Sexy Intel Computer Design Worth Big Bucks

An anonymous reader writes From a BBC article, "Intel is offering $1m in prizes to designers and manufacturers who can come up with sexier alternatives to the "big beige box". The competition is open to PC designers and manufacturers worldwide and each company may submit up to five different designs. The grand prize winner will receive $300,000 (£159,000) to enable the mass production of the system and $400,000 (£212,000) to co-market the design with Intel. The runner-up will receive up to $300,000 to help with manufacturing costs."

Completely transparent or lego

[Kamineko]

I think folks underestimate how striking completely transparent PC cases [thinkcomputers.org] can look, or cases made from Lego bricks.

But then again, last time [slashdot.org] I brought this up, I was modded 'flamebait', :(

Y'all don't think that a rack-mount sequencer style PC (or console) case, together with rack-mount Hi-Fi (and other accessory) units would look the dog's nads?

Re:No.

[moosesocks]

That's really not the point.

I don't think Intel's looking for flashy. That would be like Volkswagen hiring a team ofricers [youtube.com] to design their cars. Alienware's PCs are certainly flashy, and they certainly look like crap.

I think Intel wants something sophisticated and subdued. Apple's got this down perfectly with their aluminum enclosures, and it's pretty hard to deny the the G5, Mac Pro, and Mac Mini are damned sexy machines.

I simply don't get why dell can't just produce machines with clean lines and subdued colors. Minimalism is the easiest school of art to imitate.

Sexy

[iminplaya]

That means fast, right? I thought so. Just like blue neon lights make my Honda hover and go faster. Oh... it says it's worth "big bucks". Well, that's true, I guess. You what else is worth big bucks? Sexy intelligence reports. If I want sex, I think I'll stick with people...Eeewww.

Television component

[Anonymous Coward]

I think the solution is to design computers (home computers) as black boxes with a similar form-factor to other television components so that it can be piled into the stack, invisible because its just another component. Then link to it wirelessly with your laptops or create a wireless SunRay type box to link to it from the office.

For the enterprise SunRay type boxes are the solution. Perhaps designed to hang off the back of flatscreen monitors or small and bland to sit next to the monitor unobtrusively.

Re:I like beige boxes

[bcat24]

Yeah, all the Dell PCs I've had the (mis)fortune to be working on are really nice and clean on the inside. Whatever you think about Dell, they put some thought into their case design.

Re:I like beige boxes

[engagebot]

I don't know...

I've been an IT guy for a while, and have worked on many a' Dell in my day. I just got a new Mac Pro at work though, and I've never seen any machine built as nicely. you have to crack one open yourself to believe it.

if you think the build quality of a mac pro == the build quality of a GX620, you have issues.