When Beige Won't Do

An anonymous reader writes "The days of the beige box are behind us, as computing becomes ever more a consumer electronics field. A New York Times article, hosted at News.com, discusses the newest trends in moving away from standard beige for PCs and laptops. Designer colors, artfully designed notebooks, and personalization are just some of the options outfits are now offering." From the article: "Apple Computer is widely credited with long ago shattering conventions that had for years dictated how a computer had to feel and look. Windows-based personal computers generally lagged far behind in fusing function with form in ways that consumers found exciting. But that is changing, executives from mainstay computer companies like Dell and Toshiba say."

Feel and look

They also changed the look and feel. Just ask Mac and I

Small gripe

Windows-based personal computers generally lagged far behind in fusing function with form in ways that consumers found exciting.

There's no such thing as a Windows-based personal computer. Microsoft does not manufacture personal computers, and Windows is not integral to PCs. It is perfecty possible to use various other operating systems on a PC, and you can buy a PC without Windows on it, although a lot of people seem to think that it 'just comes with the computer' (even though they do of course pay for it). It annoys me to see the two get confused.

Re:Small gripe

"Microsoft does not manufacture personal computers, and Windows is not integral to PCs."

Yet. Give it time.

Re:Small gripe

Goodbye beige. Hello Brown [zune.net]

I'm way ahead...

I'm way ahead, I already use retro-themed hardware, it will be hot in 10 years!

Thinkpad 4 Lyfe, esse

Any color you want as long as it's black.

black and silver instead

If computers follow the lead of consumer electronics. then can we say that black and silver is the new biege?

Looking at the box near my left foot gives a data point comfirming this, so it must be true!

Yeah yeah, you feel free to buy the £120 cas

I'll buy the £18.99 one instead. Oh look, it's beige.

Perfume, cars, phones, clothes are all subject to the whims of fashion in order to extract extra cash from vict^H^H^H^Hcustomers, there's really no reason that computer buyers can't be fashion customers as well.

 

Re:Yeah yeah, you feel free to buy the £120

About a week ago I went to the hardware store to buy a new toilet.

For Vista?

Am I the only one?

Am I the only one who saw this and thought: "Okay, I remember what a Red Box [wikipedia.org] did and what a Blue Box [wikipedia.org] did . . . but what in the world is a Beige Box?"

Then I looked it up and I remembered . . . and realized that with VOIP and cell phones abundant these days, a box to steal someone else's phone line really isn't all that useful anymore . . .

Man, I feel old.

Oh, beige is behind us is it?

Well I seem to have missed the memo, because I will not purchase a computer case unless I can buy it in beige - period.

My case needs to be simple, cheap, quality and not look gaudy.

I have this little baby and it does all I need.
It's functional, well built - it has great features for the tray / drives / quickrelease stuff and yet it's now cheap because other coloured models are out.
http://images.google.com/images?q=antec+sx635&svnu m=10&hl=en&lr=&safe=off&sa=G&imgsz=small [google.com]|medium|la rge|xlarge

Perhaps I'm boring but I don't want my stuff to look too fancy, practical, basic and MILDLY fancy plz.

Here's some examples of my opinions on things, perhaps we may find a lot of the /. crowd are similar or perhaps not - please don't let this spark a huge debate.
Nintendo Wii, sexy - but white? please don't be apple - black thanks
PS3, uglier and less practical than PS2 - Shiny was a dumb move but also not downright ghastly
Xbox 360, good god - I will not purchase this for my home theatre cabinet till it comes in black, period.
My k/b, basically same as my case for looks / practicality without flashing LED's and stuff
http://images.google.com.au/images?q=microsoft%20i nternet%20keyboard%20pro&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&s a=N&tab=wi [google.com.au] (they make bad software, mostly good hardware)
My phone - Sony Ericsson T-630, simple - somewhat sexy and does all I need it to.
MP3 player, Ipod Nano BLACK - it PAINED me to purchase an apple product since I'm not an iproduct wanker, but it is v.practical for netcasts.
(http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/images/iProduct.gi f)
and my car - if I were to own one http://images.google.com/images?q=bmw%20m%20coupe& hl=en [google.com]

Sadly, back on topic though - most people would be happy with a bright green / pink / blue / odd shaped device - just means people like me have to look harder to find something basic.

Beige can still be beautiful.

Beige is OK, if the rest of a computer is designed well. The "beige box" is something that's often berated not because of its color, but because of the flimsy components, cheap design, tacky add-ons and crap fit & finish that often went with it. The fading out of the beige box isn't all because of a shift in case color, but the realisation from designers after colorful computers appeared that it was OK to be different in all manner of other ways.

A friend has a well-preserved collection of old beige machines ( http://www.danaquarium.com/gallery/beige/ [danaquarium.com] ), and the photos show to me that a tidy appealing design isn't dependent on just color.

Rackmount or Death

Personally, I'll finally be happy with the designs when my computer, game consoles, and audio/vido equipment are rack mountable, or at least a standard width. I'd love to be able to hang my PC under my desk in a rack with my audio amp. Some of the current designs that have plenty of curves look nice for a while, but are not practical in reqal estate usage. Most alo look dated after a while.

Beige I could live with (if I had to), but would prefer black.

Is this really news?

In other news, Ford now sells cars in colours other than black...

Bling = bad

One trend I've noticed leaking over from the consumer electronics field is the use of bling: high-gloss or (even worse) chrome design elements, ultrabright blue LEDs etc. Apart from looking awful, chrome is annoying on a laptop because it deteriorates quickly. Nothing looks worse than flaked-off chrome. High-gloss surfaces highlight dust and fingerprints, and ultrabright LEDs dazzle.
Can we please avoid the mistakes of the fashion world (where everything looks the same during a given 'trend') and actually have the choice of buying something more understated? I want my electronics finished in matt black, not silver.

The new Beige

after reading some of the comments here, it's safe to say that "Black is the new Beige" ;-)

Old

The 90ies called, they want their story about nonbeige computers back!

It's like a car...

Consumers will buy PC's based on what color neons are in the case. Me, I don't even have sidepanels on my desktops and I've considered not bothering with chassis alltogether.

My biggest problem with beige

The worst thing about beige is that it gets dirty. Or rather- the fact that dirt easily gets visible.

Anyone remember high school public computers? With layers upon layers of ingrown grease and dirt on the keyboard, mouse and case? That would be my biggest problem with the color beige.

Nobody can possibly enjoy working in an environment where the best reason for learning to touch-type is that you'll keep your lunch (if I can't see it, it won't disgust me).

Design to distinguish

That doesn't only apply to computers. Actually, computers are (again) the last ones to hop onto the fad.

A few decades ago, you bought brands because they were 'better' than nonbranded stuff. They offered more functionality, or they didn't wear out so fast or they simply worked (while that generic stuff didn't). You bought a Mercedes because it didn't break down, compared to that Beetle that required constant tinkering. You bought the brand name chips because they were crispy while the generic ones were bland. You bought an IBM because those "IBM compatibles" were more or less compatible, but not necessarily so.

Now, that has changed. Mid level cars offer the same kind of protection and reliability the luxury cars offer. Generic chips are just as crispy as that overhyped brand stuff. And it's the same with computers. Some very, very cheap boards and cards aside, they all offer the same value. It works. Some run faster, some run slower, but they all work.

Earlier, the brand tried to offer more functionality as a selling point. This worked to some degree, but we're now at the point where the generic version offers anything the customer might want, and he is not willing to spend more for functionality he doesn't want. A good example are cell phones. They offer an MP3 player, digital camera, PDA functionality, some play games and with some I heard you can even make a phone call. What else could you cram into them?

So the next logical step is design. There is no other way to distinguish yourself from the bland, generic versions anymore if you're a brand product. You cannot offer more primary use to your customer, so you have to appeal to his other senses. Not only his logic, but also his emotions. You try to reach him through the 'look and feel' instead of the facts under your hood.

This is anything but a surprising development. It is the logical next step in the attempt to distinguish brand merchandize from generic one.

But I LIKE beige!

I like beige so much I'm still using an old compaq-mouse from the early 90's. It weighs about as much as five optical mice, and it only has two buttons and no wheels or any of that fancy stuff. Not to mention it's beige.

How many have a cell phone ring tone....

that sounds like an old telephone ring?

Face it, beige is here to stay.... just not as much.

Black IBM computers

For what, 10 years now?
Plus, they're not all wonky-shaped, so they fit into a rectilinear desk.

1996 called. It wants its article back.

1996 called. It wants its article back. When's the last time you saw a beige computer on display at Circuit Shitty or some other big box?

Apple Computer is widely credited with long ago shattering conventions

Dunno about that; my Apple ][ was beige...and so were Macs for a while.

I think you have to give the nod to Dell for the "black" revolution here; I know many server admins who bought Dell's crappy hardware in the early 2000's just because they thought it looked sexier in the fucking server room. (Yeah, like any eligible female would ever make a trip down there.)

Zune

Doesn't the Zune come in Beige?

Microsoft may have missed the memo.

The first system they link to is....

gray? Oooooo... Ahhhhhh....

You can't escape the beige box...

...because we all live inside one [wired.com]. Well OK technically it's not a box but beige container of unknown size and shape [wikipedia.org] isn't quite so catchy.

Hey Slashdot: 1998 Called...

...they want their article back.

Also in the news: Steve Jobs' triumphant return to Apple plus what our expert pundits have to say about the Y2K crisis!

For sweet fuck's sake

Apple Computer is widely credited with long ago shattering conventions that had for years dictated how a computer had to feel and look. Windows-based personal computers generally lagged far behind in fusing function with form in ways that consumers found exciting. But that is changing, executives from mainstay computer companies like Dell and Toshiba say.

It wasn't the Life Savers style of Apple's machines that made them good. It was the combination or hardware, OS and customer support that spoke English and actually gave a damn.

Dell and Toshiba are only going to reproduce the least important reason why Apple survived the dark times. And when it doesn't help them, they still won't get it.

LK

beige laptops

has anyone seen a beige laptop in the last 20 years ?

AIO suck

AIO systems have lack of choice.
The apple I-mac desktops come with LAPTOP cpu, LAPTOP ram, LAPTOP video card, and other laptop parts. For the same price you can get a faster desktop cpu, more / cheaper ram, and better video card.

The mini should be called a mini head less laptop as it has LAPTOP cpu, ram, hd and gma 950.

Apple towers?

It's quite ironic that the aluminum cases on Apple's G5s and Mac Pros are pretty close to the color beige...

Bad design.

Most PC case designs look atrocious. Current PC design apparently is dictated by how many LEDs, windows and vents can be forced onto a case.

I miss the days of clean, beige cases simply because most of what's available is over-designed and gaudy. There are the rare exceptions, and companies like Dell, Sony and others are designing some decent looking machines. The problem is that companies like Dell aren't involved in the entire manufacturing process. They're normally designing an existing shell, so they're always going to be constrained in how creative they can get. It doesn't help that they're normally trying cut corners to reduce costs.

That's the huge advantage Apple has. They're involved in the design and engineering process at every step. So they can get creative not only with design, but the use of materials and construction. It's also why the software integrates so well with the system. That's not really possible in the PC world, unless Microsoft began designing and manufacturing PCs. Although, somehow I doubt most people here would welcome that.

I think in general many electronic devices have gotten uglier. Where devices used to have nice clean lines and designed in more thoughtful colors too many products today are bloated, overly organic, covered in contrasting textures and almost always come in frosted silver or black. It's like manufacturing has gotten easier, allowing for more unusual shapes and designers have gotten carried away. Another part of the problem is that because of cost cutting measures companies are putting less effort into design, having the Chinese manufacturers handle design. It's either that, or they're just trying to rip off Apple's design. Although, as nice as current Apple designs are, the previous generations, starting with the first iMacs, were horrendous. They look even worse today, and they unfortunately spawned an entire generation of ugly electronics.

I don't know what it is about the American electronics market, actually, because in Asia, well, Taiwan, Korea, in Japan there are plenty of cool-looking products to be hand. Phones out there are light years beyond anything available in the US, not only in terms of technology, but design. And this applies to all electronics, PCs included.

A mark of good design is how it ages. If something was well-designed it should look good 10, 20 or 50 years later. Its style might look out-of-date, but it should still be appreciated for it's good design. The vast majority of current PC cases don't look good today, let alone how they will look 5 years ago.

Invisible?

My Thinkpad if you removed the keyboard, monitor, battery would not be any bigger than its power supply.

This is stupid

So store bought computers are dull. So what. Real geeks build their own. I haven't had a beige PC in a long time, and none of them are gaudy overlit pieces of crap. I will take my brushed aluminum wavemaster over any other design, apple's or anyone else's. Thing is people can put a PC in anything. I saw one that had a PC in the belly of a department store mannequin.

I don't want a box at all

The first box I bought was a 386 and it wat 20% cheaper then a newer model that had identcal hardware with just a slightly more modern box.

What I want now is no mox at all. I want to hide my box as much as possible. All I realy need is an enclosure. All I need is a CD/DVD burner/reader and enough connections for my USB/FireWire/memorory chips. That way I can put the box itself somewhere where I don't see it.

The enclosure I can tape/screw to the bottom of my desk. Better would be to have all that inside the flatscreen. Now just see that all is done over 1 wire, instead of 25 and I am a happy camper.

Wow! I like the way...

I like the way some Dell PR flack can submit a puff piece to the media and then a bunch of morons spread the story around, making it seem like the "next big thing". This piece of crap is 18 pounds, has only as much power as a Mac PowerBook having less than half the weight, and people think that this is interesting? Oh yeah, the keys backlight when you press them making the computer look like it's "blushing". Heavy *and* annoying. What are they going to call this model - the Rosanne Barr?

Shame on Slashdot's editors for passing on this piece of PR crap disguised as a story...

Remember Brazil

In the movie Brazil the tv adverts are for the latest ventilation ducts in amazing new colours, rush out and buy them. It was deeply depressing then and still is now.

Beige isn't the problem

IMO the reason that PCs are ugly isn't anything to do with the colour (that can be changed easily), it's the form factor. The size of components, makes the only reasonably workable shape is a mini-tower.

Make a 8" square motherboard, with the same power and expandability as current machine, and you'll make cube shaped cases and built into monitor style designs more possible.

Other Factors Not Considered in TFA...

Honestly, what I'm seeing more and more is that the "beige box" is dying because we've reached the point of diminishing returns with hardware upgrades. I used to be a serious hardware hacker, upgrading my hardware after only a couple of months of use. Yeah, that upgrade cycle still exists for video cards at the moment, but even then I am beginning to see huge investments for very little actual return as we're reaching the point where the human eye can no longer distinguish the difference. Essentially, there's fewer reasons to buy a "beige box" any more because 99% of what you want to do any more can be accomplished by a reasonable off-the-shelf machine.

Another factor is that the OTS machine actually costs a lot less than it used to. Sure, I'd be the last person to buy your low-end Dell machine because... well... they're crap. But for 75% of the populous they're usually just good enough to get the job done... and do it cheaply and effectively. Why buy a "beige box" from a no-namer or the kid down the street that will probably cost more because of economies of scale, even if they cut corners all over the place. Hell, the last Dell a friend of mine bought cost less than the comparable components I could buy from NewEgg... in fact I think as I recall the motherboard, CPU and HD came to the same price, excluding the case, memory, power supply etc. etc.

There's also been a problem with hardware in that without a "secret decoder ring" half of the product descriptions mean nothing. The Pentium 4 for all its warts was pretty simple; it was a PIV at xGhz. Even then though the problem came in trying to match hardware when building a beige box; not a trivial proposition for most. The last computer I built was an Athlon, but even then the smorgasbord of different memory types and power supply styles just became a little overwhelming... and I do systems for a living!

So we're down to the point that people prefer to buy OTS machines because all the components are pretty assured to work together when you get it home and unbox it. They're cheap, they're disposable... so yes we've come down to the point that they're consumer electronics devices because unless you're a serious gamer or hobbyist then you're not interested in customizing your components. For a large percentage of the computer-buying population, OTS is good enough, and if it's not then they'll replace it in two years. I am not rich, I don't make a huge income... but a $350 expense is almost a throwaway in this country (the US). OK, I'm not going to hand some bum on the street $350, but I can justify buying an OTS machine for my kids for $350 that does everything they need today (basic email, web browsing and a little educational gaming and homework) that may last a year or so before I have to upgrade it or replace it because it's crap. I don't really care.

Another factor to consider is the growth of laptops into truly workhorse machines. I spent $800 upgrading components in my Athlon box mentioned above (Athlon 64), and I didn't even buy a new hard drive or case... just upgraded the motherboard memory and CPU. Sure, I slapped a new video card in there shortly afterward that bought my expenses up to about $1000 give or take... but what did that get me? Well, it was state of the art then, but was rapidly surpassed and is now passe. But my needs changed a little as well, so the box languished as I continued to use my PIII-733 laptop for most of my work (running Linux and OpenOffice) because it did exactly what I really needed my computer for (mostly) with the added advantage of portability (it also had a 7 hour battery life, which I sort of miss these days :) ). That relegated my desktop box to a games machine... a $1000 games machine excluding the investment of my time and the components I transferred from the "old box". Where's the value proposition in that?

My latest computers... three of them in the last 12 months have all been laptops. One Acer for my wife, a Gateway for my kids and an Apple for me. They're less power hu

Its the experience dummy not just the color accent

As an ex-Intel developer I've had first hand experience "trying" to develop new form factors - new looks - "new excitement" for the PC industry. Back in '99 whne the defacto PC was a full ATX tower running a Pentium III and making 45dB in noise. We designed a radical pyramid shaped legacy-free PC (only USB, Firewire, LAN, VGA) that would fit on a mouse pad ad produced only 37dB in noise. It was an experiment in shock therapy for the PC industry. We went on to do many others - but the bottom line is the PC is what it is because of strict standards ... standards for each and every component from shape of motherboard to cases and screws. This is one of te reasons PCs can be built so cheaply -- think cookie cutter to the nth degree. Our work on form factors really went no-where as both the industry AND consumers are hooked on cheap PCs (cost cost cost). In the end we did manage to influence acoustics - ergonomics - and a slight reduction in size for some PCs. But all along my overall major issue was that the "real user experience" is more than color and plastic ... its the OS that you interact with - its useability / intuitiveness / stability / and security. Making a PC blue and silver does not cover up the warts that XP sprouts on the screen and the user experience. In the end - the data plainly indicated that what users really wanted was a PC that just *%$#(@ works !!! Clearly indicating major issues with XP (complexity to basic security to stability). Of course such things (stability - security) are boring ... they don't have the pizzaz of "Aero windows" or what ever else is in Vista. I type this comment on my G5 iMac -- it has a small foot-print - quiet - and OS X just works (stable & secure). It costs more than a PC - but then its not a PC - thats the point. It sits next to my custom built Pentium 4 PC (quiet and power efficient) in a standard mico-ATX case running Ubuntu Linux - it just works and its stable and secure. Both can create compatible documents to share with the "XP world" - thats all that matters. The "standard PC" will continue to evolve based on advances in CPUs & highly integrated chips / memory / hard drives. But cost is the primary driver for the masses be they businesses or individuals. Most importantly the true "user experience" of the OS is perhaps coming to point of change -- Vista - OS X - Linux - Google OS(?). In the very near future you will be able to run multiple OS's concurrently -- couple that with a hot pink PC and you just might be on to something .....

I don't buy it

It's just a matter of time before the "beige box" or "Black box" or whatever becomes the "no box." Wireless USB, 802.11x, wireless monitors (like mira) and other simple things will allow you to stick the box (if you even need one) in the closet, cupboard, or somewhere else. At that point, fashion will be more relevant to the monitor than the box.

Beige Rules

The cheese-box: cbox_che.jpg [cheese-cube.cjb.cc] cbox_front.jpg [cheese-cube.cjb.cc]

Apple started the beige

colour, with the use of ABS for the Apple II cases.

customized PCs and more

while lots of people credit apple with design savvy, think it merits pointinig out that Dell has always been the leader in the industry at customized products and services to specifically meet whatever the customer wants and needs from techhnology.

If the article is correct than going forward, Dell is well positioned to build on that custoomization and add a little more design savvy....then the future should be a bright one.

Re:It really doesn't matter

You didn't get it, true hackers simply do not put their machines into cases.

Re:pfft

Are you trying to say that Apple didn't invent the non-beige computer case? Clearly the SGI indigo or onyx computers would only came in beige, right? What's next, are you going to tell me Apple didn't create the first mp3 player with their ultra-revolutionary ipod?

Re:Nothing to see here, move along

Also, Macs still have tiny market share compared to Intel/AMD boxen. To argue that Macs are driving a revolution when their percentage of the market remains small is false.

Most people still buy their hardware based on price.

Re:Nothing to see here, move along

Am I the only one that has noticed the proliferation of meaningless posts like the one above, of late?

Re:It really doesn't matter

Indeed, a true hacker has forgotten where he put his computer way back in the 90's, but it's still up and running, so why bother!

(this is what distinguishes them from tweakers, of course)

Re:Oh look! Shiney.

I agree,

I don't give a flying F#$% what the box looks like. I don't even care if it's in the same room with me. I can't wait for car manufactures to reveal the new, hip colors their vehicle ECUs will sport next model year.

Re:Nothing to see here, move along

You're right. You should ask for your money back!

Re:Nothing to see here, move along

In what sense do Apple-machines fuse form with function? All they did were pack up low-quality components in a expensive box; the form has nothing to do with the function in this case.

Uh...handles molded into the case? [welovemacs.com]

How about cooling tunnels and minimized cabling interference [apple.com] instead of fifteen fans all running amok and bundles of spaghetti?

Maybe the best example now is the new Mac Pro [apple.com] - which has specs comparable to this machine [dell.com], but manages to come off looking, sounding, and performing even better. Oh - and it's cheaper, too.

I wonder if you'd have signed your post if you weren't just trolling?