Silver electronics are just another fad.
My rather basic KDS 19" monitor is plastic - nothing fancy - but
it's painted to make it seem like it's an aluminum enclosure.
Same with the TV set I've got in my apartment, one of those
newer Apex digital models with built-in VHS and DVD players. To
make you feel good about buying it, even though it cost half of
what a comparable Sony or even Panasonic would cost (and will
probably last a quarter as long), they paint the front of it
silver.
As everyone knows: silver + blue LEDs = expensive product
The stereo system in my apartment seems to combine the best of
both worlds. My receiver, an old Pioneer dating from the early 70s,
has a wooden cabinet and chrome faceplate. It has one of those
"blackout" dials that appears to be solid black when the unit is
off, but it lights up a greenish-blue with an orange pointer when
it's on. While it may not look up-to-date, it certainly appears
respectable, because the materials are good quality and the design
is not overly complex.
In the 80s and 90s, black replaced silver for most electronics.
Black with green LEDs. My CD player is black, and while it's a
pretty basic unit, it still manages to look decent.
And then you get into the painted, fake silver. My cassette
deck, while supposedly a good unit (a JVC), is somewhat cheap
looking due to the dark silver-painted front.
Silver is starting to find it's way into cars now, too. The
top-end Audis and Acuras have real metal interior trim, but even
the basic Toyota Echo and Honda Civic are gaining fake silver
painted trim. Along with the blue interior lights, that has come
directly from home electronics.
But what about user experience? Do people have any criticism of
these products?
I certainly find that it just looks poorly made if it's not real
metal, but I've obviously bought some of these products simply
because there's no real alternative.
And those blue lights? I won't buy any electronics with them
(when I purchased my monitor I made sure that it had a green light
instead of blue), never mind a car. The bright blue gives me a
headache - imagine driving at night with blue shining at you from
every imaginable corner!
Apple seems to have done a better job with the whole "silver"
electronics fad. They've used real metal - imagine how the G5 would
look if it were plastic! Sure, it's a heavy computer, but that only
helps to enforce on the consumer the perception that they are
getting a very solid product for their money. Even the plastic
separator inside the G5 is thick and fits into place nicely after
upgrading RAM or adding a PCI card.
Apple's other designs including the white plastic iMacs, eMacs,
and iBooks still manage to look solid, without being as expensive
to manufacture as metal casings.
The PowerBooks, however, show the weakness of using metal in a
portable computer. It looks fantastic when it's new, and the
current design feels well built. It is for the most part - until
you bump it into the corner of a table or put the power adapter
next to it in your computer bag. Then suddenly it doesn't look so
good anymore.
Mine has a bit of wear at the corners, and the shiny coating on
the right wrist-rest is starting to wear away. It's not noticeable
from a distance, but when you get within a foot or two of it, it
doesn't look so nice.
There's also the fact that metal tends to dent - there's a small
dent on the lower right corner of my machine (it's actually on the
battery).
Aluminum also tends to warp. When I first got the machine, it
was unstable on a flat surface. It would occasionally rock from
side to side, but over the past two years heat buildup seems to
have rectified that. That also means that the top doesn't close
perfectly!
Many companies (like Dell and Toshiba) have stayed with plastic.
They've gone the "let's spray-paint it silver!" route, and it
doesn't look anywhere near as nice as Apple's counterparts.
On the other hand, it may be more functional. You drop a plastic
computer, and the most it'll do is scuff it or develop a small
crack if it's thick enough.
Take the PowerBook G3, for example. Many have argued this was
Apple's best design (I'd say in terms of durability the G3s and the
current iBooks are a tie). It's a very solid plastic, so little
bumps from the corner of a table or being stored in a computer bag
- or even a backpack - with the AC adapter doesn't phase it.
Apple's now has the black iPod and iPod nano. Is a black
PowerBook next? A shiny, black PowerBook made of the same material
as the current iBooks would not only look fantastic but also be
highly durable. After all, people generally buy laptops so that
they can have a machine to use while they're not at their desk.
I bought my 12" PowerBook so that I could have a small, fast
machine available to me at all times in school (there was no iBook
G4 at the time). This involves it being thrown into a backpack or
computer bag, being dragged around school all day, and then hauled
back home in the evening. It's often taken out and put away 5 or 6
times in a day, and that means there is always the risk of bumping
into things - the back of other seats in lecture theater, the
corner of a table at the library, etc.
Don't get me wrong - it's a great computer, and it's holding up
very well for what it is. But there's always room for improvement.
