What's you favourite quirky apple design?

[elf69]

I'm quite new to apple but there are some stuff I like the design of even if the device is now pretty much useless.
Here are some of my own favourite designs from apple, in no real order:

The imac G4, What a design that was!

The old "flying saucer" air port. This looks funky and would not look out of place in any minimalist apartment today.

Also the mac mini, not quite so "out there" as last two but still I like the design.

The CUBE was another odd ball that I really like.

I'm sure you guys can come up with many more.
Let's share our love of the odd balls

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I liked the 'fat' iPod Nano, even though I never bought one (as I always bought iPod classics).

But I smiled every time I saw one, and did debate buying it for its charming quirkiness.

 

[bunnspecial]

I don't have one(yet) but I think that the TAM takes the cake as both a great design and a symbol of everything that was wrong with Apple at the time

It's basically a PowerMac 6500 with some parts from a PowerBook 3400C thrown in(specifically the display) and an incredible set of speakers.

Still, it was a rather bold design for the time, and in a lot of ways a predecessor of things to come-specifically the "thin" AIO design we now know so well on the iMac and AIOs from other makers.

 

[netnewswireuser]

The Cube was amazing and the PowerMac G5 tower too

 

[Gregg2]

Macintosh TV - my first computer

 

[DeltaMac]

The one I always called the desklamp Mac - the iMac G4.

 

[C DM]

I'm quite new to apple but there are some stuff I like the design of even if the device is now pretty much useless.
Here are some of my own favourite designs from apple, in no real order:

The imac G4, What a design that was!

The old "flying saucer" air port. This looks funky and would not look out of place in any minimalist apartment today.

Also the mac mini, not quite so "out there" as last two but still I like the design.

The CUBE was another odd ball that I really like.

I'm sure you guys can come up with many more.
Let's share our love of the odd balls

Slightly different take on a similar topic:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/for-techs-sake-apples-silliest-tech.2117140/

 

[Tech198]

I'm quite new to apple but there are some stuff I like the design of even if the device is now pretty much useless.
Here are some of my own favourite designs from apple, in no real order:

The imac G4, What a design that was!

The old "flying saucer" air port. This looks funky and would not look out of place in any minimalist apartment today.

Also the mac mini, not quite so "out there" as last two but still I like the design.

The CUBE was another odd ball that I really like.

I'm sure you guys can come up with many more.
Let's share our love of the odd balls

cool ...Apple should go back to these kind of designs. I guess the "spaceship" Apple Park makes up for this

 

[sartrekid]

A work of Art (with a capital "A"):

 

[Pakaku]

The 2013 Mac Pro is interesting, to have the entire computer cooled through one wind tunnel, it just needed to be completely upgradeable in order to be a completely good idea rather than half-baked

The Magic Mouse had a great idea with it entirely covered in a touchpad, but in the worst shape ever to hold a mouse with (do people at Apple have... normal... human... hands?)

And the first flat-panel iMac with the adjustable stand still looks great today, no complaints there asides from them moving on from the design, and I always thought reusing the design could make for a great iPad dock of sorts (maybe a dock with a Mac in the base, and docking it transforms the iPad into a hinged Mac display)

 

[sunapple]

iMac G4. The brilliant ad was part of the decision making here.

 

[R3k]

The Magic Mouse had a great idea with it entirely covered in a touchpad, but in the worst shape ever to hold a mouse with (do people at Apple have... normal... human... hands?)

Agreed. So bizarre that Apple make the best trackpads but the worse mice. The Magic Mouse just doesn’t fit comfortably in hand, I use a Logitech MX for professional work.

 

[satchmo]

I'm one of the few people in the world who like death the small round mouse that came with the bondi blue G3 iMacs.

The small size allowed me to manœuvre with my fingers without resting my palm on the mouse.

 

[AZhappyjack]

cool ...Apple should go back to these kind of designs. I guess the "spaceship" Apple Park makes up for this

Agreed. I love some of the vintage stuff... but Timmy is hell-bent on "thinner"... with that attitude, we would never have seen the cool stuff - the spaceship Airport... the CRT iMacs... #feelingNostalgic...

And I guess I am one of the few who actually likes the Magic Mouse ... speaking fo "quirky Apple designs", how about that lighting charging port on the BOTTOM?

 

[flyinmac]

cool ...Apple should go back to these kind of designs. I guess the "spaceship" Apple Park makes up for this

You’d think he’d have made it thinner. It’s not like you have to be able to stand up inside. And it’s not like you need that much space to move around. Pretty sure everyone can crawl and huddle shoulder to shoulder on their hands and knees with tiny iPads in front of them while they work.

Mice huddle in piles. Obviously it’s efficient.

He could have saved a fortune in construction materials.

Obviously you don’t need excess airspace. Look at everything else Apple builds.

Yep... they could have made it thinner.

 

[C DM]

speaking fo "quirky Apple designs", how about that lighting charging port on the BOTTOM?

I tend to view it as a design that specifically accomplished what Apple likely intended--that the mouse would never be used in a manner other than a wireless one.

 

[AZhappyjack]

I tend to view it as a design that specifically accomplished what Apple likely intended--that the mouse would never be used in a manner other than a wireless one.

No argument here... but when the battery dies in the middle of a project, it would be nice to have the ability to charge it AND use it... at least with the original MagicMouse you could just swap batteries... with MM2 you are SOL. I don't keep my keyboard plugged in, but it's nice to have the option.

 

[C DM]

No argument here... but when the battery dies in the middle of a project, it would be nice to have the ability to charge it AND use it... at least with the original MagicMouse you could just swap batteries... with MM2 you are SOL. I don't keep my keyboard plugged in, but it's nice to have the option.

Definitely from the user point of view of simply being able to use the device in any way possible, but not in the designer point of view of avoiding use for which the device wasn't designed for. But, yes, I know what you mean.

 

[sunapple]

Agreed. I love some of the vintage stuff... but Timmy is hell-bent on "thinner"... with that attitude, we would never have seen the cool stuff - the spaceship Airport... the CRT iMacs... #feelingNostalgic...

You know Steve Jobs also wanted everything to be as thin and small as possible and that the main design team hasn’t really changed in the last 20 years?

The cool stuff like iMac G3 and G4 were driven by technology from that time, bigger components. G3 was the smallest possible design you could do with a CRT. I guess the quirky designs were also more of a trend back then.

 

[Michael Goff]

You know Steve Jobs also wanted everything to be as thin and small as possible and that the main design team hasn’t really changed in the last 20 years?

The cool stuff like iMac G3 and G4 were driven by technology from that time, bigger components. G3 was the smallest possible design you could do with a CRT. I guess the quirky designs were also more of a trend back then.

That doesn’t mesh with the nigh deification of Steve Jobs and the nigh demonization of Tim Cook. You need to forget reality.

 

[AZhappyjack]

You know Steve Jobs also wanted everything to be as thin and small as possible and that the main design team hasn’t really changed in the last 20 years?

The cool stuff like iMac G3 and G4 were driven by technology from that time, bigger components. G3 was the smallest possible design you could do with a CRT. I guess the quirky designs were also more of a trend back then.

I get that... but Cook has taken it to absurd levels...

 

[sunapple]

I get that... but Cook has taken it to absurd levels...

MacBook Air in 2008 was so thin, it didn’t have a SuperDrive and only had one USB port. It was slow and super expensive. Very controversial. Sound familiar?

 

[rafark]

My first mac. Truly gorgeous. Love the details, the materials, the feel. Makes me want to touch it all day long.

(click to view in full res) (pic from the internet)

 

[elf69]

love my 2007 aluminium imac.

still looks very modern today.

 

[Arran]

Favorite quirky design? The little puff of smoke that appeared on the Newton OS UI whenever you deleted something on screen.

The delete gesture, itself, was a few zig-zag scrubs of the stylus across a word or drawing. As if you were crossing it out with a pen: Intuitive and followed by an rewarding puff with sound. Still makes me smile.