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Is this It (Photo)?
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The scenario I envisioned was someone with some kind of press kit or someone in a managerial role that received some kind of documentaion that only a few people had received. Then they screw around with the scan of the document and make a juvenile story to go along with it. Seems somewhat plausible to me.
hey all, im new in the forums but ive been reading macrumors for a while. I had to sign up today when they locked out the forums to all people other than registered users 
In any case, look what i found....dont know how real it is:
http://www.spymac.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=35329&papass=&sort=1&thecat=
In any case, look what i found....dont know how real it is:http://www.spymac.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=35329&papass=&sort=1&thecat=
I'm putting all my beans on Fake!
Just something a bit too clinical about both the story and the quality of the image for my liking...
...the biggest problem I have with it though is that it simply does not seem to say Apple...it looks pretty much like any other current Aluminium PC case just with a grill on the front - I don't think Jobs or Ives would let the reputation they have built up again since the first iMac be tainted - sure there have been mess-ups and mistakes in that time - but everything produced since (with the possible exception of the Xserve and Xstation) has been different, individual and instantly reconisable as an Apple product - this image doesnt suggest any of those things.
Lets not forget that this machine - if it contains the innards we all dream it does - is perhaps Apple's best hope of maintaining and increasing its market-share in the professional market and certainly the only answer they currently have to the Wintel worlds current speed advantage - they would never risk that on such a bland design.
Some dude has really gone to town on creating a design and doctoring it in such a way that the obvious defects in the image itself can be covered up by claiming its a scan of a newspaper print - and then pulling the image just as the rumour sites begin to bite.
You wanna prove the image is real? Show the world that Apple told you to cease and desist...simple as that really.
Just something a bit too clinical about both the story and the quality of the image for my liking...
...the biggest problem I have with it though is that it simply does not seem to say Apple...it looks pretty much like any other current Aluminium PC case just with a grill on the front - I don't think Jobs or Ives would let the reputation they have built up again since the first iMac be tainted - sure there have been mess-ups and mistakes in that time - but everything produced since (with the possible exception of the Xserve and Xstation) has been different, individual and instantly reconisable as an Apple product - this image doesnt suggest any of those things.
Lets not forget that this machine - if it contains the innards we all dream it does - is perhaps Apple's best hope of maintaining and increasing its market-share in the professional market and certainly the only answer they currently have to the Wintel worlds current speed advantage - they would never risk that on such a bland design.
Some dude has really gone to town on creating a design and doctoring it in such a way that the obvious defects in the image itself can be covered up by claiming its a scan of a newspaper print - and then pulling the image just as the rumour sites begin to bite.
You wanna prove the image is real? Show the world that Apple told you to cease and desist...simple as that really.
Oh, come now!
I like it. Honestly. I think for sure it's a fake, but this ain't hideous. It just looks so heavy and un-mac-like. Not horrible, though. Not as bad as folks are saying here.
I like it. Honestly. I think for sure it's a fake, but this ain't hideous. It just looks so heavy and un-mac-like. Not horrible, though. Not as bad as folks are saying here.
I have to say that this is hands down the ugliest thing I have seen, fake or real.
If this is real, I'll wait until Apple decides to make a computer that looks more like the successor to the G4. If I want a big tin box with Unix inside, I will just go to Fry's and buy myself one of those ugly aluminum cases with the window in the side that scream "LAN PARTY AT MY HOUSE!!". Maybe I'll trick it out with some "2 Fast 2 Furious" style neon too.
Puke.
I'm going to go ahead and say this is fake though, just for all the reasons out-lined earlier in this thread: slot-loading drive, no USB & FW ports, etc etc etc.
Also, wtf is up with the newsprint looking image.
With the way Apple products have been aesthetically designed in the last few years, X-serve aside, I'd say this is a fake.
If this is real, I'll wait until Apple decides to make a computer that looks more like the successor to the G4. If I want a big tin box with Unix inside, I will just go to Fry's and buy myself one of those ugly aluminum cases with the window in the side that scream "LAN PARTY AT MY HOUSE!!". Maybe I'll trick it out with some "2 Fast 2 Furious" style neon too.
Puke.
I'm going to go ahead and say this is fake though, just for all the reasons out-lined earlier in this thread: slot-loading drive, no USB & FW ports, etc etc etc.
Also, wtf is up with the newsprint looking image.
With the way Apple products have been aesthetically designed in the last few years, X-serve aside, I'd say this is a fake.
If it's a publicity shot it's a pretty lousy shot. If it's a scan of a publicity shot it's a pretty lousy shot and a pretty lousy scan too. Puzzling to say the least.
Originally posted by mkaake
smuggled?
so you take a picture on a camera in a place that you're not supposed to have a camera. then you develop the picture and stuff it in your pants to take it home. that would be great if a) you had cameras in a no photo location, or b) the no photo location had a dark room just sittin there for people to use (But not take pictures home from).
seriously, think about it. i smuggled in a freakin camera (and out too), but i have to crumple up this picture to keep it from getting noticed?
cmon people. common sense here...
matt
um, duh? i think the idea here is that he snuck out with a promotional flyer or ad or brochure or something that he wasn't supposed to.
This is so obviously either a prototype or fake, I'm actually embarassed for all the naifs taking it seriously.
Crap design
Looks like some kind of transparent wrapping paper was left on for the photograph. The bottom-left corner also seems blurred (FW800 & USB 2.0 ports there?).
I really hope this is not the new PowerMac design, or even a prototype. It looks like a dull Pee Cee and I know Apple can do better.
Looks like some kind of transparent wrapping paper was left on for the photograph. The bottom-left corner also seems blurred (FW800 & USB 2.0 ports there?).
I really hope this is not the new PowerMac design, or even a prototype. It looks like a dull Pee Cee and I know Apple can do better.
Re: That's it - that's the box
You see, this I just don't get. Did someone go and change the definition of "mesh" while I wasn't looking again? 'Cause that ain't "mesh" on the front of that picture. Using the language that I would have sworn was English before entering this thread, "mesh" involves two sets of wires one perpendicular to the other, or at the very least a regular or semi-regular pattern of square hole punched in flat metal. Strangely enough, the Dell PowerEdge that someone else linked to earlier (http://www.dell.com/us/en/esg/topics/esg_pedge_towermain_servers_2_pedge_2600.htm) fits this archaic definition of "mesh" far more than our little pet photo/scan here.
What would I describe that as? "Vertical lines", or, to give a more dimensioned description, "vertical slots". But that's just Old English I guess. "Mesh" it is!
Really, either this photo is fake or AppleInsider's description of the machine is off. Or, perhaps, both "spies" have seen prototypes or dummy boxes which are not necessarily the final product.
Looking at the blur (I assume you mean the blurred-out space above the bottom "handle"), it actually looks more like open ports than a door ... notice the irregularity of the darkness in the blur.
While I'm on this topic, I took the front-side blur to be concealing an inventory tracking tag of some sort (many corps use them).
That I don't get. Even if it (roughly) fit a public description (which it doesn't), there's nothing in that which would confirm that this is a "Real deal" instead of a (rather basic) photoshop venture.
IMHO, I'm no design student so I won't comment on how ugly/beautiful it is, but we should remember three things:
1) The "back story" doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
2) Apple Legal hasn't brought down mirrors yet, and all signs point to the web host taking down "dontask"'s site, not Apple Legal.
3) The truth will be known in all its glory in less than a week in any case.
IMHO, people in this forum have a very poor record in distinguishing a photoshop fake from the real thing, so all such "analysis" is pretty much thrown right out the window in my view.
You see, this I just don't get. Did someone go and change the definition of "mesh" while I wasn't looking again? 'Cause that ain't "mesh" on the front of that picture. Using the language that I would have sworn was English before entering this thread, "mesh" involves two sets of wires one perpendicular to the other, or at the very least a regular or semi-regular pattern of square hole punched in flat metal. Strangely enough, the Dell PowerEdge that someone else linked to earlier (http://www.dell.com/us/en/esg/topics/esg_pedge_towermain_servers_2_pedge_2600.htm) fits this archaic definition of "mesh" far more than our little pet photo/scan here.
What would I describe that as? "Vertical lines", or, to give a more dimensioned description, "vertical slots". But that's just Old English I guess. "Mesh" it is!
Really, either this photo is fake or AppleInsider's description of the machine is off. Or, perhaps, both "spies" have seen prototypes or dummy boxes which are not necessarily the final product.
Looking at the blur (I assume you mean the blurred-out space above the bottom "handle"), it actually looks more like open ports than a door ... notice the irregularity of the darkness in the blur.
While I'm on this topic, I took the front-side blur to be concealing an inventory tracking tag of some sort (many corps use them).
That I don't get. Even if it (roughly) fit a public description (which it doesn't), there's nothing in that which would confirm that this is a "Real deal" instead of a (rather basic) photoshop venture.
IMHO, I'm no design student so I won't comment on how ugly/beautiful it is, but we should remember three things:
1) The "back story" doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
2) Apple Legal hasn't brought down mirrors yet, and all signs point to the web host taking down "dontask"'s site, not Apple Legal.
3) The truth will be known in all its glory in less than a week in any case.
IMHO, people in this forum have a very poor record in distinguishing a photoshop fake from the real thing, so all such "analysis" is pretty much thrown right out the window in my view.
I'm not going to get bent out of shape over an alledgely "real" pic, but it is fun to comment.
If it is real (not entirely shocking, and it won't look that bad in person), how about a tower server? Apple only makes rackmounts now, but if they're stepping up the server effort, why not a tower--they used to make them, after all. Then the slot-loading CD, industrial XServe-style design, and lack of any nicities would make sense.
The only other thing it could legitimately be is an XStation, but even then I'd be a bit suspicious of the slot drive. I just can't see it being a next-gen PowerMac, though; the slot and XServe look just don't point that way.
Personally, I'm assuming fake--aside from the suspiciuosly perfect screen, it certainly isn't a photo of a production piece of hardware if the Apple logo isn't straight. Oh, and I'm pretty sure the "tranlucency" in the back is just the background left from where it was crudely cut (amusing that someone credited that to cleverly subtle industrial design).
If it is real (not entirely shocking, and it won't look that bad in person), how about a tower server? Apple only makes rackmounts now, but if they're stepping up the server effort, why not a tower--they used to make them, after all. Then the slot-loading CD, industrial XServe-style design, and lack of any nicities would make sense.
The only other thing it could legitimately be is an XStation, but even then I'd be a bit suspicious of the slot drive. I just can't see it being a next-gen PowerMac, though; the slot and XServe look just don't point that way.
Personally, I'm assuming fake--aside from the suspiciuosly perfect screen, it certainly isn't a photo of a production piece of hardware if the Apple logo isn't straight. Oh, and I'm pretty sure the "tranlucency" in the back is just the background left from where it was crudely cut (amusing that someone credited that to cleverly subtle industrial design).
i can't believe?
?you all are still discussing this photo.
i believe it when i see it on the cover of time magazine
?you all are still discussing this photo.
i believe it when i see it on the cover of time magazine
Re: i can't believe?
It's not surprising: we've all been waiting for years to find out what design statement is going to define the future of computing for the next few years. If this is it, I'll upgrade my Cube. I'm not having THAT on my desk!Originally posted by emdezet
?you all are still discussing this photo.
i believe it when i see it on the cover of time magazine
Good call. You're absolutely right. The halftoning was done after the fact, and neither fits the sparse story given nor any reasonably imaginative scenario. Pretty much proves this isn't a "real" picture (unless it's Apple Legal distributing this picture as misinformation just to annoy us rumor mongers and putting flaws in with photoshop so we'll think it's fake and then we'll be really surprised when the thing appears on stage at Moscone!
)So, congrats. I take back my own pitiful-photoshop-diagnosis-record comments. So, where were you for the last three or four supposed Photoshop fakes? MDD, Jobs at Intel, Quicksilver ...?
Closing my eyes I can imagine what the machine really looks like in person; It looks like an Xserve turned into a workstation... I believe its real. I really think it looks industrial strength.
Since Photoshop details are fun, I'll bite...
The dot pattern was not added after crumpling. Look at the shadow crease on the right. It's actual grey, not halftoned grey. And it passes through the halftoned grey of the vents. You get both kinds of shading there: halftoned and crease.
The dot pattern was not added after crumpling. Look at the shadow crease on the right. It's actual grey, not halftoned grey. And it passes through the halftoned grey of the vents. You get both kinds of shading there: halftoned and crease.
The image was taken of test prints for new ads, info that could identify the mole (3rd party suplier) was removed; the square at the bottom is not a blur but a rough redraw of that angle of the new tower.