Speculated iMac Multi-Touch Design (Pictures Included)

GodBless · Apr 16, 2007

jeffy.dee-lux said:
oh believe me, i'm a skilled practitioner in the art of the screen shot, in all its ways and forms on both Windows and OS X. So often the easiest solution....

But the beauty of this eDrawings program is that it is just as quick, if not quicker than screenshots, and less clumsy to just save as JPEG or BMP or whatever format you want. The only problem is that you have to manually change the extension name from GPJ to JPG, which is a pretty weird bug if you ask me. Still better than screenshots, in my opinion.

Well it looks like Automator.app lacks the ability (at least in the Finder section of actions) to change filename extensions of a series of files--so it looks like you will either have to program an action to do it or you will have to manually change them (or find 3rd party software to do the job) until this eDrawings bug is fixed. If it bothers you that much you could contact the company and ask them to fix the bug--which could speed up the process of getting the bug fixed.

jeffy.dee-lux said:
The design I mentioned doesn't really have much to offer for this kind of discussion. I just wanted to post what I've been up to with the SolidWorks program. Its pretty ugly if you ask me actually, but it works the way it's suppose to so I'm happy.

Function is always more important than looks but if a tool both functions well and looks good then it is better than it just functioning well--that is to say as long as the looks don't take away from the function (which is one of the reasons why I am sticking with my iBook instead of purchasing a MacBook).

annk · Apr 16, 2007

LeviG said:
...As to design the one below...

This is beautiful, it makes me want to sit down and start working on it.

I want one of these!

dpaanlka · Apr 16, 2007

Please, stop posting about this.

c.joe.go said:
Just how is it ugly? They paid a lot of attention to making the exterior clean and sleek.

If I moulded a piece of **** into a smooth ball, painted it black and polished it until it was glossy, would it be beautiful?

LeviG · Apr 17, 2007

annk said:
This is beautiful, it makes me want to sit down and start working on it.

I want one of these!

so do I and the manufacturers (computer companies and design agencies putting forward to additional clients)did to but the first thing they said after wow thats nice is thats going to be a pita to manufacture (ie not viable with current tech) - GodBless - yep thats right company's have liked my design, so have people and so does the 90% grade at uni, I asked how to improve it to get 100% and there wasn't any, the tutor didn't give 100%

Vniow - LOL

GodBless - I give up, you think yours is revolutionary just because you came up with a wedge design which according to just about everyone in this thread is poor design - I await the next design with baited breath.
When you have a spare minute can you find a ultra portable laptop that has the ergonomic keyboard that was released prior to the current acer models (I designed it before then).

As to ports - they are there but due to the design of the product and the features it contains aren't necessary, its called forward thinking something which apple (who it wasn't designed for) have been known for in the past.

If you seriously want to do design you really need to get a grip on these simple basic elements.

ergonomics
rsi
apple philosophy when trying to do apple concepts
how to take notice of people not liking the design
how to take criticism - designers get criticised on their work, its a fact of life, we don't worry about it. We just take the input and improve the design (you haven't), its not a baby its a job.
worry more about the design than the exact size of the ports, this is something that is done at the end of the project, normally its just represented by a box or whatever saying area being used in concepts.

Queso · Apr 17, 2007

LeviG said:
how to take notice of people not liking the design

how to take criticism - designers get criticised on their work, its a fact of life, we don't worry about it. We just take the input and improve the design (you haven't), its not a baby its a job.

Very good point. I bet even Jonathan Ive gets sent back to the drawing board several times a week. Maybe his ability to just abandon concepts he's worked hard on and start over is one of the reasons he's so successful.

janey · Apr 17, 2007

dynamicv said:
Very good point. I bet even Jonathan Ive gets sent back to the drawing board several times a week. Maybe his ability to just abandon concepts he's worked hard on and start over is one of the reasons he's so successful.

There is a small group of equally as talented designers underneath him, but of course, part of the magic of Apple is what Steve and Jonathan weave together

But we could all do well by taking a page from that book. Often times it is easier and better to ditch everything and begin from scratch again. I've come across that even while doing trivial homework assignments where something wasn't thought out very well..rather than mucking around with the code and going nowhere, it was easier to rethink and redo.

GodBless said:
Well it looks like Automator.app lacks the ability...

Trivial if all images have something in common in the name or something (like the extension). It would be something like

Code:

for file in *.gif; do mv $file `echo $file | sed 's/\(.*\.\)gif/\1jpg/'`; done

(i am not responsible for ****ing up files though, if you choose to use it..replace all instances of "gif" with the current extension, and "jpg" with the wanted extension)

GodBless said:
Function is always more important than looks but if a tool both functions well and looks good then it is better than it just functioning well--that is to say as long as the looks don't take away from the function (which is one of the reasons why I am sticking with my iBook instead of purchasing a MacBook).

Amuse me. What does your iBook do that the MacBook can't do better?

Cause I can't think of a single thing.

mrthieme · Apr 17, 2007

This whole thread has become a bit tiresome, going in circles around basic flaws that have not changed since the beginning.

janey · Apr 17, 2007

mrthieme said:
This whole thread has become a bit tiresome, going in circles around basic flaws that have not changed since the beginning.

multiple threads too, but a certain someone seems not to care much that people overwhelmingly dislike the design.

Queso · Apr 17, 2007

mrthieme said:
This whole thread has become a bit tiresome, going in circles around basic flaws that have not changed since the beginning.

I think it's still helpful. It's interesting to see what people come up with when they put their minds to it. Godbless is also picking up skills in the software making his revisions to the first design, and there's a lot of pointers being given above (by janey and LeviG in particular) about what needs to be considered when designing a product of this type. I think it's exactly what this forum is about, the transfer of creative and technical knowledge. I'll be interested in seeing what Godbless's new concept looks like, if he's willing to post it.

dcv · Apr 17, 2007

LeviG said:
If you seriously want to do design you really need to get a grip on these simple basic elements.

ergonomics

rsi

apple philosophy when trying to do apple concepts

how to take notice of people not liking the design

how to take criticism - designers get criticised on their work, its a fact of life, we don't worry about it. We just take the input and improve the design (you haven't), its not a baby its a job.

worry more about the design than the exact size of the ports, this is something that is done at the end of the project, normally its just represented by a box or whatever saying area being used in concepts.

Amen to that

janey · Apr 17, 2007

dynamicv said:
Godbless is also picking up skills in the software making his revisions to the first design, and there's a lot of pointers being given....I'll be interested in seeing what Godbless's new concept looks like, if he's willing to post it.

I don't think any of us (I know I'm not) are saying anything particularly new in regards to this topic, but in the 6 pages I read hastily earlier today it seemed he was ignoring half the people who bothered to reply...

That being said, I'm curious about the new design as well, here's to hoping it won't cause another 6 pages of "bad idea, stop already!!" from half the people.

bartelby · Apr 17, 2007

I think the biggest point to consider is Apple's philosophy in design. Sometimes overall aesthetics is more important than other factors.
Remember they have produced a couple of objects where they don't seemed to have considered RSI or ergonomics.
Puck Mouse is the obvious one.

LeviG · Apr 17, 2007

dynamicv said:
I'll be interested in seeing what Godbless's new concept looks like, if he's willing to post it.

Do you honestly think we will be able to stop him

Queso · Apr 17, 2007

janey said:
I don't think any of us (I know I'm not) are saying anything particularly new in regards to this topic, but in the 6 pages I read hastily earlier today it seemed he was ignoring half the people who bothered to reply...

That being said, I'm curious about the new design as well, here's to hoping it won't cause another 6 pages of "bad idea, stop already!!" from half the people.

I think it would probably be best to start a new thread to discuss the new concept and cross-link it with this one. The defensiveness on the OP's part was possibly caused by posters saying they didn't like the design but not explaining why. Always better to take a few minutes and explain why you think something doesn't work rather than just saying it's not going to work. I like it when people get excited about being creative. It shows they're using their brains.

janey · Apr 17, 2007

bartelby said:
Remember they have produced a couple of objects where they don't seemed to have considered RSI or ergonomics.
Puck Mouse is the obvious one.

I don't think any of the Apple mice (from the past 10 years or so) are.

Or at least, they're expensive, weird, and semi-useless to me. I sprang for the very, very nice logitech mx revolution over the mighty mouse. not regretting it at ALL particularly given the 2 scroll wheels on the mx revolution and one having two speed settings vs. the nipple on the mighty mouse

(think scrolling from the top to the bottom of fark.com with one flick. Yes, one flick, and the wheel keeps going even after it's done. when i already have my hand on the mouse, it's easier than reaching for home/end/pgup/down keys on the keyboard) My only regret is that logitech doesn't make a lefty version of it but...

No bluetooth, but with the extra goodies, I can live with proprietary wireless.

bartelby · Apr 17, 2007

janey said:
I don't think any of the Apple mice (from the past 10 years or so) are.

Not ergonomically designed?
I don't have experience of the Mighty Mouse.
I think the original Pro Mouse was ok, I don't find it any different to the old ADB mouses (mice? Mieces?)

janey · Apr 17, 2007

bartelby said:
Not ergonomically designed?
I don't have experience of the Mighty Mouse.
I think the original Pro Mouse was ok, I don't find it any different to the old ADB mouses (mice? Mieces?)

the whole thing was a button

i mean perhaps, but i was not a fan...i couldn't stick teflon feet to it so it glided like crap...my hands got cramped holding it...and pre-mighty mouse it was pretty useless to have only one button. and no scroll...that was a killer.

i meant it was more useless than anything :\

LeviG · Apr 17, 2007

From my experiences of apple mice (I use ms natural wireless laser mouse 6000, that really weird one but it works) seem that the mighty mouse is quite impressive in terms of features etc, no other mouse has them in quite the same way but its not the best to use in terms of ergonomics for long periods of times.

Puck mouse - grrr that was bad
Never used a pro mouse

synth3tik · Apr 17, 2007

IF your going to use the standard AC plug, you will want it to be full sized and you may want to redesign the back as a full power supply like that will melt the back of that thing.

bartelby · Apr 17, 2007

janey said:
the whole thing was a button
i mean perhaps, but i was not a fan...i couldn't stick teflon feet to it so it glided like crap...my hands got cramped holding it...and pre-mighty mouse it was pretty useless to have only one button. and no scroll...that was a killer.

Yeah, but you could rest the heel of your hand on the back of the button, just like on any other mouse.
I actually prefer my Apple BT mouse to the horrible microsoft mouse I have to use in work.
One button doesn't bother me too much, I'm more used to using CRTL Click than right click. As I have years more experience using Macs than any other computer.

janey · Apr 17, 2007

bartelby said:
Yeah, but you could rest the heel of your hand on the back of the button, just like on any other mouse.
I actually prefer my Apple BT mouse to the horrible microsoft mouse I have to use in work.
One button doesn't bother me too much, I'm more used to using CRTL Click than right click. As I have years more experience using Macs than any other computer.

an improvement from the puck mouse, but not in general

I mapped expose and alt-tab to all my alternate buttons, plus have them do back/forward/reload in Safari, page flipping in a couple apps..I don't know, I love the keyboard but I use the mouse too, and having that is very convenient. It's just less effort to ctrl-click, which I find myself doing often everywhere (i heart parallels coherence mode too).

I also have a razer copperhead for gaming, changing resolutions on the fly is amazingly awesome.

They just glide. I love teflon feet. Can't go back to any other mouse, just feels so ridiculously hard to move around.

bartelby · Apr 17, 2007

janey said:
an improvement from the puck mouse, but not in general

I mapped expose and alt-tab to all my alternate buttons, plus have them do back/forward/reload in Safari, page flipping in a couple apps..I don't know, I love the keyboard but I use the mouse too, and having that is very convenient. It's just less effort to ctrl-click, which I find myself doing often everywhere (i heart parallels coherence mode too).

I also have a razer copperhead for gaming, changing resolutions on the fly is amazingly awesome.

They just glide. I love teflon feet. Can't go back to any other mouse, just feels so ridiculously hard to move around.

Of course, having said what I have. I am on the look out for a new mouse

Queso · Apr 17, 2007

That Logitech wouldn't work in our home. I'm left-handed, my partner isn't. It's too designed to be used by a particular hand.

Anyway chaps, don't you think we're getting a little off-topic?

janey · Apr 17, 2007

dynamicv said:
That Logitech wouldn't work in our home. I'm left-handed, my partner isn't. It's too designed to be used by a particular hand.

Yeah, I like mousing with my left hand, but the logitech was really nice and I couldn't resist. They make special lefty versions of some of their other mice, but not this one.

If it wasn't molded for a hand, the placement of some of the buttons and such would be very awkward.

bartelby · Apr 17, 2007

janey said:
Yeah, I like mousing with my left hand, but the logitech was really nice and I couldn't resist. They make special lefty versions of some of their other mice, but not this one.

If it wasn't molded for a hand, the placement of some of the buttons and such would be very awkward.

That logitech looks quite good. I shall investigate more!

Speculated iMac Multi-Touch Design (Pictures Included)

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