iMac on target
I think Apple's done an amazing job with the iMac redesign. I fall into the mushy middle of Mac users; I'm a student who uses my Mac mainly for IE and Word, and who occasionally dabbles in image editing or page layout. I prefer Macs to Wintel boxes, and there are two main reasons for that: first, I think the Mac interface has always been more elegant. Not necessarily more powerful, but almost always with a slight edge in look and feel. Second, Macs themselves -- at least for the last few years -- are simply nicer *things*. Form factor and industrial design count for something. I sprung for a new iBook when I started grad school, and while I wish I could have afforded a TiBook, I'm happy with what I got: it's a great machine, and it's good-looking, too. (No way I would have bought one of the clamshell iBooks, though.)
The iBook has a classic, clean design, and it stands out from the grey- and black-box Wintel notebooks. So, too, does the new iMac have a great visual presence. Whether you like it or not, you have to admit that it'll turn heads, and it will certainly make people consider the computer as an object of art instead of just a tool. Is the design strange? Sure. Personally, I wonder about the "halo" around the screen -- seems a haven for finger-smudges -- and it seems like the whole thing might get a bit tippy at the wrong angle.
As much as it might pain us rumor-mavens to admit, what Apple presented *was* way beyond the rumor sites. Industrial design is and always has been one of Apple's strongest suits. Remember that other all-in-one, the Classic? Sure, we predicted a flat-panel iMac. But the way-21st-century design that debuted? We weren't even close. Hats off to Apple for making us do a double-take at something we thought we knew.
No, the new iMac won't be the workhorse at Lucasfilm. But for the consumer, education, and amateur creative markets, it's a wonderful machine.
