it in a bomb-shelter, out of site, out of mind.
  • Reply 12 of 27
    bartobarto Posts: 2,246member
    Thank you JYD. The latest sketch I've done got me thinking, "How long until some paranoid surfer starts talking about WTC".



    It still looks like a tower case (as opposed to a skyscraper), but cool. I should have the sketch uploaded a day from now (when Dad brings the scanner home).



    Barto



    [ 06-25-2002: Message edited by: Barto ]</p>
  • Reply 13 of 27
    cant have a thread about a new case without some mockups. get photoshopping people.
  • Reply 14 of 27
    [quote]Originally posted by WishIwasBlack:

    <strong>cant have a thread about a new case without some mockups. get photoshopping people.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Great idea! When can we expect your first try?
  • Reply 15 of 27
    kidredkidred Posts: 2,402member
    [quote]Originally posted by Barto:

    <strong>Why do you think I put the drives at the base of the tower? Thats right, to lower the center of gravity so it's more stable!



    The current case is unstable, with it's curvy base. I've had one tip over on a desk, and it's just scary to place it on carpet.



    Barto</strong><hr></blockquote>



    mm, well I've had the current case for almost 4 years now, old 450 and now a dual gig. Unstable? Maybe you are thinking of the cube or something, this thing weights almost 30lbs and is barely a foot high and almost 8 inches wide. That reeks of stability.



    Curvy base? It's got 2 feet that sit flattly on the floor. Where's the curvy base? It's got a curve towards the bottom of the case but that is not it's base. Scary on carpet? Maybe on 2" thick scooby doo shag carpet.
  • Reply 16 of 27
    eshauneshaun Posts: 3member
    I for one believe we are in for a case design update...recall how long the square beige cases lasted, then the round style cases with handles. Look at the current line-up with the new shape of the current G4 powerbooks and ibooks, then finally the Xserve...Try visualize a design similar to the Xserve ~ 6" wide X 15" tall same design scheme with brushed silver aspects and apple logo's (possibly a blue glow power button and usb2 and firewire ports on the front beneath the logo). As far as the months that have passed between case revisions for the powermac, MWNY seems to be the most likely place for new a new style, to coincide with the shipping of the Xserves. What do you think...anyone have any ps work to show us?
  • Reply 17 of 27
    pushermanpusherman Posts: 410member
    [quote]The current case is unstable, with it's curvy base. I've had one tip over on a desk, and it's just scary to place it on carpet.<hr></blockquote>



    If your tower is unstable, someone attached the curvy top handles to the bottom of your machine. There is a quicksilver sitting on my desk at work, and the only way it would tip over is if my desk was at a 45º angle.



    [quote]Think about it, to tell you the truth, I don't care, but the rest of the world would see it as bad taste, espescially to do it in the city where the towers used to be... its just dicey...<hr></blockquote>



    Don't take this the wrong way ? but just shut up. What sane person would make the connection between a computer and a skyscraper? Are you the guy who started the <a href="http://www.snopes.com/rumors/cool.htm"; target="_blank">Starbucks fiasco</a>?
  • Reply 18 of 27
    oh buzz off...



    it is unequivocally a marketing concern, i'll make a statement, and if you don't want to listen to it, i really don't care.



    if you're a public company like apple, where so much of your sales depends upon your public image as an independent, free thinking, revolutionary company, you have to be aware of even marginal probabilites such as this. there was recently a starbucks ad campaign that had two snapple drinks on it and said something like "collapse into summer" and had a dragonfly on it or something. the entire ad campaign was pulled (from more than 3000 locations) because some random people thought it mocked 9-11. (i just re-read the posts and noticed someone mentioned this)



    don't tell me i'm being paranoid, get some marketing/communication training, and have an idea of what you're talking about. as i said, i would not be offended by the connection personally, but the simple off chance possibility of someone being so would not be helpful to apple, and thus they wouldnt bother when they can just design something different.



    it has nothing to do with letting the terrorists take over our lives or whatever, when you do something like product design and announcement, you watch for everything like this, like not being able to use any minorities in ad campaigns with the slogan 'color outside the lines'



    this is stuff i have experience with, and to release a product like this IN NEW YORK, would require some very careful strategy. however, apple does have some of the best advertising in the world, so if they wanted to take this route, they might be the only company able to do it successfully. but it would be hard, and given their recent ad campaign launch, i think they're concentrating their focus on a humanistic campaign, which is targeted to be very successful in a post 9-11 environment and economy.



    it is a genuine marketing problem. i'm not sure how many people on this board are creatives, but clearly you three who do not think this is worth consideration, are not.
  • Reply 19 of 27
    and oh yea, i just posed the question to several friends and assosciates who are either art directors, marketing creatives, or strategy consultants.



    the only possible way of it not being a faux pas is if it were intentionally pulled off as commemorative, but that would be risky and very difficult. a brushed metallic enclosure would only make it worse. they could not decide if such an attempt would be wise without conducting test introductions to demographic sample groups.
  • Reply 20 of 27
    kidredkidred Posts: 2,402member
    Did I miss something? I didn't see any post that said the nex case would resemble the World trade center towers. Nope. Nowhere. So i don't see why the arguement. A skinny tower case design would in NO way resemble the trade centers unless it has windows and big fricking antenas coming out the top. I seriously don;t see how a sliw tower design from Mr Ives would lead people in NY to scream the 9/11 and run from MWNY.



    Some of you read to much into things.....
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