The first iMac

[chriscrk]

I was thinking back on how, when Steve Jobs went back to Apple, one of the objectives was to make the Mac much more "friendly" looking, more inviting to the users. They were looking for a way to make it seem like something easy to use, that didn't look "threatening". One of the ways they did this was making a big part of the casing translucent, so you could see the inside of the machine. They also added colours, making it more inviting.

Then I realised, there was another company that did almost the same things, two years earlier. Nintendo.

Now, I have no idea if Nintendo did it for the same reason as Apple, but in 1996, two years prior to the release of the iMac, Nintendo released the Nintendo 64, which looked vastly different to it's predecessors, as it was now translucent and colourful, as opposed to to being one solid, dull colour (like what happened to the Mac's evolution in to the iMac).

So, is there any chance Apple, or Johnny Ive might have been influenced by Nintendo? Or even taken the whole concept by looking at the Nintendo 64?

 

[AppleDApp]

It's a possibility but who really knows?

 

[chriscrk]

I just want to hear other people's take on the theory
I think it's quite interesting, especially considering how many people praised Apple's take on the iMac in that respect. Yet I don't remember that much talk about what is a pretty similar design style on the Nintendo.

Although I understand they're two different companies that were in completely different situations at the time.

Idk, I still find it interesting.

 

[shinobi-81]

Nintendo gear is considered to be children's toys, as opposed to computers being used for serious business. Toys are often more colorful than tools.

 

[AppleDApp]

I have to say I was drawn to both the colorful iMac and the colorful N64 and GameCube. However when Microsoft released the translucent xbox, I was not drawn to it. Now, years later I really like the design of the original iMac because it resembled a CRT monitor from back then. It shows how Apple differentiated themselves.