The Apple Chameleon

Is this anything new or is it the same as was discovered a year ago:?:

Future iMacs will sure be pretty amazing. You could download lighting patterns from the web and then apply them to your computer. :D

Originally posted by monkeyastronaut
Future iMacs will sure be pretty amazing. You could download lighting patterns from the web and then apply them to your computer. :D

i think that they will be user configurable. To display such useful things as when e-mail has arrived or the amount of data flow, etc

They need a gimmick because the hardware they push sucks. Cpu's and gpu's and memory are becoming a joke on this platform.

Originally posted by Aurora
They need a gimmick because the hardware they push sucks. Cpu's and gpu's and memory are becoming a joke on this platform.

Uh oh, the retard's back.

Originally posted by Aurora
thats right Harold, and its true if you cant sell your machine on performance then a gimmick is the next best thing and this is a slick fancy gimmick:) many machines (imacs) were sold on color alone.

You're right. Many iMacs were sold on color alone. I bet HP and Dell would like to say that about their machines.

a computer with a glowing, variable coloured case?

what a load of crap.

I know..... maybe they could put alien eyes on it or something....

perhaps they could put it on enterprise products and call it a toy for enterprise users.

perhaps they could use it on portable devices (better still ones that use G5s to really cripple battery life)

nope... if its just pretty, cutesy crap then it will be just that - tacky useless ornamentation.

i suspect apple is capable of more than flowerpower (or should be)


(Wow... i'm cynical tonight):\

I'm of two minds on this.

1. What a silly gimmick. Apple's really lost their edge.

2. If anyone can make this work, Apple can. Dell, HP, Sony, or any of the other Wintel box makers would never try a gimmick like this, and any small manufacturer would be lost in the sea of clone boxes. (Who knows, someone might already make this sort of thing.) Apple has the will to do the System software associated with this right - Applescriptable colors, lots of sample scripts (weather, stock market, email notification, RSS feeds, CPU load, time of day, etc.).

If Apple really comes out with a chameleon case, lots of people will cheer it as the coolest thing since the iPod, lots of people will jeer it as the dumbest thing ever. But, people - and the press - will talk about it. College, high school, and junior high kids will beg their parents for one. Yuppies with too much money will grab them for the fashion statement. And half of AppleInsider readers will complain that it only has a 1.6GHz CPU, or the graphics card is too weak, or it should have a bigger HD.:)

Apple knows (or believes) that fashion matters as much as technical specs. At the cost of some LEDs and a bit of System software, Apple can have a dramatic aesthetic differentiator - and claim that it's useful, too.

- Jasen.

See the far left tab? 'Housing Illumination'

Originally posted by BuonRotto
One step closer to those Star Trek TNG terminals if you ask me. ;)

Apple wouldn't be the first to do this.

http://prius.hitachi.co.jp/go/prius/pc/2004may/air/index.html

This links to a Japanese webpage for Hitachi. If you see the green circle in the middle of the tower, that's the part that changes colors. It will change to various colors depending on the current PC state. Sleep, accessing drive, TV recording etc. It will also display a color pattern for receiving e-mail, alarm etc.

If Apple makes the whole case like that, it will be new. But it might be more of a eyesore if your case keeps changing colors.

I agree with the thinking that this patent application is a red herring for what Apple really intend this tech to be for. It's quite funny that there are a load of people over at Slashdot who are speculating as to what the lights in the case will be for but I reckon Apple will surprise us all.

Who knows the patent may be for a new kind of led projector?

I refuse to believe that Apple will use this on a "Chameleon Case" as I can't imagine what kind of design could have such a case and still maintain the Apple design traits that we all know and love.

I think monkeyastronaut is right, that this will be iTunes related. Specifically, I think it might be a new enclosure for the iPod. The iPod is their only product that comes in multiple colours now, so it make more sense than a computer case that changes colours. Why would that think anyone would want an iPod case that changes colours? Why would anyone want a cell-phone case that blinks colours when it rings. An iPod case that could effectively provide visualizer effects would be aimed at the same market I think. Tacky as hell, but who knows...maybe they think it could sell. Likely will never see the light of day.