lonzo
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Looking back at Steve Jobs's NeXT, Inc -- the most successful failure ever
The paint scuffing comment doesn’t tell you the half of it. The NeXT Computer was in fact powder coated, not painted, and though magnesium is not exactly an easy metal to powder coat and powder coating is far from an exact science, Steve nevertheless would not allow his factory to sign off on any casing where the finish was less than flawless - thereby ensuring that the mere aesthetic finish of the machine ensured that it could never be produced at a profit.
This is not true. As a member of the Manufacturing Engineering team at NeXT from early 1987 thru 1989, I was responsible for bringing the CPU enclosure, or Cube, from prototype to volume production. Retaining the cosmetics of the first prototype Cube, created by Hartmut Esslinger at Frog Design was extremely important to Steve. His commitment fit and finish was considerable and could be summed up with this quote: "we don't want a shit beige, #3 stipple texture computer, the way it looks matters!" The Cube was a three piece, zero draft, magnesium casting (produced with 'four slide' molds) with a smooth, flat black finish. The original 'NeXT Black' was a lacquer based paint created at Frog's model shop and could never be used in volume production due to high VOC, furthermore, flat or no gloss paints contain solids to reduce gloss that are often abrasive and easily scratched. Providing a smooth finish on a casting was another challenge since castings usually contain considerable surface flaws such as voids, tooling marks, etc.and are commonly hidden by using a 'stipple' texture when spraying the paint. NeXT's cosmetics set a new standard in the computer industry and were achieved by developing automated sanding equipment to prepare the casting surface prior to painting, developing a water based paint which contained a novel and unique cross-linking additive ensuring durability, and the use of packing material that adhered to the surface of the cube eliminating any marring of the paint that may occur during shipping, along with the use of insanely great Suppliers and Subcontractors. Powder coating the Cube was not an alternative due to likely outgassing of the casting during cure, a 'dog bone' effect at the edge of the item being coated, plus color and other surface issues. No, we never hit the $20.00/cube target originally budgeted for painting, and yes the Cubes aesthetics came at a cost, but to say this prevented it from being produced at a profit is absurd.
