Sad, just sad. It just goes to show how cult-like Apple has really become. Get over it guys, they're only domestic appliances!

when I opened my 7200/75 box to replace my Performa 475....that was important. Opening boxes for other people is awful though. When you have to set up a machine that is much nicer than yours is a bad experience.

That's what my grandmother said to my Dad. He squirrled them away anyway. When it was time to go to collrge, he cashed them in paid for my brother and I. One of the most valualbe thing he had in the cards was an original wrapper and the original gum. Original packaing adds to the value of most collectibles. Same thing with the Apple packaging, don't try to understand it if you can't, just trust that they have value.

Quote: "Sad, just sad. It just goes to show how cult-like Apple has really become. Get over it guys, they're only domestic appliances!"

What's really sad is that the guest poster above has probably never experienced the joy of unpacking a new apple product. The thought Apple puts into packaging design is amazing... you don't feel like you are unwrapping an 'appliance' but in some cases a high-tech work of art. It really adds to that 'Christmas morning' feeling.

As a designer (like a good chunk of mac users are, were, or are in close relation to) I appreciate the packaging design from apple products, as I do with any really good product packaging. It just seems more people these days are purchasing some of apple's smaller products (iPod, Mac Mini, Mighty mouse) which have packaging that is easily stored on a shelf, in a perfect location for display/bragging. I still have the box though for my first gen G4 (though it's folded and tucked away in my closet)ultimately because it's always good practice to hold on to packaging of electronics, in case you move, need to store it, or a myriad of other reasons. Poor packaging just prevents it from being an eyesore when ever you see it. My mac mini box sits proudly on my shelf next to my iPod box because it can. The wow factor when some one asks me what came in that box is worth the shelf space alone.

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Guest wrote:
Sad, just sad. It just goes to show how cult-like Apple has really become. Get over it guys, they're only domestic appliances!

Blasphemer!

Seriously though, the thought and effort that goes into Apple's amazing and beautiful packing, is incredible. If some of the PC companies out there put half as much effort into the design of their products, maybe they'd have a cult following as well... Or maybe I'd consider using one.

Oh and, nobody has ever come into my house, taken a look at my toaster and said "Wow!". They do however say that when they walk into my recording studio packed with Macs, and their product packaging.

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Guest wrote:
Sad, just sad. It just goes to show how cult-like Apple has really become. Get over it guys, they're only domestic appliances!

I was one who kept my iPod box. I was very impressed the way my iPod was boxed, and generally I am impressed the way my other Apple products have been packed. There is a lot of thought to how Apple boxes things, they are easy to open, you can find the non-attached parts, they are also easy to repack if you want to return it. I usually only keep CPU and monitor boxes a week or so, long enough to know if the product is working and doesn't need to be returned.

Compare Apple to many other manufacture's packaging. While it may be protected for shipping you often have difficulty getting the item out of the outer box, no room to slip your hands between the dunnage and the box. The creativity that goes into a product is often reflected in how it is presented, how it is boxed for shipment.

Yeah, some computers, MP3 players and other consumer electronics, are just domestic appliances, but a Mac is more than something just cobbled together to make a sale, it is a tool. A craftsman appreciates and cherishes his tools, my Mac, and and yes my iPod, are tools for my trade.

Cult? I have a right to my eccentricities and belief systems as long as they don't hurt anyone else.

I wish I could have thought of saying something as beautiful as this. Thank you for sharing.

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Al Swearengen wrote:

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Guest wrote:
Sad, just sad. It just goes to show how cult-like Apple has really become. Get over it guys, they're only domestic appliances!

I was one who kept my iPod box. I was very impressed the way my iPod was boxed, and generally I am impressed the way my other Apple products have been packed. There is a lot of thought to how Apple boxes things, they are easy to open, you can find the non-attached parts, they are also easy to repack if you want to return it. I usually only keep CPU and monitor boxes a week or so, long enough to know if the product is working and doesn't need to be returned.

Compare Apple to many other manufacture's packaging. While it may be protected for shipping you often have difficulty getting the item out of the outer box, no room to slip your hands between the dunnage and the box. The creativity that goes into a product is often reflected in how it is presented, how it is boxed for shipment.

Yeah, some computers, MP3 players and other consumer electronics, are just domestic appliances, but a Mac is more than something just cobbled together to make a sale, it is a tool. A craftsman appreciates and cherishes his tools, my Mac, and and yes my iPod, are tools for my trade.

Cult? I have a right to my eccentricities and belief systems as long as they don't hurt anyone else.

Ha - Apple's packaging might be sexy, but sometimes it ain't so functional. I have a iMac G4 that sits on my desk at work. To the guy who unpacked it, this ugly lump looked for all the world like a separate monitor and (somewhere under it) base unit. It took him a good ten minutes of pulling, twisting, and headcratching to realise the monitor was not detachable from the base unit. Lots of twisting. Consequently, without its chin-prop, my iMac is a little droopy on its neck. And yes, that IS Apple's fault: there should have been clear instructions: LIFT HERE. Idiots.

Considering their sanctimonious claim to be environmentally friendly, they sure use a hell of a lot of expanded polystyrene and virgin paper. That's another reason not to trash the thing. Plus, when your Mac dies you'll need it.

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Anonymous wrote:
Ha - Apple's packaging might be sexy, but sometimes it ain't so functional. I have a iMac G4 that sits on my desk at work. To the guy who unpacked it, this ugly lump looked for all the world like a separate monitor and (somewhere under it) base unit. It took him a good ten minutes of pulling, twisting, and headcratching to realise the monitor was not detachable from the base unit. Lots of twisting. Consequently, without its chin-prop, my iMac is a little droopy on its neck. And yes, that IS Apple's fault: there should have been clear instructions: LIFT HERE. Idiots.

Considering their sanctimonious claim to be environmentally friendly, they sure use a hell of a lot of expanded polystyrene and virgin paper. That's another reason not to trash the thing. Plus, when your Mac dies you'll need it.

Ummmm...right. Your co-worker's inability to comprehend the connected nature of the LCD is Apple's fault HOW exactly? When you consider that there is a BIG photo of the iMac on the outside of that box, the only "idiot" in that equation is the guy who did the set up. And by the way, God bless polystyrene and virgin paper! I LOVE the way it looks in my trash can the day after I get something new. Knowing I am making some environmentalist go NUTS gives me one more "warm fuzzy" to go with the good feeling my new Apple product gave me...it's like the cherry on top.

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acdc1174 wrote:
Knowing I am making some environmentalist go NUTS gives me one more "warm fuzzy" to go with the good feeling my new Apple product gave me...it's like the cherry on top.

Or like the double-mint twins.

That's probably the best thing i've heard all day. Thank you for making Friday afternoon that much better.

In my attic, I have not one, not two, but THREE iMac boxes. Mine, my brother's, and my sister's. I took my sister's on a bus and two subways to keep it. They're good, natural choices for storing old computer equipment. Boxes are useful, so if you have one that's nice, why would you trash it?

My iMac box came in very handy when I had to have it repaired, too.

I also kept my Mini box. It's just so neat. And I'm glad I did, because I just had it upgraded, so I had to take it across town to a service center. Obviously the Mini's box is the perfect thing to transport it in. I can stick it in my backpack and know that it's nice and snug, and not going to get damaged.

This isn't just an Apple thing, though. I kept my PlayStation 2 box, even though it's ugly and made of low-quality cardboard. And again, I'm glad I did, because I had to ship it for repairs once.

If he'd actually READ the unpacking instructions, it tells you to lift it by the arm.

When in doubt, RTFM.

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Guest wrote:
Sad, just sad. It just goes to show how cult-like Apple has really become. Get over it guys, they're only domestic appliances!

Unfortunately for a non-Apple user like you, you will never understand how Apple package its products. Go buy a Dell MP3 player or go buy a not-so-Creative sleepy-Zen and open them up. Sure you will still want to lie to yourself about how not impressed you are about Apple packaging, but your heart will tell you differently.

How much did it cost to upgrade your box? Is its performance significantly better?

From beginning to end, Apple products are about the experience. The glee when Mr. UPS shows up. The anticipation as you unfold, like a blossom, the box containing your flower of choice. The utility of an understandable, human-oriented operating scheme (iPod, iMac, Newton, you name it). And at the end, when you haul that antiquated beige Apple to the recycler, you part with a friend who has empowered you, who made you more than you were capable of on your own. Apple, at its crux, is about avoiding the unplesant, the obnoxious, the dumb. From beginning to end, Apple aspires to friendship between man and machine. In the GUI wars – from the desktop publishing revolution to ICUs full of Newtons to G5 supercomputers – Apple is a reliable, dependable, uncorruptable, elegant friend. It arrives with panache, not just another box but so much more from the instant you hold it and begin to unfold it. You want crass? Go someplace else.

Actually, over the years I've unpacked _hundreds_ of Apple products for my clients, as well as hundreds of IBM laptops, Cisco routers, Sun servers and other hardware.

They're all just appliances. Nothing more, nothing less. Get over it.

Apple has always had great packaging. Over ten years ago, I bought a PowerBook 160. I used the box to keep my LPs in.

My mother always found some cool use for her Apple II boxes.

All you package-wankers brats certainly deserve to go to hell (all wrapped in sexy packings).