I didn't "run down" anything... just said I don't like it and ultimately, it's not for me... but if it works for you, go for it... just don't put words in my mouth...
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New iMac Is Beautiful
- Thread starter Kierkegaarden
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Have you ever noticed that manufacturers of all manner of things routinely change colour of their products in the name of maintaining novelty which the buying public responds to? Have you ever looked at the automotive market?
As for the pursuit of thinness it’s a meaningless criticism to point it out. Technology in all fields has routinely gotten leaner, more compact and miniaturized as it evolves. You think Apple is the only one in the pursuit of thinner and lighter phones and tablets? Have you heard of Samsung? Have you looked at televisions over the past twenty-five years?
Back in the 1950s and ‘60s the V8 and 6 cylinder engine ruled in North America. Vehicles with 4 cylinders were considered a joke and not ”real” cars. Many people proclaimed the mass market would never accept small engines. Today 4 cylinder engines dominate and V8s are found only in a few sports cars or pickup trucks. A 4 cylinder Mustang today would waste a ‘60s era Mustang, and not just in a straight line.
It’s very easy to make proclamations with absolute certainty from our own small perspectives. But often we simply don’t have all the needed information to make such predictions about the larger world or the larger market in this case.
You say the colour options are gimmicky, and to you they are. But I’ll wager Apple has made a well researched gamble the colours, and the new design, will appeal to far more people than they don’t appeal to.
I’m sure there will be other Apple Silicon Macs to choose from at WWDC and after. Lots of people really like these colors and the ultra-thin profile.
Thinness also means less material used to make the device, and thats a good thing.
I wonder whether it will be as early as WWDC, the autumn series seems more likely. But as others have said, the right time to buy a Mac is when you need one, there is always something shiny around the corner.
The mere fact that ordering times here are pushed back 5-6 weeks means the public like the machines and are happy to buy them.
Yet we really have absolutely no problem with the colors used in cars - a dealer's lot is a very colorful place, where, incidentally, colors change a lot from one model year to the next, yet we accept this without a thought.
Even domestic appliances such as refrigerators, dishwashers, microwaves, kettles, pots and pans, food mixers come in hundreds of colors.
We have overwhelming choices in the colors we paint our homes and offices, in the carpets and art we prefer, in the clothes we wear, in the gardening tools we have, in the packaging of food we buy, in the choice of fruit we eat...
Probably not an endless list, but really a very long one. And as much as I respect the opinion of anyone who doesn't like these iMacs because the colors don't appeal to them individually, I can't help but wonder why some (not saying you, just some) are so distinctly opposed to computers being anything but the same color as they have always been. Or the same form factor either.
And it isn't as if computers have always been the same color anyway. Early desktop micros were cream, or silver, or white. Then a color that over the years has yellowed into something quite unpleasant. Then beige, then 'platinum', then grey, then silver. Some were black, and some people decided to equate that with 'pro' machines, because that's how they were marketed and sold at the time, to help dupe a lot of people into spending more on a 'power' system.
Laptops went from such as my all-time favorite, the Toshiba T3100, which weighed about 20 pounds and was about as portable as a giraffe with a handle on its tail. Today, my regular laptop is an M1 MacBook Air. A gazillion times more powerful, a tiny fraction of the weight, far more portable.
Some (not meaning you, just some) are complaining that the new iMac is just too thin, and really doesn't need to be. And they're right in that it doesn't need to be, but then I don't need my car to go almost 70 miles to a gallon of petrol, but it does and I like that it does. My wife's car does 32 miles per gallon, and she likes that it goes a lot faster than mine does. Consumer choice is like that - it creates a market where different needs and preferences can be met, rather than just one.
Personally, I could understand the complaint that the new iMacs have bad color choices if it weren't for the fact that amongst them is silver. The self-same color the last generation of iMacs have been, so even those who don't like yellow, blue, green, etc can still have a computer that is the color they prefer. But now, so can we.
But I would agree these colors are a bit gimmicky, and I suspect they won't have much more staying power than the colorful G3 iMacs did, but that isn't really the point. When Apple made those, just like these, they gave consumers a degree of choice. I really, personally, don't see how that is a bad thing.
Nor do I see it as a bad thing that people who don't like them can say so. The fact is that you, and everyone else, have a choice, and you're entitled to express it as much as anyone. Just as everyone else is entitled to reply.
It was easily my favorite of the bunch. They had all the colors on the table except the standard silver, so reserving judgment on that one for now
The back looks great too
About 75% of cars sold (at least in the US) are White, Black or Sliver/Gray over the past 10 years. My complaint isn't necessarily that Apple has colors, it is the lack of options for the more boring/neutral colors. Why not a retro all white (I would not like it because I don't like white bezels but bet it would sell well) or a dark gray/black option with black bezels...
As I mentioned elsewhere, I actually think these colors are going to be short lived. The original rainbow iMacs were really only available for about 18 months (although had different revisions) before they toned down the colors. They also added a Graphite option in the middle.
So, about 25% of cars sold (at least in the US) have therefore not been white, black, silver or grey in the last 10 years, which makes for around 35-40 million vehicles that don't meet that profile. Quite a number. (By the way, mine is black).
Why not a retro white iMac? No idea. Personally, I wouldn't like it, but it's quite possible others would. But they can't make every color everyone might want, so it isn't much more than a question of where you draw the line.
I also - if you noted - said I thought these colors would likely be short lived, as with the G3 iMacs. But so what? The fact is that if you (meaning anyone) wants to be conventional in their system choice, you have a silver model you can pick. Those who don't want to be conventional in their system color, have a choice now too - and it really has been a while since that was last true.
The other colors people are suggesting are all just conventional ones too, and if I had to guess, I'd say that Apple have decided they don't want to play at being conventional quite so much in this market segment any more.
Right now, I'd be much more curious to know the process Apple used in these design choices. We may never know, but it would be informative in many ways.
People can often be quite conservative in their colour choices for cars. They will often say they like vibrant colours, but are often much more reserved when it comes to buying. And a car is not like something relatively small and hidden away from the public in your home or office. A car is out in the open for everyone to see and hence the possible desire not to draw too much attention to oneself.
Agreed. The “haters” of the new iMacs are really in the minority.
The reason they didn’t is because the chin has become a style icon, it says, this is an iMac and not just a screen without needing any overt statement. And Apple being Apple, they decided to be minimalist.
Same reason they stopped printing "MacBook" on MacBooks, once you have an iconic design you don't need overly explicit labels to tell you what it is.
All 4 current "MacBooks" have the name printed on the front. MBA, MBP 13" M1, MBP 13" Intel and MBP 16".
So did they stop being iconic?
