next enclosure on 'books

I vote for a cool carbon fiber case

 

I can see the commercials with the truck running over it without a scratch on it afterwords.

 

if they undergo a change, leave it to apple to make whatever it is really cool, but i dont know if they will change, they match the G5 already like they are supposed to so apple might just keep the AL look,

 

I'd say dry ice given the G5 heat problems.

 

I just hope they leave the pro series aluminum and the "i" series white. At least until we see G6 processors in the pro series. I think then it will warrant a new case design for bother the Powerman and Powerbook.

 

My guess is that coming iBooks will match the new generation of iMacs. Does anyone remember at what point iBooks were made white? I would have to guess that it happened when snow iMacs or the new iMac debuted. My speculation does, of course, assume that the coming iMacs will feature a major redesign (or at least color change).

Regarding the PowerBook, I'd have to say that I'm pretty satisfied with the current design. Granted, I haven't come to love my 12" PBook the way I loved my iBook (perhaps time will do the trick), I am a fan of the aluminum enclosure. I suppose I am a little worried about dents and the like, but when I have the computer in its carrying case, I toss that thing around without a care. I suppose I would like to see something even smaller than the 12"; though the 12" may fall under the "ultraportable" category (of course it is "thin-and-light"), the idea of a 2-3 pound laptop with an even smaller screen sounds great to me. And I believe I would be willing to sacrifice an optical drive and some ports and speed to achieve such a small form factor. You see, I use my 12" PBook at work for web design without much problem, so I'm thinking that I could get away with something even smaller for taking care of such basics as internet/email/Office programs, etc. Built-in wireless and Bluetooth would of course be necessary.

In terms of design, keeping with metal would be good. But whatever makes it lighter is fine with me. If we're talking ultra-thin ultra-strong ultra-light carbon fiber (is it?), that sounds good to me. The current price range I think is good. The ultralight I described I would expect to cost as much as the 15" PBook, but the thought of a 2 lb. notebook is pretty cool in my mind.

Mike LaRiviere

 

No no no, I know that they will change the design at some point and it won't be white. I just hope that they don't make everything aluminum. The pro series and consumer should be seperated in terms of design. Just my 2 cents.

 

Agree. Also, remember a lot of young school children use iBook, so it should be made as sturdy as possible. Aluminum for PB is fine for now, but sooner or later, people will get tired of it eventually. I am sure Apple will come up with some cool idea to package the future version of PB. I would think that when they release PB with G5 processor, it will be redesigned and may no longer be in AL casing.

 

I don't know, but isn't it ironic that Apple of all companies is back to the most basic color for the majority of their computers and product lines. White. I guess it is not beige, but still, more creativity would be nice.

I wonder if we might see an iPod mini type application soon on ibooks. Something sort of where they change a panel on the cover like the very old powerbooks that you could have a custom cover on (which i think would still be cool for iBooks!) but this time it might be an aluminum panel that is colored like the iPod Mini?!?! I think that would distinguish it enough from the Power models but give apple products that similar feel and look of quality hardware. Maybe it could be a curvy stripe going across the cover ending at an apple logo in the corner. the curvy stripe would be a colored metallic aluminum or other mettal. Not shiny necessarily, but metal none the less.

what about a hologram in the middle of the lid- big~ the hologram beiong some sort of combination of a revised/updated 3D apple logo and iBook letters or something else- maybe an iPod?

I totally agree that the iMac will set the tone of consumer models for the future. Just look at the back of the flatscreen iMac right now. Looks just like an ibook! I think the iBooks changed about the same time the flatscreen imacs came out, but just a guess. Maybe around the time of snow or soon after.

On a design note, I always wanted a hack to have the outer clear part of the flatscreen iMac to light up with a soft colored light. would have been cool addition and maybe one where you could personalize the color with a color wheel preference panel like for the colors of other things on the mac.

Just my two cents.

 

I doubt the design will remain the same when the PBs go G5. Apple will want to go out of its way to communicate how radically different the new G5 PB's are, and form factor is the best way to do that.

They'll probably stay aluminum, but with some embellishment. Maybe a little more chrome and/or brushed metal styling.

 

NO CARBON FIBER! NO NO NO!!!

Not unless you want to spend $5000 more for a PowerBook. Then you'd have to worry about shards if it even broke. Those things get sharp.

 

You made me (I don't know how) think of a cool thing. How about a comsumer iBook that has an iPod built in that is removable. I know there are millions of reasons why not probably, but just being creative- Make that the hard drive of the computer, but it would be a removable piece that you would remove and instantly have an iPod that would also have your entire computers data on it to take with you to hook up to another computer if need be (sort of a usb flash drive type use I guess) but the iPod would snap back into the laptop for use as a computer hard drive. I don't know...just thinking out loud here. Like this creative stuff. Don't shoot me down as I am just brainstorming. Give my idea more life by giving it more thought. That is all I ask.

 

"whoops, I just dropped my iPod..no wait..that was my computers hard drive..and it had my graduate thesis on it..all 80 pages..gone..I am a proud switcher"

 

HEY, you shot me down , but of course if you backup you are fine.

 

carbon fiber for powerbooks to the 10th, just like this. i think imac and ibook should have ipod mini colored aluminum, and powerbook will have powermacish holes and thus will have to be carbon fiber.

 

I wonder if the contrast color scheme (dark scroll wheel) on the latest iPod will migrate to the iMac and/or iBook? Actually, it'd look kinda cool if the outside of the iBook was all white like now but the slightly darker white stuff on the inside was two tone...

 

Reminisance

Does anyone remember how cool the eMate and the original "toilet-seat" iBooks were with their carrying handle? I recently saw a Japanese fellow with a carrying handle attached to his Powerbook (obviously aftermarket) and noticed just how useful it was. This could be a great addition to the iBook and even to a Powerbook as more of a "briefcase" concept.

Also, I can remember just how nice and soft and sturdy my original Powerbook G3 (233 mhz 1G) was. The black case was very, very fashionable as was the use of normal plastic and what seemed like carbon fiber. There was something a lot more low-key and classy about those models than the metal PBs.

Personally, I don't particularly like the white iBooks. They're objectively nice and are well-designed, but something hits me the wrong way about a white laptop. Still, I like them better than the metal cased PBs. Carbon fiber would be nice, as would a choice in color or the option to switch out different cases or covers. The brushed metal thing is just a few years out-of-date. Various kinds of plastic and similar materials are very, very durable and can make for a whole assortment of design ideas.

N.

 

I can see it now: bagel and donut crumbs on a desktop (the real wood kind) being pushed through the little hole to keep the powerbook smelling nice. Oh yeah, turkey would fit nicely as well and smell even better!

On the other hand, cooling would probably not be an issue.

 

question

i know that a lot of grease tends to accumulate and be noticeable on the ibooks and other plastic computers. is this the case with the powerbook (and the powerbook's keyboard)? does having a metal case make it more difficult for the grease to accumulate?

 

It would be SUPER cool if they made the new Powerbooks wood. I'm talking like thin, very light, balsa wood type stuff, and then cover it with tons of gloss and maybe a thin layer of plastic for protection. It would just look so slick. Also, I think it would be awesome if they made a small screen, with a wide screen format, like a 13.5" screen, in 16:10/widescreen format.

 

And wouldn't it be funny if you could smell a burnt smell coming from the wood?

I like the idea of colourful iBooks. I hope they remain plastic, but I don't like the idea of all white anymore. Actually, I never did. Plastic is good because its more durable than the aluminium used on the PB. Maybe they could make a white iPod with a light grey keyboard (just like the 2 tone iPods as someone mentioned). The reason they won't make the new iBooks like the iPod mini's is because the case of the iPod mini is anodized aluminium, which is what the PBs are made of, I believe. It just wouldn't make sense to make both lines out of the same material. Well, it would, but not with the way Apple designs their computer lines.

And why is carbon fibre so good? Would it conduct heat as well as aluminium does?