That's right. I went to the Apple store here in Columbus, Ohio, and much to my surprise, there it was (actually two of them). I had expected (per Apple.com) that they would not arrive until the weekend. Let me be clear, these were two DEMO models--sale units won't arrive until end of January. One salesman told me that meant "the last week in January." Anyway, it's true: they DO look better in person. The dome appears MUCH larger, more solid, more impressive. With the layering and matting Apple applied to the finish, it glows like a small moon. There have been concerns about how durable the swing-arm is. Let me tell you, it's BEEFY. It's a thick slab of polished chrome, and I put it through its paces. The hinges are solid, and quite frankly it's an overkill in terms of keeping that little slip of an LCD aloft. I would suspect that Apple had its own concerns about it wearing out and leading to "monitor-sag," and so they over-designed the thing. Rest assured, upon inspection it inspires confidence. In fact, overall, I've never seen a more solid looking machine. There have been doubts about it being sturdy enough for schools or children in general. Doubt no more--this thing makes the original imac look delicate and effete by comparison. I tried to tip it over (really) to no avail; I felt like I was trying to tackle Emmitt Smith--it's center of gravity is LOW (think half of a bowling ball; think Eric Cartman). I had been curious about the "halo" surrounding the screen, whether it in fact covers the screen. It does not. It would seem that when Ive's referred to the design goal of "violating the sacred plane of the monitor" he did not mean that its face can be touched with impunity, only the "halo" at its periphery. And that brings me to the action and positioning of the swing-arm. It works as claimed and as demonstrated. I was a bit disappointed, however, with the limits to its rotation. This didn't bother me too much when I read the specs, but when I actually put my hands on it I found myself frustrated by what seemed to be the rather arbitrary restrictions on its movement. I tried to rotate the LCD to make its face flush with the ceiling, so that I could look down on it from a standing position. I thought it would be neat to be able to stand and surf. No dice. Its upper limit is about 45 degrees--not bad, but why not more? One more thing: While, as I've said, the swing-arm mechanism is impressively sturdy, there is one small issue. I noticed a little play (2 or 3 degrees) in the linkage between the large arm and the small arm that connects to the LCD, which was noticable when I grabbed the halo with both hands and applied vertical pressure. It felt like a more subtle version of the play in the locked steering wheel of a parked car. I jiggled the LCD on the other demo in the store and, sure enough, it was there in that one too. Perhaps it's intentional, perhaps not. In any case, I couldn't tell that it had any dilatareous effects on the thing's performance. It was noticable only when I performed the "steering wheel" maneuver. All in all, upon inspection I think that the reactions of most will be similair to mine: It's SOLID. I did, however, have fun bringing up the "iboing" movie on one of the demo units. After I finished inspecting it, I loaded the page, cranked the volume, and "Boing! Boing! Boing!"--echoed throughout the store! The salesmen (who hadn't seen it) were so astonished they just left it going for awhile. I think Apple's own new "dancing luxo" imac ad is in the spirit of the "iboing" movie. When is the last time a computer made you laugh? (Ok, the last time I saw a new Dell.)
P. S. Here's my humble tribute (in a spirit both of comedy and sublimnity). You'll have to cut-and-paste the link. It's not clickable.
http://homepage.mac.com/dave7/objet_d'art/PhotoAlbum14.html
P. S. Here's my humble tribute (in a spirit both of comedy and sublimnity). You'll have to cut-and-paste the link. It's not clickable.
http://homepage.mac.com/dave7/objet_d'art/PhotoAlbum14.html
