CNNdotCOM Technofile: Apple's latest balance form, function

By Rick Lockridge
CNNdotCOM Correspondent

(CNN) -- It all started with iMacs.

"We want things to be beautiful, surprising to see, but they also have to be functional," said Philip Schiller, Apple's vice president of worldwide product marketing. "One without the other doesn't make any sense."

Apple has set loose its award-winning industrial design team yet again, and the result is the Apple G4 Cube.

The Cube performs no better or worse than the G4 we bought from Apple a few months ago, but it is visually striking -- and it's surprisingly easy to set up. With the push of a button, the computer slides out of its clear plastic shell. All the ports are on the bottom, so they don't interfere with the Cube's good looks. Now that's vanity! Still, it does look good.

Starting at $1,900, the G4 is designed to stay cool without a fan -- making it virtually silent. Included are transparent speakers from Harmon Kardon, a re-designed keyboard and Apple's new optical mouse. A 15-inch flat panel display is $1,000 extra. Sure, that's a lot for a 15-inch monitor, but you'll draw envious stares from every other cubicle in the building if you plop a G4 Cube and a flat-panel on your desk.

QUICKVOTE How important is the appearance of your computer? a. Very important b. Somewhat important c. Unimportant View Results

Like other optical mice, Apple's new mouse can "see" where it's going, so you don't need a mouse ball or mouse pad. Apple's previous mouse, unaffectionately known as the "hockey puck," was an example of how things can go wrong when engineers let designers run amok. Lots of customers hated the hockey puck. I yanked it after the first day, and it's still in my junk drawer. Maybe I'll try to sell it for a buck on eBay.

The optical mouse comes standard with all Apple computers now, but I still prefer, of all things, the Microsoft family of optical mice, which now includes two new excellent "trackball" models. A lot of Mac lovers wouldn't think of attaching a Microsoft peripheral to their beloved machines, and I admit, my two-toned gray Microsoft mouse goes about as well with my teal-and-white G3 as wingtips go with surfer shorts. But so long as you're running Mac OS 9.04, the Microsoft mouse plugs-and-plays and works great.

Now let's talk about this fall's new jewel-toned iMacs

The colors are a little more subdued than the original iMac palette. Indigo, ruby, sage, snow and graphite are the new hues. (But you can only get certain colors with certain configurations. Visit Apple's online store for details.)

In August 1998, the first iMacs cost $1,300 and came with a 233 Mhz G3 processor, 32 MB RAM, and a 1 GB hard drive -- a decent deal for back then. Today's entry-level iMac goes for just under $800, and it has a 350 Mhz PowerPC chip, 64 MB RAM and a 7 GB hard drive. That's a faster machine and twice the disk space for about a third less money (adjusted for inflation).

Next time you're in one of those computer superstores, you'll see that other manufacturers like Dell and IBM have come out with colorful, eye-catching PC designs of their own. Let's face it -- it's very uncool to have a simple "beige box" anymore. Give the folks at Apple credit for believing that they could make computers you'd actually want to put on top of your desk.

Corel will stick with Mac
October 6, 2000
Clean up your Mac desktop
September 26, 2000
Analysis: Inside Mac OS X's Unix layer
September 18, 2000
Lab report: Cube scores low compared to other Power Mac G4s
August 22, 2000
Apple models its iMac fall colors
July 20, 2000

Power Mac G4 Cube
Apple Imac
Microsoft Trackball Explorer

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.