Loss of the cube

[insidesource]

The new iMac is all cool and better than the cube, but with the new iMac you can't get to the insides like you could with the cube.

i could be wrong so don't hesitate to send threatening letters

 

[Beej]

Re: Loss of the cube

I reckon the Cube was cooler than the iMac. Then again, I haven't seen a new iMac in real life, so I could be persuaded...

 

[CHess]

I've gotten my hands on both. Obviously, we understand that the iMac has a lot more power than the cube, so the question is really about design.

I don't think the interior of the iMac is as accessible as the cube, but then there's really not all that much that you need to access in either. The Cube's graphics is in a removable card, but you can't buy new cards to fit. You can get to the hard disk if you want to replace it and you can get to the Airport and Ram connectors. On the iMac, you can get to the Airport and "External" Ram slot easy enough, though I think you have a harder time accessing the internal SO-DIMM Ram slot and the hard disk if you ever decide to replace it. Still, I vote that the iMac is less accessible and it wasn't much of an issue.

The cube is cool in that you can choose your display, but the display won't be as adjustable as the iMacs and doesn't "float". Also, the cube's connector are all a pain to reach, being on the underside. Also, the cube has a vertically positioned CD and I believe the whole reason that the iMac's CD/DVD drive is horizontal is because, according to Steve Jobs anyway, CD drives operate slower when they are mounted vertically.

It's kind of close in terms of coolness factors, but I would buy a new iMac, whereas I avoided buying a Cube when they were available.

 

[BeeRich]

Cube Not Lost

Listen, Apple won't throw away what it did with the Cube. Perhaps the model number will be tossed, but the concept of central cooling, etc., can be used. On other rumour boards, it is indicated the new OS, with the new processor architecture, will come to fruition in a box called the Candlestick.

It has 8 sides, 8 processors. About 15" high, as large as the current tower, but rockin speed and features, benefitting the graphics, rendering and scientific crowd. If they can offer a DP1G for $3000, who is to say they can't have internal speeds and Gigawire clustering boxes to do some serious work?

Jobs said 'watershed' and the OS, the Kernel, the Procs, the whole design, coupled with comm speeds and design, all have been optimized for ultimate scalability.

Now put ANY Windblows OS against THAT.

You think Apple won't get marketshare? Pffft. Puhleeeze! Dual 600 MHz Intel boxes for serving databases and such, with a Unix OS, cost as much as $80,000, as a used box! That's like 4 Audi's! The current DP1G is $3000? Do the math, folks. It's got Gigabit Ethernet built into it. It simply shows great processing power for the buck. Dang, UCLA tested 5 G3/233's in a 100BaseT cluster years back, and they had nothing but accolades for the whole system.

Cube not lost. Always something gained. I just can't figure out what they learned with Newton. iPod should show something with that. BTW, it is a computer, and not an mp3 player.

Cheers.

 

[insidesource]

Re: Cube Not Lost

I was only referring to the ability you had to get to the insides with the cube, other than that I agree all round.

 

[tk-421]

Actually, you can. Underneath the bottom plate, there are 4 more screws. The case flips open to reveal the logic board and internal ram, etc.... I wouldn't go further if you're not Service Tech. though. It gets complicated from there.

 

[dantec]

But you must also put into factor the iMac is much cheaper than the cube. The iMac is the fraction of the price a cube would have cost you! By the time you need a new hard drive, a newer better, faster iMac will be out, and with the low enough price you can buy a second one!

The cube is not dead, it will revive... when Apple sees the demand for computers mount. You watch, 2 to 3 years from now every computer is gonna be the like the cube (same with the Newton, Pippin, etc.)

 

[Xapplimatic]

Apple's Rubix Cube

Looking at the overwealming response to the new iMac, I can't help but wonder if Apple would have had a bigger success with the cube if they had thought to make a high-end iMac out of it by attaching a floating screen to it like today's iMac.. I think it was mostly the price that made it anemic.

 

[dantec]

Re: Apple's Rubix Cube

Originally posted by Xapplimatic
Looking at the overwealming response to the new iMac, I can't help but wonder if Apple would have had a bigger success with the cube if they had thought to make a high-end iMac out of it by attaching a floating screen to it like today's iMac.. I think it was mostly the price that made it anemic.

I agree, if the cube was cheaper, I would have gotten one right away! But the whole problem was it cutting into the iMac SE margins... That's why apple couldn't lower the price "enough".

 

[Macmaniac]

Cube

I loved the cube when it came out. I went to MacWorld NY and got a cube poster.(Its hanging in my room) It was the coolest computer I had ever seen. It was a good effort, I like when a company goes out on the edge. I would still love a cube.


____________________
700mhz snow
100mhz performa

Not all who wander are lost

 

[eyelikeart]

the cube...

it's irrelevant to me....

but how I do want a cube of my own....

 

[DNA]

I don't think so...

...in my opinion the design of the new imac is quite a lot more revolutionary than the cube, as it's the first computer I've seen that has a smooth, rounded shape. I'm sure that "soft" feeling attracts more attention and buyers than a "well it's small and transparent, but it's still just another plain box with sharp edges"-cube.

But then, I might just as well be wrong about that.

 

[DNA]

And by the way...

...when I read geometry they said the cube has 4 sides, so one with 8 sides wouldn't really be a cube, right? Unless we're five-dimensional or something...

 

[pc_convert?]

DNA wrote,
...when I read geometry they said the cube has 4 sides, so one with 8 sides wouldn't really be a cube, right? Unless we're five-dimensional or something...

you read Geometry wrong, a square has 4 sides, a cube has 6....

 

[Digidesign]

I remember seeing somewhere (don't know if it was an official Apple comment) that the cube's failure was that it was too expensive to be marketed as a consumer (iMac) machine, and not feature-rich/expandable enough to sway people away from the Powermac line. In essence, it was its placement between the two strongest Apple markets (Pro users + Consumers) that eventually toppled it.

I think the Cube was incredibly innovative. In an ideal world based on innovation alone, it would still remain strong today. But we all know the unfortunate truth, that often business does not support innovation alone.

 

[AlphaTech]

Originally posted by tk-421
Actually, you can. Underneath the bottom plate, there are 4 more screws. The case flips open to reveal the logic board and internal ram, etc.... I wouldn't go further if you're not Service Tech. though. It gets complicated from there.

Just about what I was going to put in. I have torn down an iMac (crt, not lcd screen) to replace a part before. That leads me to believe that it can be done, if needed. Apple doesn't want people getting into the guts of the new iMac, which I can understand. If you did, you could mess it up and if the tech you brought it to noticed, or Apple did, goodbye warranty service. At least for that instance. That is why Apple has a list of user installable parts, things that they have no issue with people doing.

 

[insidesource]

Apple Tech's

I work at an Apple reseller tech and so far there has been no breifing on how to get to the insides but we do know that we are getting a new tool to dettach the neck that connects the LCD Display to the cpu.

 

[arn]

Re: Apple Tech's

Originally posted by insidesource
I work at an Apple reseller tech and so far there has been no breifing on how to get to the insides but we do know that we are getting a new tool to dettach the neck that connects the LCD Display to the cpu.

A service document has been floating around - and there was a link to it from a MacRumors news article - which described in detail how to open an iMac... the link has since gone dead however.

arn

 

[CHess]

Explaining

Just want to point out that the reason I didn't have any interest in a Cube was mostly because the iMac was really cool, I had one and I liked the design. The PowerMac tower was fast and expandable. For me, the Cube was somewhere in the middle - Not a high end machine and not really the relatively inexpensive consumer model. So, in my case, Apple's after action analysis of the Cube was right. It might have succeeded as a high-end iMac, but they would have had to bring prices down.

It's still a VERY attractive (physically) computer that actually enhances the style of the room it's in (I have no interior decorating sense, but this one is obvious).