I wrote an article for My Turn a couple weeks ago, MacTablet, MacBook mini, and MacDock:
Resurrecting the Dockable 'Book, about Apple bringing back the Duo
concept in a dockable Tablet computer. I was surprised both to see it
make it to the site and at the feedback I received from others who said
they'd also love a Tablet Mac.
Imaginary products like the Tablet Mac are usually found only on fan
sites.
Anyway, all of that got me thinking of other products from the past
I'd like to see updated.
It's a Retro World
Have you noticed lately that car companies are bringing back their
most successful designs of the past and updating them? The new Mini
Cooper, the new VW Beetle, the PT Cruiser, etc.
Wouldn't it be great to see Apple bring back limited edition
versions of their best designs over the last 30 years?
I recently decided to sell off my large collection of Macs and keep
only my absolute favorites. I live in NYC, and my apartment, quite
frankly, was starting to frighten people. I don't have a couch anymore,
but I did have 26 working Macs spread out in every room.
When I started collecting, I actually used all the machines I had. I
was the poster child for low-end Macs. I had a Color Classic for email,
and an iMac for use as a DVD player. I had a PowerBook 3400 serving as an iTunes
jukebox in the kitchen for when I was cooking and doing dishes.
But once they started adding up, I wasn't able to actually use them
all anymore. I'd buy them, restore them, and then they'd just stayed
there stacked on top of each other.
What are some of the machines I kept?
The answer to that is also the answer to what Macs I would like to
see Apple remake as collector's editions.
The PowerBook G3
Pismo
The PowerBook G3
"Pismo" was the best PowerBook ever. I think if there was a poll
taken from Macheads worldwide for the best PowerBook, the majority
would second my nomination.
There's little that can be said about the merits of the Pismo that
hasn't been said a thousand times before. It's sleek. It's light. It's
drive bays allow an absurdly diverse amount of hot-swappable expansion
goodness. The keyboard is dynamite. Even today you can bring it up to
550 MHz G4 and SuperDrive status if you're willing and able to spend
the cash.
The
current black MacBook is almost a Pismo flashback, but not quite. What
it does prove is that people are willing to pay a heavy premium for
style - 200 extra bucks only getting you a little more hard drive
space. You're paying for the black, plain and simple.
Imagine an Intel-powered Core Duo Pismo Nuevo with stronger hinges
than its predecessor, drive bays, an ExpressCard slot, and a modern
LCD.
Just like the new Mini Coopers, there wouldn't be much you'd need to
change in a remake of the Pismo. It was perfect then, and it'd be
perfect now with some modern muscle.
The
SE/30
In its time to put all the power of a desktop into a tiny all-in-one
computer.
Today's iMac holds
its own in many respects for everyday tasks compared to the Power Mac
(and the Mac Pro will no doubt follow suit in that department), but
it's a big sucker. The form factor of the original compact Macs is
iconic at this point; mythical even to an entire generation of
users.
With an update, Apple could jam pack a workhorse in that cubic form
while using a small, crisp LCD instead of a CRT. You could fit about
four Mac minis in an SE case. A small compact like that would be
practical for dorm use - or as a powerful server that had the benefit
of its own small screen, like the original SE/30.
But most of all you'd have a lot of nostalgic people who grew up
with the compacts who would love to trade some of their disposable
income for a flashback Mac like that.
Mac Style
Apple has been so concerned with style from the beginning that
virtually any Mac made could be updated like a classic car.
Most of the designs coming out today are instant classics. All three
iMac lines, for example, regardless of how well their "lifesaver
colors" or "Barbie make-up mirror" designs hold up to today's tastes,
are still iconic and invoke a lot of nostalgia for the era in which
they were produced.
Not to beat a dead horse about the overexposed iPod, but what other
piece of technology could possibly be more ingrained into the
collection unconscious? Someone says "remember the 60s?", and just
about everyone thinks of Woodstock, love-ins, The Beatles, etc. Fifty
years from now the same short list of "remember the turn of the
millennium?" items will no doubt include the little white music
player.
Some designs become so popular and distinctive that they develop a
life of their own. Long after they've ceased production, they are
immortalized in our culture.
The VW Beetle was always there waiting to be made again. And
everybody wanted one when Volkswagen started making them in their
updated form.
In another couple years every television show ever made will have
been adapted into a movie.
We are obviously a culture drunk on nostalgic. Isn't it time Apple
brewed up a fresh pot of something old for us?
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