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The Cube WAS a success: as an R&D product |
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I ran across this link via Digg, it's from (wayyy) back in 2000 when Jobs debuted the PowerMac G4 Cube. It's kind of funny to watch now, for several reasons, but partly because of the hype that was foisted upon it - with Apple knowing full well that not many people would buy it. Plus there's the repeated mantra from Steve to the masses "It's an 8 inch cube, it's an 8 inch cube, it's an 8 inch cube". (Of course it's only funny now because the reality distortion field has long since expired and we've become immune to it's effects.)
It's pretty clear why the Cube failed to sell in mass volume: it was too damned expensive and you could buy an iMac for less or a PowerMac for slightly more. But it paved the way for the ultimate switcher Mac: the Mac mini. The Mac mini could never have existed in it's current form without Apple doing some research into that sort of miniaturization. Looking back, it's easy to see that Apple was planning the entire switch to Intel at the same time the Cube was coming out; The grand scheme was underway.
But the Cube was a success for Apple, I think. Apple didn't need for it to be a high-volume item, they just needed enough people buying it to justify the reseach and development costs on it. And at $1799, they probably didn't even need to sell as many as they did to break even on it. (Heck, Apple probably would have been happy taking a small loss.)
Many of us knew the Cube was too much money at the time, and that there wasn't a target market for it. It just didn't make sense. It didn't fit into any of the product matrixes at the time (remember the 4-squares? Pro desktop, pro laptop, consumer desktop, consumer laptop). But hindsight is 20/20 and everything fits perfectly when you realize that Apple was prepping for the next-generation Cube. And Apple did have a target market in mind for the G4 Cube: the hardcore Mac user with plenty of money who loves really really cool tech gear.
So I think it's high time we rewrote the verdict of the Cube in the history books. Let's not say it was a low-selling failure among consumers despite having great design and some technological brilliance behind it. Instead let's say it was nothing short of the greatest work of mankind EVER. Ok wait, that's a bit much - I kid, I kid.
But really, the G4 Cube was a success as a piece of R&D that Apple actually sold to the public, one that won all sorts of design awards and even a spot in the Museum of Modern Art. It's time to give it the props it deserves, and Apple as well! |
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August 15 2006, 8:12 AM EDT, by
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Comments:
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| Bluejade |
8/15/06, 10:37 AM EDT |
Thank you very much for the article. I've been proud owner of the Cube for six years now and I am still very happy with it.
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| Lightseeker55 |
8/15/06, 1:11 PM EDT |
I bought my Cube just about a year and a half ago. I have always wanted one for years. I bought it from eBay for $250 and you are right! It was too expensive when it came out but darn it..... It was damm sexy and cool! I was there at Macworld when it was introduced. My Cube is modified with a Sonnect 1.2ghz G4 CPU, 120gb HD and Nvidia GeForce 2 Twinview 64mb (pulled from my 800x2 G4). It has been a trooper. The only thing that failed was the power supply after a year later. I replaced it immediately from Dr Bott.
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| Ganar |
8/15/06, 1:19 PM EDT |
I've been a cube owner since 2001. I've expanded my cube to have a faster drive and faster processor (80GB 7200 RPM HHD and 1.25 GHZ G4 processor from a 450GHZ). I still use this machine at home everyday, I love it. It's Small, quiet and clean looking. I've disassembled this machine twice and it is a beautiful design , inside out. I want to install a new video card, something that can't be done on the new mac-mini. :)
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| Thomas Limmer |
8/15/06, 3:31 PM EDT |
Ok it 's fun here, but the whole cube development Team was kicked out of apple a half year later, picture this
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| savage |
8/16/06, 8:36 AM EDT |
w00t! we be getting new articales again!
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