Cube Rumors

[MacRumors]

In what I would classify in the unlikely rumor category, Cube-Zone has posted a rumor claiming that the Cube was discontinued due to heat-issues with higher processors:

He also said that he knows that Apple is redesigning the Cube to counteract the particular problems that are known. He said we might see the Cube return within in the year.


Of course, poor sales seems to be the more realistic reason for the demise of the cube.

[Edited by Macrumors on 07-26-2001 at 06:42 AM]

 

[Kela]

Absolutely

I also think that poor sales is what lead to the discontinuation of the product. However having said that, I think what lead to poor sales, was simply the fact that the cube was totally unupgradable! It was also not a low end i-mac or anywhere close to the g4 high end towers. Additionally, it looked like a trash can (but I chew that last remark cause it won like a feng shui award among others)

Ciao Max

P.S shall the cube return, it will make sound (probably) and
have upgradability (PCI)

 

[Megaquad]

Cube is never coming back.

you must accept that cube was crap..
there is no way that it will return..

 

[Klownhaus]

NOT CRAP

The cube was definatly not crap. I own one and it is my everyday computer. There are some issues that need to be resolved, No upgradability being the main one. It is zippy and is the coolest looking computer on the planet. Not only does it work flawlessly, it turn heads everytime people see it on my desk.
It is a great computer that had trouble finding a market. A little more upgradeability, and a little lower starting price, maybe bundled with a 15 inch LCD for 1500, I think this thing would break some sell records.
It is definatly not crap. But unfortunalty I doubt it will see the light of day again. even though it was Stevie baby, I doubt even the man himself can justify trying to sell something that sold so poorly in the first place.

the only place we *might* see it as is a 25th anniversary Mac. But I doubt that too.

Great computer that was slightly flawed.

 

[spikey]

tonka

I agree with kela, it woz discontinued because it didnt sell well. But as for making it more upgradable and relaunching it.....hmmm im not sure if they could keep it the same size while adding upgradability, and adding a fan.
tell me if im being stupid though.

 

[mymemory]

The Cube was nice

The Cube was not the kind of computer you would like to buy deep audio aplications or for video production. It didn't have any PCI slot. The cube is a computer for people who like the look of the computer itself, a web or graphic designer, some audio amateur or things like that. If you wanted to buy a fancy computer to do the job you got the cube, if you didn't have that much money you could get the iMac, if you wanted to work hard get the G4.

The cube is like buying a $3.000 CD player, you could get one to do the same job 90% of the times for $100.

The cube had another target audience, different from the G4 or iMac. It was more like an "special edition" without the title.

What I didn't like about that computer was the $1.700 price. That toy shouldn't go beyond the $1.100. And the other thing was the ammounts of cables every where, utopic for the 1st iMac TV commercial wich was making fun of the PC's.

Would be nice to have the cube back but with a more realistic concept.

 

[MattB]

Heard this rumors 4 times now!

It's gotta be true. Maybe the Cube will make a come back!

 

[blakespot]

Not coming

-sniff sniff-

"This milk I just took out of the refrigerator smells all bad. Let me put it back and check again tomorrow to see if it's gotten any better."




bp

 

[d_wipper]

Heat Problems

Whether the cube is coming back or not, I have read in some magazine that they were having heat problems. I doubt, though, that because of the lack of consumer demand it will return. It would allways be a pleasant surprise if it did, though.

 

[synp]

Cube

When I saw the first leaked images of the cube, I thought: great! an iMac with no screen. Probably will be as fast as an iMac and slightly cheaper. The iMac for people who need bigger screens.

Don't know about you people, but I'm not in the market for a "special edition" computer. I end up buying a tower with more slots than I know what to do with, and I pay a lot more than the price on iMac+screen just because I want a 19"

 

[tywoods]

cube

The cube is a good computer point blank!!!

If you needed a PCI slots you wouldn't buy the iMac so why are you downing the Cube becouse it dosen't either.

That is what the Tower is for.

What PCI cards would you actually put in it anyway?
they have everthing you need in the box.

The reason that it didn't have slots "space and money"
it was alittle cheaper than the tower, but not enough.

The Cube was for the other 90% of the world that doesn't need the PCI slots.

that was the market that Steve was tring to get, not the super user.

thats all i have to say


ty

 

[jefhatfield]

PCI slots

The Cube was fine the way it was for the market it was directed to. It was not a bad machine at all. The only problem was that the market for the Cube (small footprint/head turner/ultra quiet) was too small. I believe the G4 tower is the accepted high end Mac but does not add that much more than the Cube for the needs of MOST users. For SOME pro users and high end gamers though, the PCI slots of the tower are necessary.

Adding PCI expandability/drive bays would not have been the answer to higher Cube sales since I don't come across PCI expandability as a tech very often unless the client is a gamer and likes to have the latest video cards and sound cards all the time. Yet many gamers I know are happy with their cards but will buy a new machine, or build one, by the time they find their cards outdated. And by that time, the faster processors, higher amounts of RAM, improved cache, etc. for a much cheaper price draws them. In my opinion, that's the better deal...sell the old machine and get a new one instead of spending high amounts of money on sound and video cards (same goes for processor upgrades). So why buy upgrade cards for the PCI slots, new drives for the drive bays, or processor upgrades, or for that matter, any expensive upgrades?

Answer: fun fun fun!

I have to admit, as a techie, I don't always take the cheaper route myself and it's fun to experiment with the PCI slots/drive bays...even if there is very little improvement to a system. Soemtimes it's fun to just see how far one can push an older machine. There are those that spend over $1,000.00 for a dual G4 450 upgrade and toss it into an older machine which can't take full advantage of it anyway, change the cards for another several hundred, and load it with older more expensive RAM. Why not buy a 733 tower for $1699.00? The answer...because it's fun...guilty, sinful fun!

I have a 1996 Mac that was made for a 1MB video card, 16 MB of RAM, and have only a foppy and CD-ROM drive all running with OS 7.5. It has been upgraded with a then $700.00 2 MB video card in one of the slots, filled with a Zip 100 in one of the drive bays, had the RAM quadrupled for a very high price, had the OS updated several generations, and now the machine runs Photoshop 5.5 with no problem. A used G3 would have made more sense and been cheaper. I would not call filling the PCI slots and drive bays that practical, but it's a fun challenge and that is what a G4 tower can be several years after it becomes obsolete...it has those PCI slots/drive bays. A couple of my major clients (fortune 500) with thousands of machines simply rent and don't waste the money on purchasing machines or PCI cards. Renting is cheaper and more practical if the organization has more than 20 machines. I have never seen or heard of medium to large pro clients ever utilizing PCI slots/drive bays.

But back to the Cube. Do you think those PCI slots/drive bays are really that much more "practical" and "important" for most G4 tower users that they steered away from the Cube for that reason?

 

[Multimedia]

450 CD-RW Cubes still for sale $1599

Elite Computers, 10591 N. DeAnza Blvd, Cupertino CA 408.257.8000 are selling NEW 450 MHz, 128 MB RAM, 20 GB G4 Cubes for $1599. Not such a deal. But if you really gotta have one they are still available. I got my 500 MHz refurbished DVD Cube for $1399 last month. I'm sure glad I did. It is dead silent and I love it that way.

 

[mnkeybsness]

if it does come back, it will be cheaper and differently styled (peripheral plugs in back of somewhere better hidden so you don't see all the wires)

 

[Unregistered Jun]

Tywood

Do yo really think "90%" of the computing world doesn't need PCI slots? Maybe 90% of people around you.

 

[jefhatfield]

90 percent

In the computer classes I teach or have worked as an assistant, no mention or need of PCI slots.

Of the over 2,000-3,000 machines I have serviced or been of assistance to as a self-employed tech in and out of the silicon valley, no mention of PCI slots.

Of the many PhD programmers in the area who only program or invent computer languages, no mention of PCI slots.

Of the professional Mac and PC graphic design community I come in contact with, no mention of PCI slots. Hey, many of these people are starving artists but do more with computers than techs like me who just swap out parts and worry about the software working.

But of the mostly teenage gamers who have nothing to do in the high unemployment retirement area where I live, PCI slots are one of the main topics. ATI vs NVIDIA especially. Still, most of these kids simply buy or build new machines every year and I am still wondering where they get the money!

 

[jefhatfield]

re: 90 %

I mentioned I wondered where kids got the money in the high unemployment area where I live to always have the latest computers, video cards, etc.

It turns out that many, too many, of the kids in the neighborhood have criminal records that are a mile long and they make their living selling drugs. I am not saying that all kids who have no work and a lot of computers are drug dealers, it just happened that was the case near where I live in the past six months. I didn't even suspect it and I was a social worker helping heroin addicts for two years! I guess I will stick to computer repair...