What about hot swappable hard drives on the Xserve? Does anyone think they will introduce that to the PowerMac line? I think it would be cool to have a PowerMac that looks similar to the Xserve but in tower form. With lots of blinkenlights .
<strong>I prefer the design I came up with in the Cube 2 thread. It relies on modules for expansion...</strong><hr></blockquote>
OK, I've been trying to dig up a drawing that was posted here a few months ago...to no avail. Was that your pic Amorph? It had a basic 'cube-ish' base, with add-on modules that could be stacked on top of the base (optical drives / additional processors / you-name-its). IIRC the theorized connection was FW 1600/3200 between modules. Ring any bells for anyone? It's a very interesting idea.
[quote]I agree totally. I love the CD players where you wave your hand in front of it and the drawer automatically pops out. There's no reason why towers can't have that, after all even hand dryers in restrooms have motion sensors! [Laughing]
Such a feature works with Apple's style, something incredibly simple, and very cool, yet nobody has thought of doing it yet.
<hr></blockquote>
I can imagine it now.
I accidently knock my pencil off of my desk, it lands right it front of the tower sitting on the floor, and I reach down to pick it up. The CD tray opens.
[quote] What about hot swappable hard drives on the Xserve? Does anyone think they will introduce that to the PowerMac line? I think it would be cool to have a PowerMac that looks similar to the Xserve but in tower form. With lots of blinkenlights . <hr></blockquote>
I don't think so.
How often do people with PowerMacs absolutely NEED to just pop out their hard drive or pop one in, on a regular basis? How many people need to swap hard drives and need to have have consistent, 24/7 uptime? The people that need these things are in the server market, and they need Xserves. It's not practical in the everyday PowerMac and would raise costs. Imagine the room that Xserve drive modules would take up inside the case, too.
Really, for a PowerMac, this issue is better handled by a firewire drive. It's hot-pluggable and would prove more versatile that hard drive modules.
I'm not going to post a picture to these boards without great trepidation. There are designers and illustrators here who actually know what they're doing.
My design is modular, and it does rely on FW3200, but there was no stacking.
The relevant bits:
[quote]The aluminum enclosure is a sleek idea: Ports and ventilation along the back, slot for the slot-load SuperDrive machined into the front. The only other (obvious) adornment would be an Apple logo farther down that doubled as the power/sleep LED. Raise it up with four feet just far enough to allow a quiet fan to take in air through the bottom. Put a couple of tastefully recessed latches on the sides: When pressed in, the shell (i.e., every part of the case except for the bottom) slides up and off to reveal the innards. Inside, the machine is laid out like a miniature rack, so that each piece (drives, board, AGP slot if there is one, power supply) can be slid out of the case for ease of access, and latched firmly into place afterward.
Slide the cover back over the machine, press down firmly, and the latches on the sides click shut. Done.<hr></blockquote>
I also posited that AGP 8x/PCI Express would allow Apple to ship the machine with an onboard video chipset (say, whatever's in the iMac, or the PowerBook) and an AGP slot. The default machine would thus be quiet and have a perfectly good video chipset for most work, but if you wanted to drive multiple monitors, or put in a high performance graphics card, the option would be there.
Ok...I know there are inherent issues with the "concept" design. However, I think the design is extremely cool and workable. I personally think they should add front panels for additional expansion (1 panel with cut out for additional slot loading optical drive). Also, they can easily move the vent to the back of the case. Further, as far as accessibility to the internal hardware is concerned, Apple could just integrate the same, side opening, design that's currently in the G4's. Thoughts?
<strong>It will be smaller, lighter, quieter and will not be called a PowerMac.</strong><hr></blockquote>
You're probably right because with this Apple will be shedding most of their ties to the old PowerPC architecture (even though it's still a "PowerPC" brand CPU). I think we may have to wait, though, on this dream machine -- 2004, twenty years after the first bombshell comes the second.
19 after just wouldn't fit Steve's character unless he did something like "the Macintosh is finally growing out of adolescence and into adulthood (19-20)" Then again, maybe all of this is just BS and Steve really shouldn't give whether or not it's an anniversary. Just crank 'em out -- perhaps put a .09 micron chip in 'em for their B-day in January!
As for deisgn and nomenclature, well, that's tough. As someone else mentioned, the year of the portable could be validated if FW 3200 hits the scene (plug in a PCI chassis when you need the expandability at home). But probably not -- remember Steve mentioned on CNBC's business center: "We've got some things up our sleeves in the desktop market, too." I think his notebook marketing will be important but not important enough to completely halt Power Mac progress for a year.
For the name?
I think it should emphasize its raw power and speed. Perhaps adding a bit of Einstein's relativity equation to the name would be appropriate. Mac^2-indicating its exponential leap in performance.
Just as the current 17" pwrbook has fiber-optic lighting in its keyboard, I forsee an illuminated/glowing tower, perhaps lighting up the logo on each side. With the clap of a hand, it turns on and off
<strong>I take a cue from the rest of Apple's current product line from the iMac to the Xserve. Each is a very elegant minimalist design. The only exceptions are the recent (and current) MDD G4 towers. Look for that to change when Apple changes processors.</strong><hr></blockquote>
I agree with the elegant minimalist designs, but find it difficult to see how the El Cap' enclosure can evolve beyond the QuickSilver. Take just the handles for example, they were milky white and ribbed in the blue and white G3. In the graphite G4 the colour was removed, and in the QuickSilvers the ribbing was removed. It's difficult to see how the handles could be made any more elegant and minimalist, without disappearing altogether. In a similar way, the drive bezels were reduced to their simplest purest form in the QuickSilver. As you say the MDD towers haven't followed the trend, having holes punched in the front out of necessity. Perhaps with the introduction of a new processor the QuickSilver style enclosure will evolve further, with some form of colour change and moniker to denote it's G5 status (or whatever it will be called).
The recent structural and relative aesthetic inertia of the 'power'Mac range shouldn't be taken as a sign that something radical isn't on the cards.
An illuminating lava lamp 'mood' tower case that ebbed and flowed? What kind of extensions to the illuminating keyboard and flower power macs might we see? A case that can play iTune visualisations?
Or maybe a stately, elegant and sophistcated stretch limo' cubesque design. That would look gorgeous.
970 'POWER'Mac? Time for something really special.
I would be into something along the minimalist aluminum el-capitan lines. Only problem is metal is gum disease to wireless reception. I would hope they wouldn't sacrifice real wireless range for a snappy case (but then again, they have been doing it with the portable line for a long time).
<strong>Steve once said that he'd milk the Mac for all it was worth, and move on to the next great thing.
Hmm. </strong><hr></blockquote>
I guess that begs the question, what is a Mac? Is it the hardware, the operating system or a combination of the two? I can't see Mac OS X being moved from, or the existing non PowerMac hardware. <img src="graemlins/hmmm.gif" border="0" alt="[Hmmm]" />
Could the fiber-optic lighting idea be used to seamlessly embed a status display into the front panel?
Rather than the entire case changing colors, just the front panel does, allowing information to be displayed on it, and for that information to be easily configured.
If you really wanted to fantasize, a pressure-sensitive membrane might be added so that users can interact with the (low-res) "display" just by pressing "buttons" on the front of the case.
I agree totally. I love the CD players where you wave your hand in front of it and the drawer automatically pops out. There's no reason why towers can't have that, after all even hand dryers in restrooms have motion sensors! <hr></blockquote>
That was one of the biggest problem with the G4 Cube-if you put your hand on it, it went to sleep.
I accidently knock my pencil off of my desk, it lands right it front of the tower sitting on the floor, and I reach down to pick it up. The CD tray opens.
I think my point is clear</strong><hr></blockquote>
Yea, that the cd tray opens when you wave your hand in front of it?
Comments
Start a new monicker. PowerMac X^1 (X for eXtreme)... generation denoted by the exponent. So the next rev would be X^2 and so on.
<strong>I prefer the design I came up with in the Cube 2 thread. It relies on modules for expansion...</strong><hr></blockquote>
OK, I've been trying to dig up a drawing that was posted here a few months ago...to no avail. Was that your pic Amorph? It had a basic 'cube-ish' base, with add-on modules that could be stacked on top of the base (optical drives / additional processors / you-name-its). IIRC the theorized connection was FW 1600/3200 between modules. Ring any bells for anyone? It's a very interesting idea.
Such a feature works with Apple's style, something incredibly simple, and very cool, yet nobody has thought of doing it yet.
<hr></blockquote>
I can imagine it now.
I accidently knock my pencil off of my desk, it lands right it front of the tower sitting on the floor, and I reach down to pick it up. The CD tray opens.
I think my point is clear
I don't think so.
How often do people with PowerMacs absolutely NEED to just pop out their hard drive or pop one in, on a regular basis? How many people need to swap hard drives and need to have have consistent, 24/7 uptime? The people that need these things are in the server market, and they need Xserves. It's not practical in the everyday PowerMac and would raise costs. Imagine the room that Xserve drive modules would take up inside the case, too.
Really, for a PowerMac, this issue is better handled by a firewire drive. It's hot-pluggable and would prove more versatile that hard drive modules.
<strong>
OK, I've been trying to dig up a drawing that was posted here a few months ago...to no avail. Was that your pic Amorph?</strong><hr></blockquote>
<img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laughing]" />
I'm not going to post a picture to these boards without great trepidation. There are designers and illustrators here who actually know what they're doing.
My design is modular, and it does rely on FW3200, but there was no stacking.
The relevant bits:
[quote]The aluminum enclosure is a sleek idea: Ports and ventilation along the back, slot for the slot-load SuperDrive machined into the front. The only other (obvious) adornment would be an Apple logo farther down that doubled as the power/sleep LED. Raise it up with four feet just far enough to allow a quiet fan to take in air through the bottom. Put a couple of tastefully recessed latches on the sides: When pressed in, the shell (i.e., every part of the case except for the bottom) slides up and off to reveal the innards. Inside, the machine is laid out like a miniature rack, so that each piece (drives, board, AGP slot if there is one, power supply) can be slid out of the case for ease of access, and latched firmly into place afterward.
Slide the cover back over the machine, press down firmly, and the latches on the sides click shut. Done.<hr></blockquote>
I also posited that AGP 8x/PCI Express would allow Apple to ship the machine with an onboard video chipset (say, whatever's in the iMac, or the PowerBook) and an AGP slot. The default machine would thus be quiet and have a perfectly good video chipset for most work, but if you wanted to drive multiple monitors, or put in a high performance graphics card, the option would be there.
<strong>It will be smaller, lighter, quieter and will not be called a PowerMac.</strong><hr></blockquote>
You're probably right because with this Apple will be shedding most of their ties to the old PowerPC architecture (even though it's still a "PowerPC" brand CPU). I think we may have to wait, though, on this dream machine -- 2004, twenty years after the first bombshell comes the second.
19 after just wouldn't fit Steve's character unless he did something like "the Macintosh is finally growing out of adolescence and into adulthood (19-20)" Then again, maybe all of this is just BS and Steve really shouldn't give whether or not it's an anniversary. Just crank 'em out -- perhaps put a .09 micron chip in 'em for their B-day in January!
As for deisgn and nomenclature, well, that's tough. As someone else mentioned, the year of the portable could be validated if FW 3200 hits the scene (plug in a PCI chassis when you need the expandability at home). But probably not -- remember Steve mentioned on CNBC's business center: "We've got some things up our sleeves in the desktop market, too." I think his notebook marketing will be important but not important enough to completely halt Power Mac progress for a year.
For the name?
I think it should emphasize its raw power and speed. Perhaps adding a bit of Einstein's relativity equation to the name would be appropriate. Mac^2-indicating its exponential leap in performance.
ha
g
<strong>I take a cue from the rest of Apple's current product line from the iMac to the Xserve. Each is a very elegant minimalist design. The only exceptions are the recent (and current) MDD G4 towers. Look for that to change when Apple changes processors.</strong><hr></blockquote>
I agree with the elegant minimalist designs, but find it difficult to see how the El Cap' enclosure can evolve beyond the QuickSilver. Take just the handles for example, they were milky white and ribbed in the blue and white G3. In the graphite G4 the colour was removed, and in the QuickSilvers the ribbing was removed. It's difficult to see how the handles could be made any more elegant and minimalist, without disappearing altogether. In a similar way, the drive bezels were reduced to their simplest purest form in the QuickSilver. As you say the MDD towers haven't followed the trend, having holes punched in the front out of necessity. Perhaps with the introduction of a new processor the QuickSilver style enclosure will evolve further, with some form of colour change and moniker to denote it's G5 status (or whatever it will be called).
[ 02-28-2003: Message edited by: RodUK ]</p>
An illuminating lava lamp 'mood' tower case that ebbed and flowed? What kind of extensions to the illuminating keyboard and flower power macs might we see? A case that can play iTune visualisations?
Or maybe a stately, elegant and sophistcated stretch limo' cubesque design. That would look gorgeous.
970 'POWER'Mac? Time for something really special.
Lemon Bon Bon
Hmm.
<strong>I can't believe you guys didn't see the new tower.
Here's the link:
<a href="http://www.spymac.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=9788&papass=&sort=1&thecat=501 " target="_blank">New G5 Tower</a></strong><hr></blockquote>
It's the new Kleenex-box Mac!
No, wait, it's the Shredder Mac, which destroys confidential information faster than a P4!
No, wait, it's a late-model R2!
Ah, screw it.
That mockup is pretty nice too.
<strong>Steve once said that he'd milk the Mac for all it was worth, and move on to the next great thing.
Hmm.
I guess that begs the question, what is a Mac? Is it the hardware, the operating system or a combination of the two? I can't see Mac OS X being moved from, or the existing non PowerMac hardware. <img src="graemlins/hmmm.gif" border="0" alt="[Hmmm]" />
Rather than the entire case changing colors, just the front panel does, allowing information to be displayed on it, and for that information to be easily configured.
If you really wanted to fantasize, a pressure-sensitive membrane might be added so that users can interact with the (low-res) "display" just by pressing "buttons" on the front of the case.
I agree totally. I love the CD players where you wave your hand in front of it and the drawer automatically pops out. There's no reason why towers can't have that, after all even hand dryers in restrooms have motion sensors! <hr></blockquote>
That was one of the biggest problem with the G4 Cube-if you put your hand on it, it went to sleep.
<strong>
I can imagine it now.
I accidently knock my pencil off of my desk, it lands right it front of the tower sitting on the floor, and I reach down to pick it up. The CD tray opens.
I think my point is clear</strong><hr></blockquote>
Yea, that the cd tray opens when you wave your hand in front of it?
<strong>I can't believe you guys didn't see the new tower.
Here's the link:
<a href="http://www.spymac.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=9788&papass=&sort=1&thecat=501 " target="_blank">New G5 Tower</a></strong><hr></blockquote>
This would be ausome for a 400-800 dollar mac. eMac specs, cool looking, small. hmmm, maybe not the powermac, but an affordable mac.