Apple and the color black.

[gekko513]

With Tiger Apple uses black a lot. It makes me wonder if we will see more use of black in the time to come. Maybe the new PowerMacs will use black?

I'm thinking that the silver, white and clear plastic theme can't last forever for a company like Apple that needs to constantly renew its image to be viewed as trendy and stylish.

Could Apple make cool black products or would it just put them in line with Dell and IBM?

Or is this black theme just a one time gimmick to make people notice Tiger more?

[wordmunger]

Well, Apple used black less than five years ago in its Powerbook G3s, so I suppose anything is possible. That said, I think the U2 iPod is incredibly ugly, so hopefully they'll do better than that!

[gekko513]

Ah, I forgot about the U2 iPod. I know some like it, too. I'm not sure what I think about it. I have never held one myself.

[tech4all]

The way I see it, at least with the PowerMacs and displays, Apple went from the see-through plastic style to an aluminum style. I don't think the new PowerMacs coming up "soon" will be black but rather the same silver/aluminum style. But who really knows for sure....

For the U2 iPod style. I've seen it in person and I guess if your into that color combo it's good, but red/black probably not the best combo for me, IMO.

[Mr. Durden]

Well, Apple used black less than five years ago in its Powerbook G3s, so I suppose anything is possible. That said, I think the U2 iPod is incredibly ugly, so hopefully they'll do better than that!

In its defense, it dosent seem quite so ugly in person. I hated it when I saw it online, but when I saw it in the Apple store and played with it a bit, it kinda grew on me. I think the coolest thing would be that I have never actually seen someone in public with one, so it would be pretty rare to own one. Maybe they are more popular else where, but not where I live, so I'd take one just for that reason.

As for other uses of black... I dont know. Apple has set themselves up as the anti-pc type computer, and that may be drifting too close to what they have so diligently steered clear of. If anybody can do it well, though, its Apple.

[gekko513]

You have a point, tech4all. It's really not that long since the PowerMac and displays got a consistent aluminium look. I'm planning to get a PowerMac within a year and when I think about it I would probably prefer it to be aluminium rather than some design with black.

[iLaw]

Out of Apple's current products I think only the iMac and iBook would transfer to black well. I doubt Apple would change their whole line to one colour, generally Apple like to distinguish the Pro line from the consumer line and the only obvious way to do that is through colour.

[TrashCanDan]

God I hope Apple dosent change thier theme, I love the silver and white combo it fits Apple very well, very sleek and sexy:)

[iGary]

I like the new OS theme, at least Web site-wise.

Very smart, very Apple-like.

[wdlove]

I also like the look of the apple.com website, it looks really cool. It would seem that they will continue the black shipping boxes. Can't imagine that they will change the look of the Power Mac. The Tiger box that I've scene looks really cool also. it would be nice if they update the keyboard and mouse though.

[pulsewidth947]

Maybe i'm reading too much into it, but if you look at colour theory and what the widely regarded emotional ties are you can come to the following conclusion:

White - clinical, angelic, heavenly
Black - mostly associated with death, disease and general unpleasantries...


Besides, i think a black mac would look crap.. i've seen a black mac laptop and it was nowhere near as nice looking as the new ibooks/powerbooks.

[jackieonasses]

On the website the the black looks good, but the buttons on top look tacky...

[clayj]

Maybe i'm reading too much into it, but if you look at colour theory and what the widely regarded emotional ties are you can come to the following conclusion:

White - clinical, angelic, heavenly
Black - mostly associated with death, disease and general unpleasantries...


Besides, i think a black mac would look crap.. i've seen a black mac laptop and it was nowhere near as nice looking as the new ibooks/powerbooks.The "white good, black bad" motif is more of a Western thing... perhaps someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but in many Asian cultures, I believe that white is symbolic of death.

It really comes down to a question of establishing a consistent style and going with it. An all-black iPod (every surface black, except for the screen) would be pretty cool. The U2 iPod is jarringly red-and-black, which works for sports cars but not (IMHO) on a small piece of consumer electronics.

[pdpfilms]

I cannot see apple adopting black as their new color... though i was thinking the same thing when I saw the homepage. Any form of black for computers is ugly... matte/bumpy plastic looks cheap, shiny shows too many flaws... it just can't happen. poopy.

[mduser63]

I'm in the minority here apparently, but I like the U2 iPod. My brother has one, and it is better in person than just pictures I think. That said, I hope Apple doesn't go back to black for computers, because to be honest, I think the pre-TiBook Powerbooks (G3 Powerbooks) are downright ugly.

[mcadam]

With Tiger Apple uses black a lot. It makes me wonder if we will see more use of black in the time to come. Maybe the new PowerMacs will use black?

I'm thinking that the silver, white and clear plastic theme can't last forever for a company like Apple that needs to constantly renew its image to be viewed as trendy and stylish.

Could Apple make cool black products or would it just put them in line with Dell and IBM?

Or is this black theme just a one time gimmick to make people notice Tiger more?

I'm sure apple could make very cool black products... But I think it's important to them to stand out from their competitors. The color white has become quite a big part of their brand (and aluminium too).
In line with this it would make more sense to work more with form and materials, which would also be more innovative than just changing color.

Or perhaps they could take up their old rainbow-theme. How about a soft rubber rainbow colored iBook :rolleyes:

A

[rickvanr]

I think they could go black with the powerbook line, the G3 powerbook's looked good, and I'm sure they could design a more modern look. I also think if they come out with a new chip, they will redesign. I don't like the albook's, but owning a lovely tibook myself I have a bias.

[Patriotsv4]

The "white good, black bad" motif is more of a Western thing... perhaps someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but in many Asian cultures, I believe that white is symbolic of death.


Well you have Taoism and its symbol is the Yin Yang, whith White being good and black being evil.

[Blue Velvet]

Well you have Taoism and its symbol is the Yin Yang, whith White being good and black being evil.

No. No. No.... that's not what it means. At all.

Anyway, black has also been used for luxury goods for ages. It used to be a no-no for food packaging but when you do see it on a food items' packaging it usually denotes exclusivity...

[nightdweller25]

Besides all the points listed above, Apple usually has their hardware match their software..ALOT, so I really can't see this happening unless they start makign their OS with darker colors...that said, black is my favorite color :rolleyes:

[jzke]

I guess it's always a possibility, for say, one or two of their product lines to go black; given that now competitors are coming our with their own white/grey colour schemes for their products. Silver has become all too common in electronics; mobile phones, tv's, dvd players, you name it... it's now more eye-opening to see a black dvd player (for example).

It could be done very well, or not so well, but as someone previously said, if anyone can do it well, it's Apple.

[wdlove]

No. No. No.... that's not what it means. At all.

Anyway, black has also been used for luxury goods for ages. It used to be a no-no for food packaging but when you do see it on a food items' packaging it usually denotes exclusivity...

Blue Velvet has it correct, black is considered very fashionable. Black never goes out of style. It has a very sheik look, that expensive look like a diamond.

[Blue Velvet]

Black never goes out of style. It has a very sheik look, that expensive look like a diamond.

Surely you mean chic, not sheik :)
Funny typo. :)

[Xeem]

Besides, i think a black mac would look crap.. i've seen a black mac laptop and it was nowhere near as nice looking as the new ibooks/powerbooks.

I disagree. I actually preferred the looks of the Pismo to the looks of the TiBooks (and subsequent aluminum books), and still do. The iBook, on the other hand, I do like. Everybody has copied the metallic silver look by now, but it seems like white is still basically just used on Mac/iPod accessories.

[advocate]

The problem with black plastic is that it usually looks grey, and thus craptacular. If Apple can somehow pull off a real black case I bet it would look fantastic. Picture an original style iBook (clear acrylic with coloured plastic underneath) where the inner layer is totally black. Very cool.

[revenuee]

as i recall

white does mean death in asian cultures -- so the white/black thing being a western thing is right

i believe in asia red is the color worn to denote purity at a wedding rather then white

as far as black and white on ying and yang --- ya, if i remember my easter religion class correctly that has nothing to do with good and evil well not entiraly... but rather with male and female, heaven and earth, day and night, light and dark

because it has to do with balance off two forces, the concept has been bastardized by western culture to mean good and evil because this culture seems to focus on the balance between good and evil (christian thought) and those same idea of black and white as already mentioned by someone

ANYWAY

it weird about color denotation in companies

you find with camera equipment silver is often consumer level products, while black is the professional line

look at canon and nikon

you look at the trend of consumer electronics and you'll notice a trend toward the metallic look --- my families LCD TV, surround sound and receiver, DVD player, HDTV/DTV receiver, even the new VCR are all metallic ... my mother redid the entire kitchen with metallic finish (dishwasher,stove,fridge,microwave,toaster, ect)

i have a black lombard and it looks okay ... although i think the alum looks slick on the new laptops looks slick i'de be just as happy with a black one, just as long as it was slim ... with that said ... i can't see the powermacs changing anytime soon since the LCD's have been changed to alum not to long ago -- i think they would want to keep them the same for at least a little longer ...

also if you look at the trend ... they tend to keep the color sceme for generation of processors ...

early G3's were beige, then the later ones blue and white, then the g4's were graphite, although the design changed from the original G4 tower to the last g4 tower they still stayed relatively true the look, then G5 powermacs have this new metallic look.

i could see the color changing for either

G6 <-- which i don't see happening anytime soon

or G5 dual core <--- it would seem right since it is technically a new generation.

i don't see them going with any crazy colors though, at least not in the power line up.

well that was a long post ... sorry


Rev.

[anjaki]

black chrome!

[chaos86]

i think its pretty obvious. spotlight. to have a spotlight you need surrounding darkness. its just an advertising device.

that said i think a polished shiny black PM would look awesome. for a week. til dust, scratches, and fingerprints get near it.

[jsalzer]

Hey, I love the look of my Pismo. Until the iMac G5 came out, I held that it was the "last good-looking thing that Apple put out."

(The original iBooks would have been there if not for the white/offwhite conflicts.)

Anywho - my vote is for Smoke Acryllic - at maybe 90 percent opacity (not see-through). I love the durability of the acryllic, and the smoke has all the benefits of beautiful black without its down sides.

And bring back the black keyboard and mouse, will ya? In fact, the keys on the black keyboard are just about the perfect smoke color for the next PowerBook!!!

[Cheese]

10 points to the first one who paints their new iMac with an 88 cent can of glossy black spray. Ready! Set! SSSPPPRRRAAAYYY!!!! Looks very ... CRAPTACULAR!!! (Thanks Advocate. BTW, is that you very own word? If so, Can I start using it too?) Any Apple products that are black, simply have evolved from the color of Sir. Steve's shirt! Within the reality distortion field, anything can be any color.... whoa I'm green again!

[nikeballa09]

i believe that apple went with the black theme for tiger because the black/silver theme with orange print is catchy. it attracts the human eye. also the orange font color looks better with a black background rather then a white one. if you look at the rest of the site, its still primarily white and silver. i dont think apple is gonna stray from their present color scheme for quite some time because consumers know apples for their stylish white and silver computer cases. i believe the temporary black theme is just advertising to help sell tiger, and get it noticed. thats just my two cents.

[840quadra]

http://www.apple-history.com/images/models/tv.jpg

Besides the TAM (which was more of a platnum color) I believe the previous was the only Macintosh that came in Black, besides the Powerbook series.

Because of the color, the Macintosh TV almost looks like it could pass as New. Black is hard to make go out of style..

[Xeem]

The iBook, on the other hand, I do like. Everybody has copied the metallic silver look by now, but it seems like white is still basically just used on Mac/iPod accessories.

Looks like I may have to take that back, several sites are reporting today that the X-Box 360 and its peripherals are completely white. These haven't been officially confirmed, but it's not like Microsoft has copied Apple designs before, right???

[GorillaPaws]

Not to split hairs but.... black is a shade, not a color.

Anyways, a couple of future ideas for the future of mac styling are:
the color shifting light-up scheme that was mentioned a while back as a patent Apple filed; Wood finnish?; or if Jobs really got crazy, some form of color liquid gel encased in clear acrylic (the lava lamp computer styling, bongs are an optional accessory). :D

[EJBasile]

I disagree. I actually preferred the looks of the Pismo to the looks of the TiBooks (and subsequent aluminum books), and still do. The iBook, on the other hand, I do like. Everybody has copied the metallic silver look by now, but it seems like white is still basically just used on Mac/iPod accessories.

Plasitic metal look in most cases though.


I think silver for now is fine. There computers still look better than the competition and very modern. I don't think they'll do any black. A black iBook might be cool though because it has that shiny plastic.

[Platform]

Black PM's well maby but want to see a priview first before they go into production...can look very bad if done wrongly ;)