The New G5: Speed Is Good, Ugly Is Bad
This is a new era for Apple. Gone are the days when we have to say to PC users, “it may not be faster but at least it’s easier to use”.
It’s faster. Much faster.
And this is a very good thing. The best news about the new G5 is its sheer speed. By now we all know the specs (practically by heart!!) and they are beautiful.
Now for the bad part. We’ve gone from beige through every imaginable color (and even patterns) and come back to gray-- and the last time I checked, gray is pretty darn close to beige. Steve Jobs obviously has a metal fetish these days. The PowerBook line was the first to be given the metal treatment but here it made sense; metal is strong and portables need to be strong. The same goes for the metal touches on the iPod. They make sense. Soon, however, metal showed up, of all places, in the interface. Like a bad software skin-design, metal has slowly (yet inconsistently) taken over the Mac desktop.
Now the metal look has completely taken over the new G5 tower. Brushed metal is nice, but not that nice. Gone is the transparent luminosity of the cube. Gone is the subtle color of the latest G4 tower. It’s all metal all the time. In this case function has entirely defined form. Prior to the G5 Apple had always tried to have form and function work together. Now, the necessity for ventilation has made our beloved Mac look like a bad PC mod. Suddenly the focus is on the nine fans (which are absurd in and of itself, when you think about it) and not the beauty of the thing itself. I was there at Macworld 2000 in New York when Steve Jobs unveiled the Cube. It was a thing of beauty because it combined engineering and design. Luminosity, solidity, and transparency worked together to create the Cube. Ventilation, ventilation, and ventilation is what the G5 is all about. And just wait till the inevitable dust bunnies strike.
With the G5 we suddenly have a machine that doesn’t have a hinged door. Need to install ram? You have to swing an additional door out of the way. The inside of this machine, while beautifully laid out, has been clearly decided by the very hot G5. The hinged door was the best thing about the original blue and white G3 design and now it is gone for no apparent reason.
Some of the world’s most difficult engineering challenges have been
well-designed too; the Brooklyn Bridge and the iPod are two examples. With the G5 it appears that Apple has not only put IBM inside its machines, but outside as well. The subtle touches are nice (except for the handles--they are atrocious, and look like they were added on at the last minute. If you are going to make a boring box, just keep it boring.) as always, but the overall package is uninspiring. Like a well-engineered furnace the box keeps the air flowing, but the design aesthetic that Apple has always been heralded for has been sucked out.
What do you think? Is the G5 a step backwards, or a step forward in Apple design?
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I disagree. El Capitan is long in the tooth. Swinging doors are overrated as most people don’t tweak the innards of their computer enough. The G5 is a gorgeous case. Aluminum gives the appearance of strength over the Plastic El Capitan. The Internal are a work of art adding 9 fans which in tandem still are twice as quiet as the MDD El Capitans. The G5 exudes Power. The Aluminum dissipates heat better and signifies a computer that will be understated in it’s elegance for years to come when swoopy plastic has fallen from favour.
Well, I would respectfully disagree regarding the design. Not only is the design an excellent example of essential form and function, but as a production piece, it is durable,far more recyclable, and also I’m guessing, more profitable for Apple.
Imagine a time when old Macs are recylclable, sustainable objects.
I think the case work and interface is stunning. I’m less impressed by the ‘front’ face, which has no focus on the functional apspects like ‘where is the off button?’ etc.
The side profile kind of looks like a large X with the new case.
Overall I am amazed at its elegaent simplicity. My guess is that you’ll love them or hate them. I hate the G4 Quicksilver case I have. All that plastic is a disgusting use of material.
It’s extremely bauhaus, isn’t it? Hard to imagine that this came from the same people who brought us the original, multicolored iMacs. The two would look really strange next to each other. I like the sides, and I disagree that the handles look tacked on--I think they look very integrated. But I agree with Andrew… the front is too stark and lifeless. This design needs a tweak or two to give it what it lacks that all other Apple designs have had: personality.
Personally I think a lot of “pro’s” will like the understated design. I remember designers hiding their blue G3 under the desk. At first glans it does look a bit stark, not much to it. But as has been suggested elsewhere this G5 enclosure has been engineered to allow for ventilation and will need to be cooled down when they start putting four 2mHz processors or even four 3mHz into it. Then it will need the extra fans and airflow to cool the sucker off.
Having only seen pictures I can’t really tell how well this simple looking design works. And I’ll bet future versions will have a chrome speaker of some kind on the front. They’ll need to milk this design for a few years to come.
All in all, I like the design and I’ll bet a few bucks on it looking even better in real life. It has lost it’s “let’s give it name” factor but in turn it does look like it could kick the hell out of anything else on the market. I’d buy one.
Just keep in mind that the original iMac received its share of denigration, as did the flat panel iMac (the “cute” name takeoffs were similarly kitchen or household oriented… toaster, etc. vs. Cheese Grater). The new design is “underwhelming” because good or great design is often seen as either too outrageous or too bland. The G5 is a clean and exceptionally beautiful example of form following function. The G5 is for those who want a design that shouts performance while keeping its voice lowered… who want something they won’t regret having on their desktop a year from now… something that has staying power… something that equates equally well with words like “power,” “quality,” “class,” “intelligence,” and “state of the art” ? I think you’re looking at it. It’s, if you’ll allow my bad pun, elemental. It may not be “one size fits all,” but it’s a hell of a good looking “Aluminum box.”
A lot of people don’t like the design apparently. I’ve heard the word ‘ugly’ being tossed around quite a bit. I think it’s the kind of design that you don’t like at first but once you get your hands on one and really get to use and inspect it, the design makes perfect sense and you can’t imagine it being any other way. The Ive interview gives a better idea of how well the aesthetics and function were married.
I think a lot of people were expecting something very ‘sexy’ as was the buzzword for describing Macs for a while. And they certainly were sexy. Who else but Mac users would use pictures of their computers as their desktops? But it was also this sort of aesthetic that made a lot of people scoff and decide not to take these machines too seriously.
The G5 is very serious.
It screams power. It looks like a forged tool. The exterior is almost purely function: aluminum for strength, thermal concerns, and an almost unibody construction; front and rear grilles for airflow; handles for transport. Nary a flourish in sight. In fact the only vain element you might say is the transparent door (so you can admire your computer while it works) except for the fact that it is functional as well (assists airflow).
I like this direction. I think Apple is saying “We’ve already established that we can make fancy computers. We can get attention. So now, let’s pare down the form and get closer to the function. Let’s make a computer that is startling in design at a glance but reveals it’s beauty as we use it. That’s where it should really shine.”
I initially had reservations about the design but it’s starting to grow on me. I like its clean lines.
The design is functional from the standpoint of moving a lot of air through it.
Did anybody notice if the logo lights up like the laptops?
the design is a matter of taste - if one likes the engineering behind it - he will say its grand - but if its just the outside looks - one might say it is not trés chic at all....
I doubt that Apple can sue anybody for copying their design now - as they did with the original iMac-copycats back then and the iPod-copycats now…
it looks to much like a box again - personally I like the looks of them Powerbooks a whole lot better…
but in the computer world speed is everything - looks is only secondary
Cray has some computers that look like they have some horsepower - they look like a locomotive....
http://www.pw.edu.pl/services-pl/cs6400.jpg
to the left - notice the red top with holes in them =-))
thanx
stefan j. huelf
i’d like to chime in here and say that i agree not with the article, but with the tone of most of the posts here… the Powermac G5 is indeed a very serious piece of machinery designed for real pros. i always loved the look of the plastic G4’s but when i put a pic of this beast next to the G5… it honestly makes the G4 look like a toy. i was shocked and appalled for about 5 minutes following the keynote but now i get it. and the more i read the white papers and such, the more i realize the beauty behind the design. September can’t get here soon enough!
The g5 looks are adequate for a tool. I think cheese grater is the best comparison. It’s not like poweremacs have ever been lookers. If you need to show the world how cool you are via hardware design, get an Alienware computer or a motorcycle. I’m glad to see Apple’s attention returning to pro users, trying to get work done on deadline. iPods, iChat, iPhoto, etc are cute, but don’t pay my bills.
i actually own an Alienware but i’m not too impressed. their old machines use off the shelf cases with a few tacked-on parts (ok, so they make them in lime green, yeah yeah). their new cases look a bit like a leftover action film prop. in fact i’d go so far as to say that Alienware’s new boxes are like Hollywood’s version of a luxury PC. and those laptops that change color when you move them? blech. there is a very rational and disciplined sense of logic at work behind the new case, and like much architecture in the relatively recent past (International Style, anyone?) most people will not understand… you’ll hear ugly, sterile, plain, etc thrown around a lot in the coming months… and lazy criticisms like “cheese grater” too… i think the new PowerMacs will pay your bills and make your work area a little mroe awe-inspiring.
btw, i think the photos here [ http://galleri.99mac.com/ ] are much more telling than the photos on Apple’s own PowerMac pages… (scroll down to the bottom of the page for the best ones)
Those photos are great. It’s a giant grey box. I like it. I also like cheese graters. If I’m lucky I’ll get one next year.
A copper or bronze finish might be cool.
Euro? To me it looks like a high school metal shop project! At least put a logo on the front!
No no. It’s a deceiving design. “What could this silly car grill on a toaster frame do for me?” *boots computer, fiddles with it* “My, oh my! All THAT is in THERE?”