From Away

I’m a little behind on posting this article, but I definitely wanted to contribute my two cents regarding Apple’s latest hardware offering: the new G5 iMac. I must say that in some ways I was taken aback with the new design, but then again, in some ways I wasn’t. The white plastic look of the “iLine” of products was definitely a predictable characteristic that some people seem to be quite upset about. But, if you compare the look of the G5 iMac to the iBook, iPod, and even the G4 iMac, you could see that this is the trademark of the iLine of products. Some people seemed to be expecting the brushed aluminum look of the Professional series of Apple products. Those critics need to realize that this is the “economy” line from apple and is not in the same class as say, the PowerMac. Personally, I like the look of the white plastic of this line of products, but not nearly as much as the smooth, brushed aluminum look.

The one aspect of the design that I don’t much care for is the huge white area below the LCD. It makes me think of the eMac, which I don’t like particularly well. On one design forum that I visit frequently, a member posted a pic of the new iMac and captioned it “Introducing the new iMac Post-It (as seen above). A great use for this excess space as far as I’m concerned.

The layout of the ports on the back of the iMac is so simple, yet so functional. All of the ports are laid out in a perfectly straight line and labelled accordingly. Apple has also included basically the same stand on the new iMac that appeared on the new cinema displays which allows for cable management behind the machine. This is another excellent feature in my opinion. Even with all the wireless gadgets that are available these days (the apple bluetooth keyboard, and mouse namely), you still have power cables plus if you add an iSight, a couple of Firewire drives, and a USB device or two, it adds up to a lot of cables. I think more hardware manufacturers should follow Apple’s lead on this one.

Mind you, all of my above comments are made without seeing or putting my hands on one of these machines. My opinion might change once I get to play around with one a bit, but as of right now, this looks like a great addition to my desktop as I’m looking to replace my PC with an Apple.