The new iMac G5 design doesn't wallop me the way the previous one did, but it is growing on me. The problem I have with the new design is it's a bit, if not boring, at lease unexciting from the front: a little too much eMac and not enough wee!Mac.
It's a design to be appreciated from the side, but that's not what you see when you use it.
I like that it's VESA compliant, so I anticipate lots of nice support arms to make the new iMac float above desks. I'm a fan of all-in-one designs, too, and I think that aside from the unimpressive video card it seems to be a heck of a price/performance bargain.
The expanse of white below the display, though—that's a missed opportunity. I think it would have served Apple well to envision a creative new use for that area:
- A cork board? Perhaps a bit too 1970s, but it would have been useful to be able to pin notes and things to the computer. Still lots of room above that area for sticky notes. A cork board would offer interesting decorative options, too.
- Apple walked away from floppies many years ago (and good riddance, I say), so perhaps it would have been safe to make that area on the front of the computer magnetized (if the drives et al inside could be shielded). Another fun option for decorating your computer, handy for both fridge magnets and bad poetry.
- Perhaps the iMac could have shipped with some dry-erase markers and a little holster on the side to hold them.
- Even a little flip-out tray for CDs and DVDs, or a flip-out mirror to get ready for your incoming iSight calls, might have been handy.
Basically, I'm thinking along the lines of being able to customize the look of the iMac in ways that are temporary (so they don't hurt resale value) but also creative (so they increase perceived value).
I do think at the very least the bottom of the iMac, with its down-facing speakers pushing the air about, is ideal for hanging little tassels or better yet some grass skirt material.
In all, the iMac G5 has a pretty and functional design that I'm liking more by the day—but it cries out for a bit of personalization in the way the already personable iMac G4 never did.
