POWERHOUSE COLLECTION

Apple Power Mac G4 Cube computer with accessories

Object No. 2013/39/1

The Apple Power Mac G4 Cube reduced the footprint of Apple's most powerful desk top computer to a square 7 x 7 inches. It may be seen as a homage to the NeXT cube designed by Hartmut Esslinger for Steve Jobs in 1987. However, it more closely follows on from Jonathan Ive's earlier experiments in clear and translucent plastics that were both playful and reminiscent of earlier twentieth century designs by Dieter Rams (for Braun) - with larger radii on corners, the use of a paler palette in white and relatively neutral tones in the cooler register (grey, blue) and a simplicity in the choice of forms - cubes and spheres. The retail price of the Cube was around 10% more than the other top of the line Apple product, which relegated its consumption to those who were willing to part with a premium in appreciation of its form. Sales were slow and the Cube was "put on ice" (Apple press release) after remaining in production just on a year. Apple Inc. has demonstrated what a good design process can achieve in product development, engineering and design. This has been exercised through the strategic engagement of talented engineers, product and industrial designers who understand and implement Apple's principles. Apple's principles were ingrained by the company's founders who established Apple to build computer technology, not principally for gain, but for what they perceived as its social and ethical reach - computers for the rest of us. This mission has grown over the years as Woz's amazing circuit designs gave way to human / computer interface advances and extraordinary efforts to make great products that continue to reinforce the Apple Company's core values. Campbell Bickerstaff, 2012