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The Devil's Advocate - The Pyramid iMac [TMO Scoop]
by - August 26th, 2004

Today a little something new, and old, from Apple. On August 24, 2004, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USTPO) issued United States Patent Number D494,971 to Apple Computer, Inc. for a "Display device with a moveable assembly," which was filed on October 3, 2003. This is a division of an application first filed on November 8, 2001. Steven Jobs was the first named inventor along with Jonathan Ive and multitude of others.

This is a design patent for "[t]he ornamental design for a display device with a moveable assembly." We've seen some of the wacky iMac versions Apple considered before. There were the snake and double-hinged iMacs. This latest design combines the double-hinged design with a pyramid base:


Figures from Apple's pyramid iMac patent application

Perhaps Apple thought going with the snake neck on the pyramid would be too thematic? It's not clear what the late October 3, 2003 division filing suggests (i.e., this application was filed significantly after the "sunflower" iMac was released in January of 2002). Does it mean this is a design that's being considered for the next iMac? Doubtful. At least I hope not; it seems rather homely.

Of less fanciful note, Apple also received design patents on its "nose cone" eMac and Aluminum PowerBook designs:


Figures from the eMac and Aluminum PowerBook patent applications

So what relevance does this pyramid filing have? Probably none. I, mostly, like this stuff just to get an idea of how wild Apple is willing to dream these days. And the good news is that they're willing to dream pretty big and wild things. In some ways, Apple is like the Wonka candy factory of the tech world. They develop designs that border on magic and inspire fun, curiosity and interest in what would otherwise be a really boring-as-all-hell industry.

is an attorney. Please don't hold that against him. This work does not necessarily reflect the views and/or opinions of The Mac Observer, any third parties, or even John for that matter. No assertions of fact are being made, but rather the reader is simply asked to consider the possibilities.

You can send your comments directly to me, or you can also post your comments below.

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Show: Subjects Only | Full Comments
Close Name:Tiger Posts: 1018 Joined: 17 Jun 2003
Subject: long thought it would be

They pyramid was the next deductable shape Apple would choose. It's not a stretch to think they've found a way to do it.

I just hope, whatever they turn out, they have LOTS of them. The neverending back orders have now worn my patience extremely thin. 4 months waiting for a computer is totally unacceptable. Don't announce the damn things if they're not ready to ship within 2 weeks!

Close Name:bryson Posts: 79 Joined: 05 Mar 2002
Subject: make up your mind

Quote
Tiger wrote:
They pyramid was the next deductable shape Apple would choose. It's not a stretch to think they've found a way to do it.

I just hope, whatever they turn out, they have LOTS of them. The neverending back orders have now worn my patience extremely thin. 4 months waiting for a computer is totally unacceptable. Don't announce the damn things if they're not ready to ship within 2 weeks!


And then when they do that, people bitch endlessly about ow Apple never talks about stuff in advance. Can't have it both ways.

Nothing Apple does will ever satisfy unreasonable people

Close Name:algr Posts: 296 Joined: 07 Aug 2003
Subject: Five shapes!

Maybe it will be like when the iMacs came out in five colors. But this time the G5 imac has five shapes:

Sphere (The current iMac)
Pyramid
Cube (You wanted it back, right?)
Pretzel
Dodecahedron

Close Name:DeKU Posts: 536 Joined: 27 Jun 2001
Subject: ugly!

that pyramid imac looks ugly!!

Close Name:-hh Posts: 54 Joined: 04 Aug 2004
Subject: ...and probably still...

...and probably still no "Pivot Screen" iMac.


Yeah, a 16:9 is what you want for watching Pixar movies, but 9:16 is what you want when working on a document.

Especially if you're even thinking about making any inroad back into business...most bosses secretaries aren't editing iMovie files, but are chugging a memo in MS-Word.


-hh

Close Name:Biff Posts: 1479 Joined: 08 Apr 2004
Subject: Um

Wouldn't this be one of the patents for the possible forms of the current (old) iMac? I don't think this has anything to do with the new iMac. I think it's obvious to everyone why they didn't choose this design. Boy imagine this combined with the snake neck? YIKES!

Close Name:kenaustus Posts: 602 Joined: 27 Jun 2003
Subject: Expensive arm

That arm looks like it would be more expensive than the one on the G4 iMac. Doubt if it flies as the G4 arm was mentioned as one of the major cost factors in the iMac. I think Apple wants a mind blowing design with a little less external component cost - allows for more on the inside.

Close Name:Guest
Subject: Rotation

Be nice if the screen rotated though wouldn't it.

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