Black Is The New Beige 406
An anonymous submitter writes: "Spurred by Apple's innovations and the dangers of commoditization, computer makers are finally moving beyond beige. Rather than exploring diverse ideas, however, they have made a decision reminiscent of the fashionistas: black is the new beige (a NYTimes story)."
good cases (Score:5, Insightful)
www.lovermecases.com
www.colorcases.com
Re:good cases (Score:2, Funny)
Re:good cases (Score:2)
You can't buy one yet, but they seem to be coming.
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If you read regularly, this is redundant. Mod me down.
Re:good cases (Score:5, Funny)
Re:good cases (Score:2)
Re:good cases (Score:2)
On the other hand, you do have wooden cases
This guy made his own [geocities.com]
I recall a company that specialized in wooden cases for everything from computers to PDAs. Some looked pretty good.
here is a slash story from a few years back [slashdot.org]
Re:good cases (Score:2)
What about rackmount? (Score:3, Interesting)
Also, if anybody knows of any cool rackmount gadgets (either semiuseful, like a serial LCD scroller, or downward pointing lightbar to illuminate controls) or useless (blinkenlights), or cheap blank plates to dremel and insert your own stuff, that'd be cool too.
--
Evan
Re:What about rackmount? (Score:3, Informative)
Go to Musician's Friend [musiciansfriend.com] and search for Racklight. You might also look for rackmount power conditioners - most of the good ones have lights as well.
Re:What about rackmount? (Score:2)
I was just using them as examples - any other neat stuff you've seen /similar/ to the things I listed? Maybe a site full of such stuff? I wonder if Thinkgeek could sell enough racks to make it worthwhile?
--
Evan
Black is beige... (Score:2, Funny)
These guys have color too (Score:5, Interesting)
psxndc
Re:These guys have color too (Score:2)
Re:These guys have color too (Score:2, Insightful)
-prator
Re:These guys have color too (Score:2)
Yeah I read playboy for the articles too.
Re:These guys have color too (Score:2)
well, I guess Apple finaly has a PC counterpart for price huh
Re:Alienware Warranty (Score:2)
That doesn't mean that if your box dies on Monday that a guy will be out there to fix it Tuesday.
This is exactly the reason I don't buy my equipment over the internet or phone. I shop locally, at a Ma & Pop store. Sure I pay more, but I have a personal relationship with these people, they know me and even sent my wife flowers when she was in the hospital. When I have a problem with a warrantied item, I take it in and the next day I pick it up, easy as that. Once when I was having problems with a Sound Blaster Live card, the owner of the shop took my machine home with him and worked on it all night, so he could have it for me the next day. It turned out to be a compatibility issue between the MSI motherboard and the SBL card, both worked fine without the other. They swapped my motherboard for another brand and it has worked like a champ ever since. You can NOT get this kind of service from Dell, Alienware or any of the other big boys. If I shopped at Dell, I'd just be a drop in thier bucket, but at this shop, I am one of thier best customers and they treat me well.
Recurrent cycles (Score:4, Funny)
And, in about six months, there will be a retro trend, and Beige will be heralded as the new Beige!
Ah, fashion, you have arrived in the techie world!
I doubt it (Score:3, Funny)
NeXT (Score:4, Interesting)
Although I consider black to be an advantage over beige since you don't see coffe or cola stains that much, I really doubt that a new color will boost PC sales all that much. If there's one thing that Apple does right, it's 'everything' : just changing colors won't do. The iMac was (and is again) a new formfactor, a new system, new bus (USB/firewire) new drives (slot loading iMacs)
And anywhow, nothing beats a TiBook...
Re:NeXT (Score:2)
It wasn't much of a computer, but I made a dandy fishtank [techquarium.com] out of one!
Re:NeXT (Score:2)
Re:NeXT (Score:2)
Then there was the black Bell & Howell Apple II+ from the pre-Macintosh days. It came complete with black floppy drives. I've got one of those out in the garage awaiting the day they're worth something on eBay.
Apple had black a LONG time ago (Score:4, Informative)
Hmm.. tell me about it... (Score:2)
I'm confused... (Score:2, Funny)
I remember when... (Score:2)
Re:I remember when... (Score:2, Informative)
Black? No way (Score:2)
Who cares about a case? (Score:5, Funny)
"Hey, look at my fucking computer. Look at that shit right there. You see that, motherfucker? That's a sweet looking machine. It's sweet enough that I could fuck one of its ports in the back. And look at that fucking neon light in it! Bad ass! You see how I ran my cables right there? Fucking 'leet, ain't it? And look at this shit over here, that's a goddamn SCSI card, bitch. You see the little red light on the card? That shit actually came with it, those fuckers at Adaptec already slammed the card before I even got it! Hey, shitface, get back over here, I'm not done showing you my 'rig'. That right there is a fucking CD burner, ass-fucker. You see that? I can burn a CD so fucking fast it'd scare the fucking RIAA, man. And would you fucking look at this shit! Holy fucking shit! This is a fucking DVD-ROM drive. I can watch fucking *movies* and shit on this motherfucker. *MOVIES*! And look right here. This case has no fewer than fucking 10 fans! 10, motherfucker! It sounds like a goddamn freight train up in this motherfucker! Or a fucking plane taking off at the fucking airport! Hey, bitch, speaking of airport, let me show you my slammed fucking laptop, this damn this is choice..."
Re:Who cares about a case? (Score:2)
I remember reading... (Score:2)
IBM (Score:4, Funny)
"It's a new library; it's even black"
"That means it's new, does it?"
"Oh, yes!"
To be honest, I find the black better; we have a ton of older IBM kit and it just looks... well, old. The black looks more modern.
Of course, the problem many of us will have with our PCs is a Frankenstein system as we have a beige case with black CD/floppy drives (or vice versa) as we upgrade. We're already having issues like that with some Sun Ultra 80s having black DVD drives (to match the Sunblades and servers).
Re:IBM (Score:2, Funny)
Kind of like the redneck pickup trucks with body panels from 3 other trucks? Maybe you should paint some of your stuff with grey automotive primer to finish off the look.
CD-Rom and drive bay covers . . . (Score:3, Interesting)
If anything the clash of drive covers with anything other than the "standard" colors has made the move to a rainbow of colors.
Perhaps a non-mono-color design would help, with black as the base color in order to more easily match drives, but with other colors accenting the machine to keep it from being the same dull design as the beige boxes?
Re:CD-Rom and drive bay covers . . . (Score:3, Informative)
Re:CD-Rom and drive bay covers . . . (Score:2)
Most CD drives have this already, and have had it for, well, forever... and I've never seen a floppy drive without a removable front bezel, largely because some cases don't allow a bezel at all on the floppy.
There are many cases with a door over all the bezels so that even if you have mismatching colors, you can just hide it.
Finally, you might be amazed at just how well a black felt tipped pen works on a beige or white bezel.
The best online place I've seen for black cases, accessories, and bezels is Directron [directron.com]. They have decent prices and a pretty good record too. They have a large variety of color cases as well, along with aluminum, transparant, and random other stuff.
Wait, wait, we meant "green is the new beige!" (Score:4, Funny)
PC Fashionistas exclaim, "Black is the new Beige!"
I sure hope we're not going to read an article two weeks from now which explains some computing error, and how the new fashionable color is actually something one could describe as a dusty mint color.
And please don't let them correct themselves again claiming that it's chic to use a sort of salmon/melon/peach color. I couldn't stand to boot up a computer of which the casing reminded me of tuna sashimi.
NeXT Cube Retro (Score:2)
Stone cases? (Score:4, Funny)
Its amazing... (Score:4, Insightful)
Dell is a perfect example. I think that the Optiplex series make fine corporate desktops. Still the latest black case with a slightly odd front shape does not make it stylish in the least. In fact, in some ways they are actually uglier than the plain jane Optiplex GX110 I have in my cube.
I don't care if its a cube or aluminum or has a winodw in the side or some combo. It seems that people like Compaq and Dell ought to have enough money to hire some industrial designers to come up with a nicier looking more functional case.
_______________________________________________
Re:Its amazing... (Score:2)
Cosmo says... (Score:5, Funny)
Yes folks its Cosmos "Desktop and Tower Outfits for the girl about town"
Feb: Black is back, everything will be black for ever
May: Beige is the new Black
June: Curved monitors are the new Flat Screens
July: Oooh look at the pretty iMac and "how to make your keyboard match your nail polish"
Sept: Black is back
November: The must have USB accessories of the season, can you use your USB security key as an earing.. ifs its the D&G one you can
December: Your Colour Therapy Horoscope for the coming year, how the colour of your PC case can change your life.
Apple "invented" the beige Personal Computer... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Apple "invented" the beige Personal Computer... (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Apple "invented" the beige Personal Computer... (Score:2)
Re:Apple "invented" the beige Personal Computer... (Score:2)
The only black Apple ][ models were those made for, and rebadged by, Bell+Howell. But yes, black Apple ]['s did exist.
Beige and Black Apple II's (Score:2)
There have been other colors before....... (Score:2)
There was also a number of WHITE cases sold by the various clone manufacturers during the mid 1990's.
The picture in the NY Times article shoes a person painting a PC case. Perhaps that's the way to go. Someone should offer HANDPAINTED PC cases to people. You could have themes endorsed by various celebrities and artists.
Dell... (Score:2)
This is new, how? (Score:3, Insightful)
Black cases have been available for years from such companies as Antec [antec-inc.com], Siliconrax [siliconrax.com], and others for years. How is this different?
There are also numerous industrial PC companies that are happy to provide cases in whatever color the buyer chooses. I guess I'm just having trouble seeing why this piece is newsworthy...?
Re:This is new, how? (Score:2)
Alternatives (Score:2)
Any more ideas?
Re:Alternatives (Score:4, Funny)
Yeah, that's what my athlon needs...a fur coat, just in case it gets a little cold.
Re:Alternatives (Score:2)
What color do you want that database? (Score:4, Funny)
Sorry, couldn't resist.
Re:What color do you want that database? (Score:2)
Re:What color do you want that database? (Score:2, Funny)
Best Cases (Score:3, Informative)
http://www.coolermaster.com
http://www.xpcgear
http://www.monarchcomputer.
Aluminium (Score:2)
Hmm.. can't paint on black! (Score:3, Interesting)
Anyway.. don't know exactly how black would fit into the whole sticker scheme.. probably wouldn't look right to me at least.
Well who knows maybe in a few years the computer companies will steal the idea of the phone companies and start making designer shells for the PC with all kinds of pictures and all you gotta do is snap it on the side of the box.
I've seen this before... (Score:3, Funny)
Black isn't any better. (Score:2, Funny)
Keeping computers "In Syle" (Score:3, Funny)
Horror Story 1: Delivered an HP something-or-other with 15" monitor to some 40 year old yuppie woman. She wants the thing setup on her roll-top desk. Only problem is that with the monitor setup, the roll-top wouldn't close. Rather than just leaving the roll-top open, though, or moving the computer to some other desk (of which she had plenty), we had to find her a monitor that would fit under that roll-top. We end up putting a floor model 15" that had a slightly different form, but was over a year older. All because the roll-top had to close.
Horror Story 2: Another female yuppie comes in and drops 3 grand on the hottest piece of Compaq hardware in the place. Top of the line everything (at that time, forget the specs). She also gets a big-ass nice monitor, Laserjet, scanner, the whole nine yards. Home-Office setup to the max.
I show up and start setting up this computer underneath the desk she wants her monitor/scanner/etc on, but no, it can't go under there. The tower has to be in that closet 8 feet away. And I want to be able to keep the door closed at all times too. Oh, and I want the speakers on these two little end-tables on opposite ends of the room. We end up drilling a fucking whole through the wall, running a big mass of extender cables underneath the carpet, and giving this ho a free pair of wireless speakers to accomodate her. And because we had to extend the video so far, a $500 monitor with hot-shit video card ends up looking like a color television from 1955. But that's OK, because the computer has to be in the closet out of site, instead of just underneath the computer desk which was designed to have a computer underneath it.
Whoa there, cowboy... (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Whoa there, cowboy... (Score:2)
And, of course, if he'd used cables worth a damn the video would've been fine. Not that CompUSA sells those kind of cables.
The only nit is that the people really should've checked measurements and whatnot beforehand to make sure that things would work as expected in the location they wanted, but who here has ever bought something and discovered that it doesn't QUITE fit? Personally, I keep expecting Lowe's and Home Depot to tell me "No, sorry sir, you've returned/exchanged enough this year"
Re:Keeping computers "In Syle" (Score:3, Insightful)
OK, sport, so what's wrong with wanting your roll-top desk to close? Seriously, this is an article thread about the death of ugly beige boxes which was brought on in part by the fact that people are using computers more in the home, but don't want to have something as hideous looking as your average PC there. Or, let's put it another way: geeks are quite well-known for their refusal to compromise on principle, and often get insults or abuse as their reward for this. Now, you may be unfamiliar with the idea or unsympathetic to the notion that most traditional computer monitors make really crummy additions to virtually every decor. But, of course, the first thing you do is insult and try to make fun of somebody who has a different idea. Forgive me if I'm just not very impressed.
Re:Keeping computers "In Syle" (Score:2)
If you want your roll-top desk to close,
maybe you should just get a damn desk that's designed for a computer, and not try to stuff a CRT in a roll-top.
If the computer is too ugly, put it in the basement, for god's sake! Don't send some $6.50 an hour kid back and forth to his store to swap components.
He's getting paid for setting up your computer, not to be your fashion lackey.
But, of course, the first thing you do is insult and try to make fun of somebody who has a different idea.
Hey, if something that trivial causes so much hassle to me, I believe I have a right to bitch,
whether you agree or not.
C-X C-S
Black cases rule (Score:2)
Black Apple ][ (Score:3, Interesting)
It had other cool stuff too, mainly it had an extra module covering the back, which had a volume knob on it among other things; the standard apple ][+'s had no volume knob. I always liked the black apple better than the beige apples.
Re:Black Apple ][ (Score:2)
Desktop cases (Score:3, Interesting)
NY reg (Score:2, Informative)
Eww, it clashes with my blouse! (Score:4, Funny)
Look, guys... It's a computer. It's a tool, not an objet d'art. Shove it under your desk and forget about it already! Who cares what flippin' color it is? In a couple months it'll have that "accumulated dust" veneer anyway.
Now, quit messing with those case mods and get back to something important. Like desktop themes.
I thought. (Score:2, Funny)
*must turn in goth membership card*
But... What Color was it before BlacK?? (Score:4, Funny)
However, after an extensive study, researches at the Fashion Dept. at John Hopkins University discovered a slight color-wheel miscalculation in their assessment of the Spring 2002 PC line.
It turns out now, that Beige is the new black.
Wait A Minute! (Score:2)
Isn't beige the new black [space.com] ??
sgi... (Score:2, Interesting)
Color of the case? (Score:2)
1)It's under the desk, and you can't see it
2)It's on top of the desk, and the cover is off
Been there, done that.... (Score:2)
Wear Black - Good News for Nerds! (Score:2)
If you're wearing all black then it's Okey Dokey to button up that top button on your shirt!
But be warned - wearing short pants that expose hairy calves is still considered gauche!
Black sucks (Score:2, Insightful)
I suppose I could always paint it, but I never had to do that before and I don't really want to now. I suppose I could switch to all external devices *sigh*.
why not change color on the fly? (Score:2, Interesting)
Eventually everything'll be in a closet somewhere and you'll be wanting to get a new pair of wireless VR glasses..."I really like those new RayBans, the ones with the widescreen option. Do they come in tortise-shell?"
It was only a matter of time... (Score:2)
Dust (Score:2)
shades of black. (Score:5, Funny)
Big Blue (Score:2, Funny)
Best quote: "..the company chose blue because of the blue mainframe computers used by IBM, as if to suggest that the inexpensive, general-purpose Altair microcomputer was also a real computer"
Camo the new black (Score:3, Funny)
steve jobs - design is not veneer! (Score:5, Insightful)
--- Steve Jobs on Design ---
Fortune Magazine: What has always distinguished the products of the
companies you've led is the design aesthetic. Is your obsession with design
an inborn instinct or what?
Steve Jobs: We don't have good language to talk about this kind of thing.
In most people's vocabularies, design means veneer. It's interior decorating.
It's the fabric of the curtains and the sofa. But to me, nothing could be
further from the meaning of design. Design is the fundamental soul of a
man-made creation that ends up expressing itself in successive outer layers
of the product or service. The iMac is not just the colour or translucence or
the shape of the shell. The essence of the iMac is to be the finest possible
consumer computer in which each element plays together.
On our latest iMac, I was adamant that we get rid of the fan, because it is
much more pleasant to work on a computer that doesn't drone all the time.
That was not just "Steve's decision" to pull out the fan; it required an
enormous engineering effort to figure out how to manage power better and do
a better job of thermal conduction through the machine. That is the furthest
thing from veneer. It was at the core of the product the day we started.
This is what customers pay us for--to sweat all these details so it's easy
and pleasant for them to use our computers. We're supposed to be really good
at this. That doesn't mean we don't listen to customers, but it's hard for
them to tell you what they want when they've never seen anything remotely
like it.
fortune - january 24, 2000 [fortune.com]
regards,
john penner [earthlink.net]
jonathan ive - swoopy curves Are Not design (Score:3, Insightful)
---| swoopy curves Are Not design |---
Certainly, the PC industry has never revered design, preferring blocky
beige boxes or, more recently, coloured go-faster curves devoid of real
function. He's scornful of those who use 'swoopy shapes to look good,
stuff that is so aggressively designed, just to catch the eye. I think
that's arrogance, it's not done for the benefit of the user.'
By contrast, he says, "you won't be able to find a single thing on an
Apple that hasn't had thought put into it"...
With the first iMac the goal wasn't to look different, but to build the
best integrated consumer computer we could. If as a consequence the shape
is different, then that's how it is. The thing is, it's very easy to be
different, but very difficult to be better. That's what we have tried to
do with the new iMac."
(THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME, Interview with Jonathan Ive [independent.co.uk],
Charles Arthur talks to the designer of the iMac, January 14 2002)
--
regards,
john penner [earthlink.net]
Black computers are new and hip; black pagers not (Score:3, Interesting)
When George Fisher, the outgoing president of Motorola went to Kodak to help lead their "digital revolution," he was asked by the press what lesson he was taking. He said roughly, "For a technologist it was humbling to realize that you could triple the sales of a pager just by offering it colors other than black."
Unfortunately, the US Military disagrees [dcmilitary.com]:
So, while black may be the cool new color for computers, it's long since passe for pagers and cell phones, and in fact has become military-conservative.
Automotive Paint (Score:3, Interesting)
looking beyond color (Score:3, Interesting)
It used to be all large TVs were in a wood cabinet. They were generally beautiful. Then sometime in the late 80s there were all sort of experiments in design, and it took several years for the winner to emerge; today's black molded plastic standard that pretty much all of our TVs are.
Around that same time, component stereo equipment switched from silver with the occasional wooden accents to the now standard black.
And that seems to be the lifespan of consumer electronics design. Functional-experiment-functional-stylish-functual black. Every so often somebody will break from the heard, but will eventually come back to the standards.
WARNING - goatse.cx link above!!! (Score:2)
Re:I guess only apple tried other colours (Score:2)
Apple still can't meet demand. They don't really need extra gimmicks. 150,000 iMac preorders in the first weekend (IIRC) and they've shipped 220,000 iMac to so far this year. Check out their financial report [apple.com].
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re:PCs should not be black! (Score:2)
Re:Spray Paint it! (Score:3, Insightful)
Done that...
Really dark blue is even more nifty then black if you get the shade right.Painting the bits of plastic is usually a problem but the boxes themselves can be painted no probs.
The best choice are car repair kit paints. They are a bit more expensive but spread better and have better coverage.
Re:Well... (Score:2)
One of these? [apple.com]