Apple Inc (AAPL)

[langostino]

From CNet ...

http://news.com.com/New+iMac+tries+to+play+it+cool/2100-1042_3-5331745.html


"The last-generation iMac was likened to Pixar's Luxo Jr. mascot, and Apple's commercials animated the computer, having it move as though alive.

At the same time, the design could be alienating, Gartenberg said. "You either like them or you hate them." With the new design, Apple has a machine that is unlikely to offend. It can go in any room and even be mounted on a wall.

"To me it is beautiful, in that it's the least amount of desktop computer possible without becoming something else," said Mark Rolston, a vice president at industrial design firm Frog Design. "It's the last desktop computer, in a sense, the last leg of design before everything becomes a laptop or a tablet. There's no waste there.""


" ... but Joswiak cautions that it would be tougher to build the current chip into a laptop than it was to get it in an all-in-one. "The challenges of cooling a G5 in a Powerbook design are significantly greater," Joswiak said, noting that a Powerbook is less than half as thick as the new iMac, leaving far less room for cooling tricks.

It is also not clear how significantly the G5 supply crunch has eased. "We're not doing any midquarter updates on supply," Joswiak said."


"To keep its beauty, Rolston said, the new iMac requires that users heed Apple's design cues and use a wireless keyboard, mouse and Internet connection "If you've got a lot of USB peripherals, that whole vision falls apart."