[Koralatov]

I'm probably only doing this because I'm horrifically bored at work, but I thought I'd ask everyone what they thought Apple's five most beautiful-looking products were. Mine are:

1. iMac G4
2. Power Mac G4 Cube
3. Flat Panel Studio Display
4. iPod Shuffle (2nd Generation)
5. Power Mac G5/Mac Pro

Also, just out of idle interest, how many (if any) of the items on your list do you own? I own numbers one, three and four, and I'm patiently waiting for two to arrive after purchasing it on eBay.

[ort888]

I would say... Just off the top of my head...

The original iMac, the original Powerbook G4, the original iPod Nano, the black MacBook and the Quicksilver G4 tower.

I've owned 3 of those and soon to be 4, unless they change the Macbook before I buy one. (I'm waiting for the next revision/bump and 10.5)

[JonoMarshall]

1. iMac G4
2. New Apple Keyboard
3. G4 Cube
4. Cinema Display
5. New Fatboy Nano

My most hated would be the Apple remotes, tsk.

[zro]

iMac G4

No other computer is or was as good at turning heads.

[residentEvil]

Quicksilver G4 was my favorite tower to-date...

[scottiB]

iSub

[Laminar]

I liked the 6400 for some reason. I had one for a while. Then I cut it up.

[Mac User #001]

1. G4 Cube
2. Apple (Pro) Mouse
3. Cinema Displays
4. PowerBook/MacBook Pro
5. iPhone

[CharlesS]

Originally Posted by zro 

iMac G4

No other computer is or was as good at turning heads.

Including its own!

Yeah, that was a great design. Too bad they replaced it. The iMac G5 did have the advantage of being much easier to service, but then they took that away with the iSIght models. Oh well.

[mindwaves]

No particular order:

Apple Pro Mouse (black)
Apple 17'' CRT display (clear back)
Apple iMacs Fall 1999, summer 2000
Apple iMac G5
Power Mac 8500/9500
Apple PowerBook G3 (Pismo)

[butterfly0fdoom]

G4 Cube
iMac G4
iPod
fat nano
iPhone

[ShortcutToMoncton]

Quicksilver Power Mac

[analogue SPRINKLES]

I've always loved the colour Classic

[klb5090]

1. G4 Cube
2. iPhone
3. TiBook
4. iMac G4
5. iPod

[MacosNerd]

1. Mac 128k
2. G4 Cube
3. G4 iMac
4. Aluminum PowerBook & MBP
5.Bondi Blue iMac

[olePigeon]

1. G4 Cube
2. Color Classic
3. Titanium PowerBook
4. iMac G4
5. PowerMac G5

[nonhuman]

Sparticus!

[Lateralus]

In no particular order;

G4 Cube
Slot-loading iMac G3
B&W Power Mac G3
iBook 'chiclet'
Mac IIsi

[G4ME]

no TAM?

bit odd

[Goldfinger]

1.TiBook
2.G4 Cube
3.Quicksilver PowerMac
4.Aluminiuim Cinema Displays
5.iMac G4

6.PowerMac 9600

[rickey939]

In no particular order...

1.) Apple Titanium PowerBook G4
2.) Apple Titanium PowerBook G4
3.) Apple Titanium PowerBook G4
4.) Apple Titanium PowerBook G4
5.) Apple Titanium PowerBook G4

[Mac User #001]

The G4 Cube is in the top half of almost everyones lists. Clearly we have a winner.

[osiris]

1) MacBookPro
2) G5 tower
3) iSight camera
4) iPod Nano
5) G4 Sawtooth

[MrForgetable]

Originally Posted by rickey939 

In no particular order...

1.) Apple Titanium PowerBook G4
2.) Apple Titanium PowerBook G4
3.) Apple Titanium PowerBook G4
4.) Apple Titanium PowerBook G4
5.) Apple Titanium PowerBook G4

My first love.

[Art Vandelay]

Originally Posted by zro 

iMac G4

No other computer is or was as good at turning heads.

So much so that it's in the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

[G4ME]

wasn't the cube in there as well?

[Art Vandelay]

It may have been but it isn't anymore.

[Koralatov]

Originally Posted by JonoMarshall 

2. New Apple Keyboard

Good choice. I think of all the recent designs from Apple, the new keyboard is the only one that's really caught my eye.

Originally Posted by zro 

iMac G4

No other computer is or was as good at turning heads.

Absolutely. I got a new flatmate, and the first thing she did when she moved in was point at the iMac G4 in my living-room and ask, "Is that a computer?" When I told her it was, she said, "That's easily the coolest computer I've ever seen!" She seemed really disappointed when I told her it isn't being made anymore.

I genuinely, really believe that if Apple released another iteration of the G4 iMac it would be a success, especially considering that TFT panels cost much less than they used to. They could even use the innards of the mini in it to cut down on R&D.

Originally Posted by residentEvil 

Quicksilver G4 was my favorite tower to-date...

I forgot about the Quicksilver. It was a beautiful looking machine, but wasn't it notoriously noisy? Or am I thinking about the MDD?

Originally Posted by Mac User #001 

5. iPhone

Personally, the iPhone is attractive, but it's not one of Apple's most beautiful products--it lacks the 'Wow' factor that my favourtie Apple products have. It's competent design, but it lacks real inspiration.

Originally Posted by CharlesS 

Yeah, that was a great design. Too bad they replaced it. The iMac G5 did have the advantage of being much easier to service, but then they took that away with the iSIght models. Oh well.

The G5 itself was an inspired and beautiful design too, but lacked the otherworldy grace of the G4. The G5 was, to my eyes, the logical endpoint of Apple's minimalist ethos.

Originally Posted by Art Vandelay 

So much so that it's in the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

And it very much deserves to be there, as does the Clamshell.

On the subject of the Clamshell, I think it's an absolutely beautiful piece of design too. I very much covet a lime-edition of the Clamshell, but I'm totally unwilling to pay £300 for one. Yeah, it's beautiful, but it's still a seven-year-old laptop, and I got a graphite for £100.

The only downside to Apple's iconic design is that it makes the older models that I so covet expensive!

[Judge_Fire]

1) The full cube setup, which I'm happy to own. It was a great machine and one can always hope...
2) The iMac G4, simply stunning in use, with just the display hovering in your view.
3) iMac G3 rev. c, in happy, sunny colors. Like a memory from better days.
4) PowerBook G4 12.1", small, compact, metallic - let's hope the subnotebook rumors hold true
5) Original Mac, it's just so humane somehow. Nostalgia, I guess, or respect for its designers.

Then it gets trickier after that. iPhone and 30" cinema display are great design, because they fade away and let software shine. The Apple Design Award is a nice meta-product. And the Apple Stores are great products in how they look and operate. Beautiful retail. The list just goes on...

[nonhuman]

Originally Posted by G4ME 

no TAM?

bit odd

Learn your code names.

[exca1ibur]

1. G4 Cube - Best overall Apple Design.. period
2. Quicksilver G4 - Best Tower Design
3. New Pro Keyboard - Best keyboard as I've hated the last 3 designs with a passion
4. 30" Cinema Display - Overpriced but very nicely design.
5. Titanium G4 Powerbook - The start of a solid professional design of notebooks from the toilet seat iBook.

[ajprice]

[Big Mac]

Nice post, aj.

[Dork.]

No love here for the Pismo?



(I see Mindwaves remembers it....)

[Laminar]

Originally Posted by ajprice 

Did they ever make a non-ADC version of this? I saw a few at a surplus sale a while back but they were all ADC.

[Art Vandelay]

No, they were always ADC.

[Laminar]

Damn. I don't want to pay $100 to use the monitor.

[Lateralus]

Originally Posted by Dork. 

No love here for the Pismo?



(I see Mindwaves remembers it....)

I dearly miss my Pismo. Amazing laptop.

But singling it out as one of Apple's most beautiful products ever is pushing it. Namely because all of the PowerBook G3s were merely a progression of the initial design (with the exception of the Kanga).

So if you're gonna name the Pismo, you're basically naming the Wallstreet, PDQ and most definitely the Lombard as well.

[imitchellg5]

1) iMac G4
2) iMac G5 (pre-Sight), love the clean face.
3) Power Mac G4 Quicksilver
4) PowerBook G4 15" (Ti or Al, love both)
5) G4 cube with a LCD Studio Display.

[philm]

My favourite Mac of all the ones I have owned. Sheer beauty and all the more exciting because it was a grey import. Ladies and gentlemen, the Powerbook 2400.

[lpkmckenna]

In no particular order:

black Apple Pro Mouse
Mac mini (suck it, Cuboids! )
aluminum PowerBook
iSight
iPod nano v2

[rickey939]

Apple Titanium PowerBook G4.

[imitchellg5]

Originally Posted by rickey939 

Apple Titanium PowerBook G4.

Good luck with the sale. Might get it depending on how it looks near the end...

[rickey939]

Originally Posted by imitchellg5 

Good luck with the sale. Might get it depending on how it looks near the end...

I know some people, who know a dude, who knows a chick who is going to bid $2.75 tomorrow, so act fast before this gets out of control!

[Cipher13]

I have much love for the designs of many systems, like the Classic II and Colour Classic, 5500, 6500, and so on, but if we're talking pure beauty I have to shelve those in favour of...

(In no particular order

* the graphite El Capitan case (Yikes!, Sawtooth, Mystic, etc) and graphite Apple Studio Display (they go hand in hand)
* Pismo
* iMac G4
* G4 Cube
* 3G iPod

I'm sure I'm leaving out some good ones.

[Cadaver]

Originally Posted by ajprice 

[dcmacdaddy]

Originally Posted by Koralatov 

I genuinely, really believe that if Apple released another iteration of the G4 iMac it would be a success, especially considering that TFT panels cost much less than they used to. They could even use the innards of the mini in it to cut down on R&D.

If Apple did this I would be on the Apple Store site ordering one within five minutes of hearing the news.

You know . . . you're right. A Mac mini could easily fit inside the semi-circular base of that model iMac. I wonder if it is possible to retro-fit a g4 iMac with a mini on the inside. Hmmm? (goes to Google to find out)

[Mastrap]

I must be the only person alive who really disliked the iMac G4. Love the 24" white iMac however - one of the best Macs ever built, IMO.

[SirCastor]

-The Pismo... and really that particular group of Powerbooks. The modularity of these things was AMAZING. That is a thing of beauty

-The cube ... and it's successor The Mini
-The Powerbook G4... Amazing. Absolutely amazing.
-The 20th Anniversary Mac was very pretty.
-The New fat nano. I held one today... Absolutely Gorgeous!

[butterfly0fdoom]

If Apple were to re-release the iMac G4 but with Intel innards, I would definitely want one. *drools* My school's journalism clas had one. If they ever try to sell it, I want it. >D