The art in technology (AKA: "I love Apple!")

I have been looking at replacement computers recently. And the thing that has caught my attention is the PowerMac. No, I'm not going to get one right now, since I don't have the money, and because they are about to be upgraded in August. But I have been LOOKING at them.

OK, this applies to just about all Apple-hardware, but I think PowerMac epitomes it: The art in technology. Yesterday I studied one at a local Apple-retailer. That thing in GORGEROUS. Notice the grill in front? You can just barely see (see, but not hear) the fans spinning inside. It kinda reminds me of turbines in a power-plant or something. Of course you can remove the side-door, so you can actually look inside the computer. It's like a display-window saying "just look at all this technology. All that you see is at your disposal". Yes, PC's have those side-doors as well. But the difference here is that PC's have extravagant LED's and clutter of wires. PowerMac has none of that. No wires. Seriously! I did not see any wires anywhere. And no cheap LED's. Yes, I mentioned in the past that I like LED's, and I do. But there is a time and place for them. And this is not one of them.

Besides wires, you can't really see any components on the motherboard either. All you see is the traces along the board. A work of art in itself.

Then there's the iMac and the Apple Displays. Both of those are basically quite large displays (iMac being a computer built in to the display). Now, I have handled "normal" displays before. And if I try to adjust the screen (tilt in up and down for example), I usually need two hands to do it. The hinge on the screen is usually too stiff. Compare to Apple: On their displays and on the iMac, the hinge is stiff enough to hold the screen in place, but not one bit stiffer. That way you can adjust the screen easily, light touch is all that is needed. Pure elegance. I tried that with their frigging 30" display, and I could still adjust it with just two fingers. Compare to this hp 1730 I have in front of me: I need to grap the screen with two hands. And even though the hinge is stiff, it's still "loose" (that is, the screen moves around by few centimeters without actually adjusting it position). That simply does not exist in Apple-displays.

And still, even with their superior design, Apple-hardware is not THAT expensive. Laptops for example are quite competetive pricewise, as is the iMac. Displays cost a bit extra when compared to equivalent Dell-displays, but the difference is not outrageous. PowerMacs are a bit expensive right now, but they are about to be upgraded.

So why on Earth are people buying inferior hardware? So they could save few bucks? I don't know about you, but I would much rather pay few bucks extra, if that means that I get hardware that is pure joy to use. And in case of Apple, I quite often do NOT have to pay any extra.

So it is decided: My future hardware will be Apple-hardware. I'm just sick and tired of the mediocre design that exists elsewhere.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

My eyes glaze over when I talk about my Mac, cos she's bewdiful! If only I could figure out all that stuff with the PC network and get her online... oh well, I'm moving soon.

Janne said...

May I say that you made an excellent choice with your choice of computer :). You can't go wrong with all-aluminium laptop.