When and how far along the G5 is in the pipeline is certainly fodder for a healthy debate, but assuming it will be coming to Mac next year has anyone considered what it might look like? I can't imagine improving on the current QuickSilver G4 tower's case. It's breathtaking in both form and function. That said, I find it curious the new Airport base station is iBook white. iBooks are flying off the shelves so maybe this is appropriateÉ BUTÉ Could this be a prelude to a matching white G5 tower? Why even your iPods would be color coordinated. <br><br>Talk amongst yourselves. <br><br>-------------------------------------------<br>RWoelk <br>Generating 2048 bits of randomness...<br><br>Only the educated are free! -Epictetus

You're probably right--Steve is big into color coordination <br><br>But what about cost? Do you think that the G5 will have the same price points as the G4 towers? Godalmighty, it would be hard to resist getting one of those suckers!<br><br>And that's true too.--Shakespeare, King Lear

It's my understanding there are no heat issues, so redesign of what basically remains the G3 case for the Tower model would not be an issue. <br><br>Graphics cards are growing in size as the MB increases, but that appears a non-issue too.<br><br>Current marketing trends suggest that every manufacturer has to update their external design at frequent intervals. If unneeded, why? The G3 Tower box is about as good as it gets when it comes to easy access. I'm skeptical at the high end Mac user market is as conscious of colors and such as the low end.<br><br>The compact size of the Cube was not its only feature. It improved on the already excellent design of the iMac by Apple Engineers who seem to have excellent knowledge when it comes to both cooling needs and quietness.<br><br>Those aren't exactly points easy to market, but I know they mean a great deal to me and other Mac users. I've always felt that's one reasons why Macs don't wear out, why too many of us still have old Macs cluttering our closet or storage space. It's hard to throw them away. I should know. <br><br>But the hard-to-sell quiet feature of the iMac and the Cube were two things Apple didn't hesitate to point out as a feature. I think that any design change is therefore going to feature something related to cooling and/or noise reduction. I can't see easy access going away, because Apple has taken a good deal of heat over the years with certain models (incl me) due to poor access.<br><br>The current generation of Mac designers is clearly one of the best teams in the history of the Mac. Combining the breakthrough elegance and design of the Cube with the expansion capabilities of the Tower is no easy task. It's probably also a greater challenge, other than the issues of compact design featured by the Cube, iBook, and TiBook, faced before.<br><br>I can't see it downing down the road of an iMac, one piece, yet. Too many of us have been spoiled by a 22 inch Cinema display and parking an LCD monitor on top of a box smaller than that wouldn't quite be the "solution" IMHO. The folks that buy that 22 inch monitor are the hardcore of the market for high end Macs.<br><br>Have already mentioned I think we can expect something that will feature noise reduction and cooling. Maybe not too radical a change. FireWire drives don't have the cooling problems of the SCSI drives the graphics/video crowd also likes. They're much quieter. Apple is the patent holder of the FireWire technology as we all know.<br><br>Wherever possible, Apple is taking advantage of FireWire, witness the iPod, not to mention FW ports on every Mac model. Oxford chip set has bumped a FW drive, cheap ATA hardware with FW brains & electronics, up in the 35-40MB/sec range. Since Mac desktop models are presently 12-18MB/sec range, users invariably notice a significant speed advantage when using such drives when launching apps, copying, and saving.<br><br>Hmmm....<br><br><br>128k_Mac<br>"When in doubt, reboot" - CaseCom

Well, YoYo, I think cost will in large part will depend on how soft computer sales are at the time of release. I think Apple's prices for the last 8 -10 months have been most competitive. Than again, if the rumors are true about how revolutionary this system might be, Apple might command deservedly higher price points ... who knows? <br><br>-------------------------------------------<br>RWoelk <br>Generating 2048 bits of randomness...<br><br>Only the educated are free! -Epictetus

Just doing new engineering for the new motherboard that likely would be required tends to rule out major innovation in physical design.<br><br>I also try to make one meaningless point of speculation to contribute to the wild and far out guessing that goes on with the ole rumor mill prior to expo. Made mine above.<br><br>As expo approaches the far out guesses will increase by a magnitude of 1000 to 1 over present rate and demonstrate the semi-annual interest in wild gossip and speculation that's become a Mac owner's hobby.<br><br>My first and last contribution. Your "who knows" says it all. By avoiding the rumor sites with a passion I find I can reduce my exposure, but by no more than 50% at best, witness your thread here on MacMinute. <br><br><br>128k_Mac<br>"When in doubt, reboot" - CaseCom

I love to see what other folks think is going to happen. I know all (I almost typed most, but changed my mind) of it is pure guesswork if not worse, but in small doses it's sort of fun.<br><br>And that's true too.--Shakespeare, King Lear

Gawd, how I wish these forums would allow "Edits" after the fact. I seem to fail to catch how poorly I construct even simple sentences from time to time. Yes, I do know better and attempt to edit on the fly, but it never fails... I always miss something Grrrrrrrrr. <br><br>-------------------------------------------<br>RWoelk <br>Generating 2048 bits of randomness...<br><br>Only the educated are free! -Epictetus

Hmm.....seems to me I've edited a post in the past. Not that one could tell it from reading one of mine. :)<br><br>Aha, RWoeld, the "edit" option appears after a post in upper right corner next to "reply."<br><br>Lets go for two. I notice a couple of odd characters in your original post in this topic. Using OmniWeb for browser? The 4.1 SP 10 version seems to have problems with odd charcters. Am currently using Mozilla or likely wouldn't have noticed.<br><br>Hmmm....software only shows one edit. Most seem to reflect each edit. (third edit)<br><br>128k_Mac<br>"When in doubt, reboot" - CaseCom<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by 128K_Mac on 12/05/01 00:37 AM (server time).</EM></FONT></P>

Interesting about my odd characters, but then again I am a bit of an oddball anyway. Just ask some of the women I have dated over the years**Grin** <br><br>Sadly, you are locked out of editing your post after a given amount of time has passed at this site. I often don't see all my mistakes until a day or two later. Not that I don't try to review and edit them before posting. <br><br>-------------------------------------------<br>RWoelk <br>Generating 2048 bits of randomness...<br><br>Only the educated are free! -Epictetus

At least your "odd characters" (excuse me, typos) are odd:<br><br><blockquote><font size=1>In reply to:</font><hr><p> appropriateÉ BUTÉ <p><hr></blockquote><p>Don't know how you make typos like that. <br><br>Misunderstood you RE editing. Found out to my dismay later I hadn't beat the clock myself so had to leave a worthless post.<br><br>As to the ladies and "odd characters" I prefer to leave that one untouched........ <br><br><br><br>128k_Mac<br>"When in doubt, reboot" - CaseCom