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mectojic

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Dec 27, 2020
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Sydney, Australia
In a similar spirit to the translucent plastics thread, this article takes a closer look at an era that overlapped and followed directly after the translucent era of Apple. An era that we might call the 'snow' era (sometimes also known as 'ice').

I think most users here know what that era involves, but to help define it clearly, we are talking about the following features:
  • Translucent plastics in neutral tones – especially white
  • Clear acrylic elements, especially used alongside white plastics.
  • White plastics in general, lacking coloured elements.
  • Simplicity of form and appearance.
  • Extremely difficult to photograph correctly (lol)
Snow.png


We might also say that it certainly doesn't include every Apple product from the era. For instance, the 'snow' concept doesn't really come to mind when I think of the G4 Quicksilver, nor the graphite+opaque iBook Clamshell. You may or may not include the acrylic Apple Studio Displays – up to you. On the other side, we might exclude the iBook G4 and iPod 4th Gen, which don't lean strongly enough into the concept, IMO - pure white polycarbonate is its own aesthetic, I think.

Apple eventually outgrew these design features, most notably in its shift to aluminium and glass, but also in subtle ways that diminished that particular look. There's a certain 'spirit' to the Snow aesthetic that was distinctive to 2000-2005 that I think we can agree on, peaking around 2001. However, this aesthetic cast a very long shadow, and there are still products on shelves today that borrow heavily from its design principles.

Here is a timeline of Apple 'Snow' products, with short descriptions (ignoring identical revisions of the same product):
  • 2000
    • iMac G3 DV/SE 'Snow' – the original Snow iMac, released in summer alongside the jewel-tone iMacs. Only this model had green/orange power lights. Revised in 2001 to use a white power light.
  • 2001
    • iBook G3 'Snow', especially the early versions with the translucent white casing. The keyboard especially is very 'snowy'
    • iPod 1st Gen (and 2nd Gen) – anyone who has seen one of these in person knows how it's the epitome of snow.
    • Airport Base Station 2nd Gen ("Dual Ethernet" / "Snow", M8440) - an often-forgotten update from the 1999 'graphite' Airport base station,
  • 2002
    • iMac G4 (15" and 17"; 20" in 2003) - soft curves, acrylic bezels, this is pure snow to me.
    • eMac G4 - a white case with features such as the acrylic vent, speaker cover and optional stand make this pass the test.
    • Apple Pro Mouse (M5769) and Keyboard - acrylic casing with white.
  • 2003
    • iPod 3rd Gen - less snow than the 1st gen, but with its clear buttons and clean white look it should qualify.
    • Apple Keyboard (A1048) - acrylic case, pure white keycaps.
  • 2004
    • iMac G5 (17", 20" and later iSight+Intel+24" models) – with clear acrylic still forming the bezels and the friendly white appearance, this is pure snow.
  • 2005
    • iPod Nano 1st Gen, white – a miniaturised iMac G5, enough said.
  • Misc.
    • The clear+white power plugs Apple shipped with the Snow iMac and G4 DA(?) models.

3rd Party 'Snow' Products (please expand this list)
  • Macally: IceKey, IceCam 1 & 2, IceMouse, iPod IceCase, IceFM transmitter
  • Griffin iTrip FM Transmitter
 
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This is my favorite aesthetic. It looks IMO more futuristic, and has more character, than anything released after it, including up to 2025. While I do like the brushed metal era too, this is definitely at the top of my list. While not technically "snow" there are a few devices I'd put under this category of best looking. The QS and MDD G4s, all the iPods with a chrome\silver back. They fit right next to the snow devices.

  • 2003
    • iPod 3rd Gen - less snow than the 1st gen, but with its clear buttons and clean white look it should qualify.
This is my favorite iPod of all time. The captive buttons that glow red with the white back-lit display just make it look so cool.
I actually have one, but I need to get it a new battery as well as figure out what to use to upgrade its storage. Currently a second gen Mini is my DD iPod.
 
This is my favorite iPod of all time. The captive buttons that glow red with the white back-lit display just make it look so cool.
I actually have one, but I need to get it a new battery as well as figure out what to use to upgrade its storage. Currently a second gen Mini is my DD iPod.
I actually used to DD a 3rd Gen. It is very picky with what it'll accept for a storage upgrade. After fiddling with it for so long I eventually had to throw a genuine CompactFlash card at it (it would not accept a CF-SD adapter at all, not even the iFlash adapters) with a relevant 1.8" conversion board. And even then it's not without issues. Sleep is completely broken (I have to hard reset or nothing plays) and disconnecting from USB also hard-freezes the iPod, again requiring the hard reset. Also you are bound to lose FireWire data transfer altogether, as most of the flash-mod solutions do not have FireWire support.

I can't vouch for the success, but you might be best off just buying one of the native 1.8" SSDs from KingSpec or whatever.

Such a cool pod; I need to replace the battery on mine as well. I've been daily-driving an e-reader as my PMP instead.
 
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I actually used to DD a 3rd Gen. It is very picky with what it'll accept for a storage upgrade. After fiddling with it for so long I eventually had to throw a genuine CompactFlash card at it (it would not accept a CF-SD adapter at all, not even the iFlash adapters) with a relevant 1.8" conversion board. And even then it's not without issues. Sleep is completely broken (I have to hard reset or nothing plays) and disconnecting from USB also hard-freezes the iPod, again requiring the hard reset. Also you are bound to lose FireWire data transfer altogether, as most of the flash-mod solutions do not have FireWire support.

I can't vouch for the success, but you might be best off just buying one of the native 1.8" SSDs from KingSpec or whatever.

Such a cool pod; I need to replace the battery on mine as well. I've been daily-driving an e-reader as my PMP instead.
CF was actually the thing I was leaning towards most. CF cards are much more reliable than SD cards IMO. Thats whats in my Mini. The mini uses the CF interface without the need of adapters though.
I also use Rockbox, and don't even bother with the stock firmware. FireWire works fine on the mini, that's my main source of putting music on it. So FW must be lost because the adapters don't support it?

I'll look into a conversion board or a 1.8" SSD.. Is it the same type of 1.8" HDD that goes into an IBM ThinkPad X40? If that's the case a 1.8" to mSATA could work? Which is exactly what I have in my X40.
 
Macally's 2002 product list.
I started this thread because I got an IceMouse (they're essentially a reskin of their iOptinet – even the clear plastic jacket on top could be swapped out for the earlier colourful one).

Macally White 2002.PNG



Some actual product shots:
Macally IceCam 2 7.jpg
Macally Icekey 2.jpg
Macally icemouse3.jpg
 
This is my favorite iPod of all time. The captive buttons that glow red with the white back-lit display just make it look so cool.
I actually have one, but I need to get it a new battery as well as figure out what to use to upgrade its storage. Currently a second gen Mini is my DD iPod.
Ditto. My first iPod. Gorgeous design and such a simple and easy interface. The good old days of Napster, Kazaa and Limewire.
 
That white G3 iMac is peak Apple design IMHO. And the eMac is the reverse.. :D I have personally never been fond of the G4 iMac design, but I can see why people love it so much.

Loved the white aesthetic. Current models also look great, but they did loose a lot of personality.
 
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