Check Expectations for Apple's Tablet at the Door

Yahoo ^ | Jan 4, 2009 | by Arik Hesseldahl

[dennisw]

Ive is in charge of far more than the outward aesthetics. It’s his job to make sure everything can be packaged together and work, and be manufactured. Industrial design, inside and out.

Every computer company does this. So what

In a recent interview he was talking about all the nooks and crannies and channels in a machined aluminum laptop enclosure. He (well, he and his team) designs all of those to fit with the internal electronics, which are in turn designed to fit the enclosure.

I'm not impressed. The same thing goes on when the Taiwanese and Dell and HP design and collaborate
Lee Ho Fook is the famous Taiwanese designer you never heard of

Ive’s brilliance is form and function together so you don’t even notice the brilliant design behind it. It’s directly in opposition to HP and the like, who like to put flashy plastic (”Look, I have design!”) over a basic box, adding nothing to the actual function or use.

Can you give an example of this

[Swordmaker]

You are correct. At Best Buy the only laptop I picked up and handled and looked for ports and connectors on was the white 13” laptop. So my remark was incorrect. All the iMacs were white so I that influenced my remark. Aluminum but I’m not going to get into why.

Again, you are wrong... or at least out dated. No recent iMac is white. They are aluminum and black. Why do you hold the opinion that "Aluminum is a very bad idea for laptops"? Please do get into why? I've been using an aluminum laptop for three years with no problems... so I am really interested in why you think that using aluminum in laptops is bad idea?

[dennisw]

Aluminum is overkill for a laptop unless it is being used out in the field such as by a rancher or geologist. Maybe an anthropologist. The biggest function of the aluminum is to allow weenies to engage in some one-upmanship with those who have plastic laptops
Me— I prefer plastic over aluminum any day

Apple could sell plastic versions of its aluminum laptops and allow the consumer to save a few hundred bucks. A normal company like Toshiba has been doing that for years selling magnesium alloy ultra-durable laptops and plastic ones

Dell sells laptops in a range of colors to cater to the consumer

[dennisw]

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Mac/iMac+&+Mac+Mini/pcmcat128500050007.c?id=pcmcat128500050007

The imacs were white that I saw just last week at BestBuy
The Apple computers were all on the internet (wireless) which IMO helps the customer fool around and decide to buy

There were some 27” imacs
I grabbed the box that one was in to lift it up by the handles and it was quite heavy. Got a lot of computer in there

[dennisw]

One problem with USB is that with shrinking devices the host plug is starting to get a bit big........

You mean shrinking flash drives I think?
Anyway a laptop should have at least three USB ports

[antiRepublicrat]

You mean shrinking flash drives I think?

No, I mean shrinking devices. With a notebook only 0.16-0.76 inches thick like the MacBook Air, a USB socket takes up a lot of room. It would only get worse with a tablet.

[antiRepublicrat]

Aluminum is overkill for a laptop unless it is being used out in the field such as by a rancher or geologist.

I guess you haven't tried it. Aluminum allows for a very light and small case that retains the strength and rigidity that would require a much larger volume of plastic and metal framework.

Apple could sell plastic versions of its aluminum laptops and allow the consumer to save a few hundred bucks.

It's called a MacBook.

A normal company like Toshiba has been doing that for years selling magnesium alloy ultra-durable laptops and plastic ones

Making the frame out of magnesium alloy isn't the same. Those ruggedized laptops are big and clunky anyway. A Tecra is 60% bigger than a MacBook Pro with the same size screen. And it costs almost the same when upped to the base MacBook Pro 15" specs.

Apple wants everyone to get top quality. Apple doesn't want to sell cheap stuff.

Dell sells laptops in a range of colors to cater to the consumer

I wasn't talking about Dell, was I? You complained about the lack of color choice from a specific OEM, and so did I.

[Richard Kimball]

Hi Dennis,
I just checked the Apple Store online, and the only current Mac computer that’s white plastic is the entry level mac book. I’ve got a 24” iMac, and have looked at the 27”, and they’re all aluminum, as is the Pro and the mini. HOWEVER, in certain light, the cases can look almost white.
On the USB ports, my daughter has a macbook and it has two USB ports. I’ve got a four port hub on her desk and we keep everything plugged into it. That way when she takes it somewhere, she just unplugs the port and goes. We’ve got an external backup drive, printer and her iPod cable in the hub. One of the issues with multiple USB plugs on a laptop is that many USB devices draw power from the port. It’s better practice to have a self-powered hub for these devices as they’ll drain the battery more quickly and make the machine run hotter if directly plugged in. It also makes grabbing the notebook for a trip out a lot faster.

[antiRepublicrat]

Every computer company does this. So what

The claim was that Apple doesn't. Also, no other OEM invests as much in design as Apple does, so at best the in-house design at other companies is a tiny fraction of the company.

I'm not impressed. The same thing goes on when the Taiwanese and Dell and HP design and collaborate

Not quite the same. Dell goes to a Taiwanese manufacturer and says, "Hey, can you build us this?" which is usually something pretty standard with some (supposedly) pretty plastic. Apple goes to them and says, "We want to make this. To do it you'll have to use this new technology we've invented and revamp your production line."

In addition, the collaboration between tech and design is nowhere near the same. Look at the shell of a Dell laptop, and an aluminum MacBook. The attention to detail, the perfect meld between design and function, is only visible on the Mac. Ive isn't just a designer. He's an industrial designer -- the whole functional package, not just pretty faceplates on standard boxes.

Can you give an example of this

Dell's standard XPS desktop. Kinda pretty, huh?

No go to the Dell site and check out the image gallery for the XPS 9000 (it's Flash, so I can't link a picture). What do you know, it's a cheap, generic box-o-parts with some pretty plastic over it to hide the fact.

It's a perfect, irrefutable example of the differing philosophies.

[Swordmaker]

The imacs were white that I saw just last week at BestBuy

Then you are not very observant. The models you are linking to on BestBuy's website are all machined out of a single block of aircraft grade aluminum, with black glass.

Apple iMac 21.5" and 27"—Aluminum and Black with Glossy Black Screens - no white to be seen

Apple has not sold white iMacs since discontinuing the polycarbonate iMac line on August 7, 2007, more than two years ago, Dennis.

Apple iMac 2.16GHz 24" White Polycarbonate — Introduced: 9/6/2006, Discontinued 8/7/2007. The polycarbonate iMacs were replaced with aluminum iMacs like this one:

Apple iMac 24" Aluminum and Black frame with back back plate— Introduction: 8/7/2007, Discontinued: 4/28/2008

There were some 27” imacs
I grabbed the box that one was in to lift it up by the handles and it was quite heavy. Got a lot of computer in there

The 27" iMac weighs 30.5 pounds.

[Swordmaker]

You mean shrinking flash drives I think?

No, a half inch by quarter inch port is a little large when you are shrinking the device the mounted port is on... Apple shrank their Universal Video port because of lack of real estate on the devices. The more ports you have to less space you have for the ports. The USB standard has several allowable delivery port jacks available... but only the one docking port. The mini-port USB for a camera is only 1/4" by 1/8" but still carries the same four lines. You certainly could fit more of those in the space occupied by two standard USB ports. However, the flash drives still require the standard USB docking port which was designed about 15 years ago.

Anyway a laptop should have at least three USB ports

Why? Because Apple's have only two?