|
iMac was only the beginning, if the G4 Cube is any indication. In the two years since it was introduced, the iMac has engendered a certain odd kind of complacency within the Mac community. The iMac has evolved, but the iMac
DV+ is still very close to its original ancestor. Mac users have pretty much come to expect that the next iMac model will follow the one that preceded it, except for improved performance and small hardware refinements. Let me make it clear -- the changes the iMac has adopted are terrific. Losing the fan was exactly the kind of continuous improvement that will make the iMac a winner for years to come. But iMac is not the only game in town anymore.
More than a few users took one look at the Cube at Macworld and immediately treated it like a poor relation. MacWeek even ran an article before the Expo was over predicting the Cube could be the Next Big Mistake. Well, pull your head out of the soil and look at the far horizon. The Cube may not be perfect, it does one thing perfectly well: demonstrates how color and translucent cases are only an evolutionary baby-step on the road to future Macintoshes. When the mouse meets the pad and you get right down to it, iMacs are the same old idea, repackaged. The package is wonderful, but it is not the end of the road.
Computers have more power than mainframes did a decade ago, and yet their basic design is modeled after the typewriter. That makes sense, up to a point. After all, the human body has not changed much in the last 100 years, so sitting in a chair, looking at a screen, and typing are probably not going to disappear anytime soon. However, as the Cube and its successors will probably demonstrate, the typewriter archetype is breaking down.
Imagine those future Cubes for a moment. They will shrink even more, that much is certain. What happens when we are able to connect a processor and storage unit to a screen and keyboard without wires. Airport is a taste, but it still requires hauling around the CPU. At some point, we will be able to carry wireless keyboards around the house or office and watch the computer output on a giant HDTV monitor. And while we are fantasizing, imagine replacing the keyboard with a voice interface. In the context of our little fantasy, a Cube is a lot more than a cool prop or a crazy uncle at the family picnic.
In the familiar context of desktop and laptop computers, the Cube is little more than a stylish gadget that frees up a some desk space. But imagine it in the context of wireless peripherals, Airport networks, Palm-like handheld devices, and interchangeable viewing screens. Offices could save hundreds of thousands of dollars in cabling costs and troubleshooting. Household computers would be as easy to install as a microwave.
Now that is really thinking different.
|
"Unplugged,
Unleashed, and Unbeige"
