It’s cool how Apple’s design language keeps evolving. One product design follows another. There’s a continuity this way, yet things continue to feel new. And it’s interesting how their small designs influence their large designs.
Take a look at the back of the iPhone. It’s silver on top, black on the bottom. Then take a look at the new iMac. It’s is black on top, silver on the bottom. The top of the iMac looks like an iPhone rotated to horizontal orientation.
The iPhone design has influenced the new iMac design just as the widescreen iPod influenced the previous iMac design:
The old iMac basically looked like a huge iPod and the new iMac looks like an iPhone. I love watching them iterate and evolve. Each product playing off the next. Each new material finding its way into new products. Even the iPhone onscreen keyboard, the MacBook, and new slim keyboard keys have related shapes. This is design at its best.
Just one more thing…
Thomas
on 07 Aug 07Have got to love Jonathan Ive’s work. The Queen needs to give that bloke a knighthood!
Doug
on 07 Aug 07The new iMac black border is also nicer (generally) for viewing photos, which is additionally made nicer with the glossy screen.
Having the wireless (read: mobile, free) keyboard go without a 10-key pad is also a nice touch as well. I’ve had plenty of wireless keyboards, but none that were really super-portable. The details always matter.
Josh
on 07 Aug 07That keyboard reminds me, from the side, of the Sony Vaio TZ laptop (interesting since I think of Sony as Apple’s biggest competitor these days).
http://www.akihabaranews.com/en/news_pics/13857/Sony_Vaio_TZ_7.jpg
That said, the keyboard is pretty but those buttons look terrible to use. :/ What is with Apple’s idea of futzing with tactile feedback these days? They seem to insist its not necessary…
JF
on 07 Aug 07The buttons are culled from the MacBook which have generally been very well received (after the initial natural skepticism).
Patrick
on 07 Aug 07Knighthood may be a bit much – he already got a CBE in 2006. Now if Ive were to do something to raise the profile of design or contribute to design education in the UK, then I could see him in line for Knight Bachelor.
I’m sure all the 3rd-party vendors are loving it as well. The new overall style gives them an opportunity to sell redesigned sets of everything. I’m not too keen on the silver and black combo though as it is somewhat similar to the direction Dell is headed which Apple is trying to distance itself from.
Francis
on 07 Aug 07Just curious, where is Mac’s equivalent of PrintScreen button?
Noah Everett
on 07 Aug 07Their designs make me jealous…in a good way.
WA
on 07 Aug 07One thing I’ve been thinking about is why did Apple make the bottom of the iPhone black with different material. It hit me because the heavy usage of the bottom of phone outweighs the top (recharging it – putting it away, the black side gets hit). Thus use different durable material was needed. However the design solution acknowledged the difference and ran with it and made it an element. Having said all that…
The amazing ting is the smaller devices are constrained. Where as the bigger devices can use more design variation. Yet Apple followed the right suite. The let the smaller influence the bigger.
Anonymous Coward
on 07 Aug 07JF – the keyboard resembles the MacBook Pro no?
Brandon Newendorp
on 07 Aug 07You also notice that they removed the word “iMac” from the design everywhere? Another bit of evidence that you recognize an iMac just by the gorgeous design…
JF
on 07 Aug 07AC: No, the keys resemble the MacBook, not the MacBook Pro.
Anonymous Coward
on 07 Aug 07I meant the outwardness. The use of aluminum/brushed metal. Agreed the keys are very macbook.
carlivar
on 07 Aug 07Hmm. I don’t know about that keyboard. Sure it looks great, but I could care less. I care about how it feels on my fingers. I’m rather pessimistic since the current Apple keyboard is terrible.
Two words for any keyboard designer: tactile feedback.
Michael Long
on 07 Aug 07@WA: Actually, the different material at the bottom of the iPhone is plastic as opposed to metal, and is where the phone’s antenna’s are located. (An all-metal back would degrade reception.)
That said, I’m not sure I wouldn’t have preferred it to be a silver-gray matte like the rest of the phone.
Splashman
on 07 Aug 07@Carlivar: Yeah, as a fast typist I’m a little suspicious of the keyboard too, but I’ll withhold judgment until I try one. (I currently use a TactilePro keyboard, but I’d kill to have an updated version of the Apple Extended Keyboard II. I still have one attached to my old 9600, and it’s heaven for my fingers, but on my G5 I just gotta have my volume buttons, etc., so I sprung for the expensive TactilePro. It’s a big step up from the keyboard Apple has shipped for the past few years (squishy squishy), but it’s not made very well and the feel/feedback still doesn’t compare to the old standby.
Re: the iMac, I’m not thrilled about the big black apple on the front. I liked the subdued gray apple on the previous generation. On the new one, I wish they had machined the apple out of the aluminum instead (i.e., deboss).
Splashman
on 07 Aug 07(Of course, that wouldn’t match the iPhone, but still . . .)
carlivar
on 07 Aug 07Actually I think the new iMacs are ugly.
Michael Long
on 08 Aug 07@Splashman: The logo is actually silver (like on the back of the iPhone) but is showing black in the photos. Watch the ad and see it change at the very end.
Paul
on 08 Aug 07FWIW, I’m a fast typer (100-120 WPM) and have had zero problems adjusting to the MacBook’s keyboard after using a full-size Apple keyboard for years.
The latest keyboard is a minimalist triumph.
Luca
on 08 Aug 07Note that the iSight was visible in the early iMac, as well as in all other macs (in particular, you had to see the camera as the signal of iMac-G5-new-version, and of macs latest product-upgrades), and now Ive make it invisible in the black background (all of us yet knows that macs are iSight equipped, it’s visibility is’nt important).
Kyle
on 08 Aug 07Cmd-Shift-3 – takes a snapshot of the whole screen
Cmd-Shift-4 – takes a snapshot of a single window or an area you select.
Also, Mac screenshots are always clearer that PC screenshots. Not trying to start a rumble, it’s a fact of life.
Joshua Kaufman
on 08 Aug 07The keyboard is visually stunning, but I would have expected Apple to have some sort of ergonomic option by now. As someone who cares so much about good design, they sure don’t seem to care about the long term health of your hands.
Peter
on 08 Aug 07...as long as you don’t actually have to y’know, use the thing or anything.
I suppose I should wait until I try it (the Apple Store’s iMac display was sans keyboard), but it looks like an ergonomic nightmare. Interestingly, Jobs did point out the height of the keyboard’s front as an improved ergonomic measure. Anyone know what his source is, or what other ergonomic measures there are for keyboards?
PK
on 08 Aug 07On another blog, someone pointed out that the MacBook Pro aluminum enclosure reduces substantially the wireless range of its antennas. The commenter was worried that the same thing would be true of the new iMac, but I wonder if the black plastic backing of the new iMac isn’t also inspired by the iPhone: it black plastic bottom to allow wireless signals to operate without hindrance.
Daniel Grover
on 08 Aug 07I’ve noticed this too in Apple’s design. One particularly good example is the leap from GarageBand to XRay in Leopard. It’s a brilliant concept, but it probably wouldn’t occur in the way it did if they hadn’t made GarageBand first.
kathryn
on 08 Aug 07it doesn’t impress me that apple made a keyboard to fit an arbitrary shape such as the level plane.
the harder challenge, and one that would impress me, is to fit beautiful design to an ergonomic shape. i challenge apple to make the kinesis sexy.
MI
on 08 Aug 07I love my Kinesis keyboards just they way they are. :)
Jaquin
on 08 Aug 07Re call for “ergonomic” keyboard. Contrary to conventional wisdom, ergonomic is not “one thing”. Its a set of practices or initiatives to reduce some of the stress placed on our bodies as we work. It is as individual as each and every one of us. It is as individual as each and every work space. The height of my desk, the chair I use all these have more to do with the stresses on my body than the keyboard shape. I think Apple realizes that they can do very little to help with the setup of their customers computing workspace; rather than putting their reputation on the line for an unachievable goal they have remained minimalist. They have deceided to concentrate on making us want better computing workspaces to celebrate the design of the computes we purchase from Cupertino.
Jake Walker
on 08 Aug 07Some of the features of Numbers aren’t that different than some of the very innovative and cool features in Lotus Improv, a unique spreadsheet available for Windows 3.1 I believe, that never really took off.
Jake Walker
on 08 Aug 07I realize the above is a total non sequitur. I thought I was commenting on something different. Whoops!
Colin Devroe
on 08 Aug 07This was probably said in your comments (but I honestly don’t have the time to skim through them at the moment) but – I was just about to buy the keyboard and then noticed that the wireless keyboard was not a full keyboard. My current wireless Apple keyboard is full, why not the new one?
According to Mr. Jobs during the Media Event he said “because people like to put them on their laps, etc.”. Well, I don’t. I keep it on my desk.
I don’t want a wire. So I guess I can’t get one. This is pretty much the first time I’ve been really upset with a decision like this. Like, stomp my feet saying “I want one.” upset. :-)
Nick
on 08 Aug 07Absolutely brilliant post, just what I was thinking. Perfect.
Jon H
on 08 Aug 07The nice thing about the small wireless keyboard is that a small keyboard like that coexists nicely with a small writing pad next to it, between the keyboard and a mouse or trackball.
Of course, that doesn’t really work in the lap situation.
Jon H
on 08 Aug 07I’m not crazy about the black, though I do prefer a dark surround for the screen. The way it’s done on the iMac looks a lot like the LCD screens being sold by, I think, HP – big glossy black border.
Justin Paluch
on 08 Aug 07Josh was kind of correct. That keyboard style was used by Sony on their Vaio X505 as far back as 2004.
pictures here
Granted, in this instance it’s mimicking the Macbook. On the Macbook it’s mimicking… well, the Vaio.
Pelle
on 08 Aug 07Fun to see how this new keyboard is received – really takes Apple to make a buzz around something like that – not that it doesn’t deserve the buzz, but still :)
MiSc
on 08 Aug 07I don’t like the very present black border of the screen. It’s no as light in its appearance as the old iMac, I guess. More than that I love the simple yet stunning ad for the new ones. We do not see much of something like that here in Austria.
Jeff Shell
on 08 Aug 07Jake – Lotus Improv actually first came out for NeXTStep. The Windows version was severely crippled by comparison (but with the rapidly growing Windows market, it’s understandable that Lotus tried to move their new product in).
There’s a great video of Jobs demoing NeXTStep 3.0 that has a demo (or just a brief mention, I think) of Improv within it. It’s very interesting to watch though. Jobs general presentation style hasn’t changed much. It’s great for 1993.
This NeXTStep 3.0 video is reminding me of watching some of the iLive ‘08 video earlier today.
nv
on 08 Aug 07Two things.
@colin. You have one already, right? Sounds like you’re set.
More than full keypad, etc., what might make sense for such a product (perhaps we need two versions?) would be a trackpad. Just have one input device.
Splashman
on 08 Aug 07@Michael Long: Gadzooks! If the apple on the front of the iMac is actually silver, then the PR stills are awful. I haven’t yet seen silver reflect pure black. Does the iPhone’s shiny apple ever reflect pure black in bright light? Anyway, big sigh of relief—the black apple seemed out of character for Apple. Now I know why. (BTW, at the end of the commercial, when the apple went shiny, I assumed we were just getting a reflection on the shiny black apple, just like the rest of the cabinet.)
On another note, several commenters have mentioned they don’t like the iMac’s “black plastic” back. Given Jobs’ effusive comments about AL & SiO2, I initially assumed the back was actually aluminum, with a matte black coating. But hey, I could be wrong. Maybe aluminum in that curvy shape isn’t even economically feasible. Anybody know for certain what it’s made of? The descrip on Apple’s site reads, ”...anodized aluminum frame & glass cover.” What “frame” means is not clear. We do know the entire front and the edge is aluminum, so it’s not just a “frame” in the normal sense. Beyond that, hard to say.
Nagromme
on 08 Aug 07Re TACTILE FEEDBACK: the keys on these keyboards-like the keys on laptop-press in exactly as far as the keys on a desktop keyboard. People assume that laptop keys have less travel, but it isn’t true. It’s a visual illusion. They may have weaker springs, but that’s not even always the case.
Whining Git
on 08 Aug 07While all of you ponder every tiny detail of Apple’s new products, I’m off outside to socialize with my friends. I’ll probably try and earn some money today too by doing something productive.
Trent
on 08 Aug 07@Josh
Only difference is that Vaio looks gaudy and hideous
Paul Collins
on 08 Aug 07Personally, I want a wired version of the compact keyboard.
hachee
on 08 Aug 07@ Francis: The equivalent for a printscreen button is the following combination: shift+apple+3
nexusprime
on 08 Aug 07I ordered that keyboard roughly a minute after seeing the pictures (enough to verify that the keys I need are there).
Amazing, indeed. I had a similar keyboard a year or two back, but its construction let it down, and I’ve been pining for a similarly thin keyboard ever since.
brad
on 08 Aug 07Peter wrote Interestingly, Jobs did point out the height of the keyboard’s front as an improved ergonomic measure. Anyone know what his source is, or what other ergonomic measures there are for keyboards?
The studies I’ve seen (mostly done at Cornell) find that a reverse-tilt keyboard is best in terms of ergonomics: the front of the keyboard (the part with the spacebar) should be higher than the back. This is why ergonomists tell you to avoid using the “feet” that are set into the backs of most keyboards; the keyboard should lie flat or even better should have its front higher than the back. So in this keyboard doesn’t look so great from an ergonomic standpoint because it seems like it would encourage pronation, which can lead to carpal tunnel syndrome.
But in the end the most important question is whether the keyboard promotes a neutral wrist position (not bent or tilted). If it does, it doesn’t really matter which end is higher.
Greg
on 08 Aug 07@Kyle & Francis
I believe if you throw an option key in each of those it copies the screenshot to the clipboard just like Windows instead of saving the picture on your Desktop as a png.
virtuves interjeras
on 08 Aug 07i like new iMac design very and all of apple too. It is simple but very cool
emma
on 08 Aug 07did you figure this out all on your own or did your mom help?
sheesh!
Mike Linnane
on 08 Aug 07I think it’s possible the black screen border – aside from being informed by the iPhone design – was also used to conceal the built-in iSight camera.
Dan Boland
on 08 Aug 07Actually I think the new iMacs are ugly.
As sin, yes, I completely agree.
Niklas B
on 08 Aug 07@brad Keyboards that are low, closer to the table put less strain on the upper forearm for the same reason that a reverse tilted keyboard, like you describe it, is better. Also, there is less strain on the neck muscles if you do not have to lift your forearms from their resting position on the tables. That is why arm rests of different kinds are popular – they prevent muscle tension and fatigue and in the long run damage.
Ryan
on 08 Aug 07I see lots of complaints about “tacile feedback” from all the experts here. I wonder why they think these buttons have no tactile feedback? The LOOK different, but they’re still buttons.
Rachel Weber
on 08 Aug 07I could do without the additional glare from the glossy screen. It’s good to see the power button is back on the keyboard. Fantastically sleek. Love it.
Anonymous Coward
on 08 Aug 07I see lots of complaints about “tacile feedback” from all the experts here.
I love experts who’ve never tried the exact thing they are lambasting. Some experts!
beth
on 08 Aug 07I love the cohesiveness of their products. When you go into my office, all the peripherals mostly match and just kind of fade into the background of my desk. (Except for my big honkin’ HP printer)
But when I look at something like say, my living room media tower, I see clunky boxes of varying sizes, shape, and color, and wires poking out all over the place. I hope Apple ventures further into audio and simplifies things. I’d like less clutter in my electronics.
Robert Sharl
on 08 Aug 07I’ve just had a hands-on with the new iMac, and I think it’s gorgeous. The 20” is beautifully slim and nicely-proportioned. I remember preferring the old 17” to the 20” for the same reason.
If it’s design detail you’re after though, check out how you get into the case: The glass panel is held in by magnets..
http://newsgland.blogspot.com/2007/08/cracking-open-new-aluminum-imac.html
Kim Siever
on 08 Aug 07Now if they can just work on their error messages. When attempting to install an iWork 8 trial this morning, I was promptly introduced to an error prompt that informed me of “error 99”. It wasn’t until I did some searching of my own that I discovered “error 99” means my OS is one version too old.
John Topley
on 08 Aug 07Isn’t that the power button to turn the wireless keyboard on and off? From the pictures it looks like the power button for the iMac itself is still on the back at the opposite end from the ports.
Cameron Moll
on 08 Aug 07The black rim on the iMac is actually reminiscent of the Samsung SyncMaster monitor.
r
on 08 Aug 07the cool looking “mighty” mouse, a work of minimalism, is a piece of crap. so im willing to bet the same is true for this keyboard, looks great, works ok.
not too fond of the big black apple icon or the overall imac design, new or old. has always looked odd and clunky with that big fat chin. the new heavy black border is trying to draw your eye away from that but I dont know how successful it is.
JGowan
on 08 Aug 07First off, this (to me) isn’t VERSION 4 of the iMac, but rather a fairly solid 3.5. Which isn’t a bad thing at all. Thinking that Apple was going to turn one their best designs ever into another iPod 3.0 was scary—changing the design because they needed to in order to make a few bucks (read “few billion bucks”).
In the end, Apple simple gave us what we wanted which they are best at figuring out. Who here when they saw the shape of the iMac 3.0 (and the aluminum foot) thought “This is very cool! It looks almost just like the new Cinema displays, but how cool would it have been if it were in aluminum completely?”
Now to me, Apple could’ve gone all aluminum, but that’s a lot of Pro-material without the Pro-price. So, effectively with going black plastic on the back, they’ve effectively given us an Aluminum iMac without really giving us an Aluminum iMac. Just the front and sides. If they would’ve gone with the white plastic on the back, we’d be raising our pitchforks all “WTF” and all—“Where’s the rest of our Aluminum?” But somehow the black can be forgiven or even admired (it reminds us of the iPhone after all). So with all that black on the black, some was needed on the front too to (A) complement its usage on the back and to (B) minimize that Chin we hear/write about so often on message boards. The Chin’s still there, big as ever, but it appears smaller because of that black border.
Oh and©: to make our movies and pictures look better against the jet-black edge. As an 5.5 iPod owner, I’ll never regret going with Black—the video just looks awesome. Much better than the White one, in my opinion.
About the glass front. Not a fan. I’m a designer and don’t want the shine, but I could see why the average consumer loves it—people love shiny stuff. Those photos and movies will look awesome in a dimmer-than-normal room.
Douglas R Preston
on 08 Aug 07There was a time when designers from companies like BMW & Apple worked to refine their products. Less is more. What happens when that pursuit is near it’s end and any refinements that are made are hardly noticed? Designers get bored and start “styling” by adding things needlessly. Look at the new BMW cars and now these new iMacs. Too bad.
John
on 08 Aug 07Apple Shmapple. This blog should be renamed the “I kiss Apple’s Ass Blog”
Mrad
on 08 Aug 07I’m am diggin’ hard on that keyboard! It’s friggin’ fantastic.
Quix
on 08 Aug 07“But when I look at something like say, my living room media tower, I see clunky boxes of varying sizes, shape, and color, and wires poking out all over the place. I hope Apple ventures further into audio and simplifies things. I’d like less clutter in my electronics.” – beth
Amen! The home entertainment tower is in desperate need of a makeover. How about an Apple-branded receiver/amplifier with built-in AppleTV and (for old-schoolers) a DVD slot? Right now I have a massive receiver with a million inputs I don’t need, and too many external components I wish I didn’t (TiVo, cable tuner box, DVD player, Airport Express for streaming music, iPod dock for playing videos I get in iTunes – ugh!). Give me a single box that plays my music, my video, shows my photos, maybe even lets me hit the Web with a wireless keyboard if I really need to (or use the keyboard on my iPhone). Give me an input for a gaming console (gotta have my Wii) and an HDMI-out (and 7.1 speaker connections, of course) and let me control it remotely (wi-fi) with a simple visual interface on my iPhone (vs. the million buttons on my receiver remote). I’d buy one of these in a heartbeat. Heck, I’d buy three.
Apple could give Yamaha/Denon/Sony/Onkyo/et al a serious run for their money.
Sunny
on 08 Aug 07Hi, I’m actually inspired by this blog post that I was thinking that it actually makes some sense that a potential iMac Product (Red) can be influenced by the combination of U2 iPod and iPod Nano Product (red)!
I had a mockup here.
I would love to hear if people would prefer a red iMac :) Cheers.
p.s. I liked the new keyboard too.
Quix
on 08 Aug 07P.S. what generates that cool (and much-needed) troll icon (John, above) and why can’t Digg implement something similar??? Are you reading this, Kevin Rose?
cf
on 08 Aug 07re: home entertainment tower is in desperate need of a makeover
two words: B & O
Scott G
on 08 Aug 07I know there’s going to be a lot of mixed opinion on the new wireless keyboard, but the first thing I thought of when I saw it was it would be great for those of us who use a Mac Mini as an HTPC with a wireless keyboard & mouse on the coffee table, etc. I like the smaller form factor there (and I guess I don’t really miss the numeric keypad in that environment), but the jury is still out for me on using that on my primary Mac.
I’d use my existing Apple wireless keyboard with the new iMac but it doesn’t match and that would be so contrary to the Apple aesthetic that I’m afraid they’d take my FanBoy membership card.
Victor Gavenda
on 08 Aug 07I disagree with Jason’s basic premise.
I seriously doubt that the design of the new iMac is derived from that of the iPhone in any way. I can’t believe that one crew of designers toiled away in splendid isolation to create the iPhone, then a member of the iMac crew wandered by and said, “Hey doodz! That’s so kewl! We gotta use aluminum on the iMac!!!”
I’m certain that both products are conceived as part of an overall design strategy that’s been in the works for many months, and that we’ll see more black-and-aluminum products in the future.
In fact, look carefully at the screenshots of Leopard. It’s got the same shiny black Apple menu icon that you see on the front of the new iMac.
The fact that the iPhone came out a few weeks before the new iMac is purely an accident, not evidence of influence.
Oh, and for you folks who don’t like the new iMac design-I suggest that you withhold judgment until you’ve actually SEEN one. There have been other Ive designs that have left me cold until I saw them in person, then-Wow! Those Apple folks have a real feel for materials, the way they interact with the ambient light in a room, and how the different materials used within a product relate to each other. Theirs is a subtle beauty that can’t completely be captured in photographs.
Al
on 08 Aug 07I love the cleverness, if that’s a word, of Jonathan Ive’s design. As I see it, the black border achieves 4 things:
1) Draws your attention the the gorgeous glossy display.
2) Hides the iSight Camera.
3) Visually reduces the size of the iMac’s chin, by drawing your eye only to the space from the bottom of the border.
4) Most importantly, looks stunning!
Gabe da Silveira
on 08 Aug 07Ha! That troll icon is hilarious. Now we don’t need to ignore trolls, we can actively point and laugh without feeding. Hahahahah!
Anonymous Coward
on 08 Aug 07It doesn’t stop there. The dark glass on the back of the iMac? The background of Dashboard. The translucent menu bar in Leopard? The same translucent title bar on the iPhone while waiting to be unlocked.
I think one of the main reasons why there isn’t a consistent user interface right now in OSX, and in recent history, is because Apple has been trying to figure out what that consistent user interface is going to be. Everything has been evolving to this point. There’s a reason the iPhone mimics OSX that mimics the iMac that mimics the MacBook that mimics iLife and so on.
We’re reaching a point where everything is finally coming together after years of experimenting to find what works. The little pieces are beginning to add up to a unified Apple experience across all software and hardware.
Francis
on 08 Aug 07Thanks everyone for the answer for the PrintScreen. :) I’ve never used a Mac in my whole life…
I find them really expensive for normal daily use…
Splashman
on 08 Aug 07Francis, everyone’s experience is different. I have no problem with those who prefer Windows for “daily use.” For me, Windows is too expensive for daily use, as my time is valuable.
barb
on 08 Aug 07I still say that new keyboard design is carpal tunnel waiting to happen… but maybe it’s just me.
thibaut
on 08 Aug 07+1 with Victor’s comment : it’s design strategy, vision, not products influencing each others. Hardware products reach their design definition months before they launch, due to development time. It’s not like a web site that you can refine your choices on a day to day basis. The tools needed to build these objects are so expensive (and always challenged by the design team on top of it) that you can’t make changes anymore at a certain point.
Speaking of material finishes, does anybody think that there’s a common design strategy between hardware products and interfaces ? (for example, the FinalCut Studio web page is a new iMac, well, to me) I wonder if every interface detail isn’t actually worked out with real materials, this reality being afterward translated into an image. It sounds a little too much, but then, it seems there’s nothing too much when it comes to work a design at Apple. ( for example, the FinalCut Studio web page is a new iMac, well, to me )
JF
on 08 Aug 07it’s design strategy, vision, not products influencing each others.
I’m not suggesting that the public release date of these products spur new design ideas, I’m suggesting that product designs play off each other far before the public gets to see them.
I’m sure there’s booked strategy and vision, but I would also bet that a lot of “what looks and feels right” in one product comes from experimentation on another product. I don’t think it’s as planned out as one may think. I’d bet there is a fair bit of iterations and experimentations going on during design.
Kingsley
on 09 Aug 07Absolutely stunning?! More like “how the hell do I turn this off?”
Skippi
on 09 Aug 07Did you notice that both Apple keyboards got away with Apple logo from both the keys (no Apple key!) and the casing? I think this is an interesting point in their new design and will have consequences… for instance I know printed manuals that sport Apple key in their how-to’s.
Are Apple-made products going to be clad in such a distinctive way that they would no longer need branding – the bitten Apple? Isn’t that going a bit too far?
eric
on 09 Aug 07wow… apple used its own branding to create its own hardware.
shocking!
this just in, apple keeps up its appearance as the world leader in design standards. more breaking news later…
Gary R Boodhoo
on 09 Aug 07Like most primates, I also have an Apple fetish also, however the best design work I’ve seen all day were the tennis balls attached to an older gentleman’s walker while on the bus. In particular, I found this design’s utility, affordability and remarkable lack of self-consciousness to be exactly what I find absent in “award winning & important design”
I don’t know, there’s nothing I dislike about the new work. I suppose its quite brilliant, yet in a world dominated by smooth and clean surfaces I find myself a bit wistful for the wood-grain and handmade case of the Apple I.
It seems that as I get older, imperfection & quirkiness (charm?) mean more than ever. Perhaps others feel the same way as can be observed by the current steampunk aesthetic? Just an observation… Basically, what’s not to like about Apple’s recent work. Why does that bother me so?
Graham_C
on 09 Aug 07The product that lets Apple’s range down badly right now is the Mighty Mouse. It looks sleek and cool, but it is badly engineered. It doesn’t function for more than a month at a time unless you wash your hands scrupulously before every use. It wouldn’t be so bad if you could open it up to clean it, but you can’t without damaging it. Why not just stick an optical sensor on top as well? No moving parts is good; the trackball is a bad joke. Also, it needs a fresh set of batteries (bluetooth version) about once a week. Therefore they should ship it with a charger and rechargeables or else work its consumption down significantly.
iphone paul
on 09 Aug 07Man, I love that keyboard. Very nice!
MacWolf Pro
on 09 Aug 07Not only the iPod and the iMac were siblings, but also the white iBook when opened had the exact same ideas and even proportions in it. As noted, yet the best part of all this is the sustained continuity from the original Macintosh up to these days and beyond (think of Performa as a link thru Dark Times).
Loura Conerney
on 09 Aug 07Keyboard feels good. Would like a non gloss option.
Niklas B
on 09 Aug 07@barb, it is probably just you. Lower keyboards are less prone to give Carpal tunnel than high.
Though I am a bit disappointed that they did not release a fullsized wireless keyboard, I am about to buy one.
WA
on 09 Aug 07JF is going to love this:
core77.com/blog/object_culture/new_imacs_look_kinda_like_an_audi_7135.asp
Yorkali Walters
on 09 Aug 07What Apple has done is what all great masters of design, especially Frank Lloyd Wright perfected. He took a basic design motiff and replicated it across the plan design, the elevations and the accesories and furniture.
When he designed homes especially, each home had it’s own line of furniture. This was an extension of the overall design. This impacted me deeply when I studied him studying architecture in Jamaica. It was cool to see how one idea could be duplicated at different scales across the entire design. This created not monotony but clarity of purpose and a unison of style. This same approach Apple is rapidly perfecting.
What Apple is doing for design is beyond words.
Substance
on 09 Aug 07The new iMac also looks similar to the Audi A4/A6 series. http://www.conceptcar.co.uk/news/cardesignnews.php?newsid=84
Francis
on 10 Aug 07@Splashman i didn’t say i use windows.
my OS history
- apple ][ dos 3.0/CPM - slackware linux - QNX - centOS4 (current)
Brad
on 10 Aug 07It’s so hard to sum up to a non Mac person what makes the product design so good. This might be one of the best summaries I’ve heard yet.
This discussion is closed.