I love this! The G4 Mac is by far my favourite Apple design ever, its such a shame it was such as short lived design aesthetic.
My wish is that as Apple seems to be moving its iMac (and soon MacBook I believe) range back towards a more "fun" look reminiscent of the original iMac period they could resurrect this design.
I would love a touch screen iMac or Apple Monitor that used this design, its perfect for folding forward into a position for touch interaction and sketching.
This era of design where there was still some "whimsy" is some of my favorite Apple work too. The austere modern era where everything is a slab of glass fronted metal has lost so much of the joy that was found in their earlier computers.
If you want a touch screen computer that used this design optimized for sketching, Microsoft took it to the logical conclusion with the Surface Studio:
This is much better for sketching, as can reach a much flatter angle than the G4 iMac ever could. It also holds its angle quite a bit more securely (I've used both). While I'm not a massive Windows user, the physical aspects of the Surface Studio are pretty nice and much more interesting to me than the latest iMacs.
> The austere modern era where everything is a slab of glass fronted metal has lost so much of the joy that was found in their earlier computers.
In many ways I think it's a pity that Apple decided to bring its "Pro" aesthetic to the standard/consumer range, there has been so little to diffiraciate the two ranges. Having the two distinct ranges was more fun.
With what they have done with the M1 iMacs and the rumours of a rebooted MacBook (Air?) using the aesthetic of that iteration (colourful aluminium enclosures and white bezels) they seem to have decided to do just that and separate the ranges visually - just as they have done with the iPhone ranges now. For the first time in years last years Mac product announcements have actually interested me, looking forward to see what they are showing tomorrow.
> This is much better for sketching, as can reach a much flatter angle than the G4 iMac ever could.
Quite right, the ergonomics of the exact G4 aren't quite right for what I'm describing, however they could serve as the design inspiration for something amazing.
> In many ways I think it's a pity that Apple decided to bring its "Pro" aesthetic to the standard/consumer range, there has been so little to diffiraciate the two ranges.
I think the idea behind this to make their computers as recyclable as possible. It was mentioned at least once in a product intro when discussing the machining process.
I also miss fun designs, but I think the choice to reduce plastic use is the “right” one.
It seems the computing field had exhausted the usual marketing venues so resorted into maxing out the pro/scientific angle (you almost get a free biology/optics class on an iphone keynote chapter about lenses).
I would not blame design for the "slab of glass" state of computers/phones.
There two factors I see we endup with the current designs that are not related to desing at all:
* Miniaturization and portability: Today, probably two thirds of the components needed for a computer fit into the M1 die.
* Ergonomics: Because we are still humans, we need screens and input devices (touch or keyboard/mouse) that are bigger than the computer itself
Designers work around humans and technology to make the products joyful and compeling. I believe they did a good job, in general, given what computers became engineering-wise.
My wish is that as Apple seems to be moving its iMac (and soon MacBook I believe) range back towards a more "fun" look reminiscent of the original iMac period they could resurrect this design.
I would love a touch screen iMac or Apple Monitor that used this design, its perfect for folding forward into a position for touch interaction and sketching.