We've just got a new Mac in the studio at Orckid, and boy is she pretty. You may have seen the latest iMacs on the internet, or even in a store, but it's not until you see that magnificent 27" screen in a studio environment you realise just how good it actually is. It makes our standard issue 20" and 23" screens look tiny too.
Everything about the iMac design is just so refined and polished, the machine itself is a true classic of industrial design. When Apple makes desktop computers this good, you just know the iPad is going to be a success. I really think the latest iMac must be up there with the most beautiful computers ever, but I've always had another personal favourite.
Designed by Johnathon Ive, (the industrial designer behind so many of Apple's iconic designs, since the original 1998 iMac that was so important in reviving the companies fortunes) The G4 Cube was a stunningly simple design, a 8" x 8" x 8" computer appearing to hand in mid air, being encased in a 10" acrylic enclosure.
A 'headless' design, the Cube allowed you to add your own monitor and peripherals.
Only sold between 2000 and 2001, and seen at the time as overpriced, the Cube was never really a commercial success for Apple. Secondhand resale values remained high, however, as it started to be regarded as a 'cult' computer, collected for it's design status. Even today, a quick search of eBay shows several example with "Buy it now" prices of up to $900… not bad for a 10 year old computer. Especially when you consider that you can now pick up the spiritual successor to Cube, the tiny and much more powerful Mac Mini for about £500 brand new. With Snow Leopard.
For me, the Cube edges it over the latest iMac. Just. And then I came across this fantastic picture of the original "build it yourself" Apple I on a Time magazine photo story. A completely different design aesthetic of course, but just as beautiful, in its own way. Maybe more so. I can't make my mind up!
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