HP introduces the new Apple iMac

wtf. I cannot fathom how this could make it to market.

You seem surprise that a company closely copied an Apple product?

not surprised i guess, but really, what’s the point?

Sorry guys - that’s not a copy. Step back and take another look. The author of the article is certainly biased and might affect your determination as well.

Apple wasn’t the creator of big flat panel monitors nor cordless keyboards (of any particular size) - the function of a computer is to interact and produce - the Macs do it well, and some would say PCs do it well, some would say Androids or lesser known OS’ do it well too. So while certainly not game changing and not a result of imagination or innovation but just a closely styled competitor in appearance - it’s another variation on the theme. To split hairs, the Apple monitor has a signature horizontal field where their brand hovers, the HP does not. The bezel is different, the monitor’s depth, form and stand is different, the treatment around the keyboard is different.

If someone at Apple held a press conference and showed you an iPod being held in a particular way - and then heralded that position and gesture as a signature element of Apple’s brand positioning and UI design, would you be copying them by holding it in a similar way? There are plenty of people who have brought forth all kinds of iPad looking tablets, iMac looking flat panels, iPod looking sci-fi movie devices, etc from the past - before Apples products. Did Apple copy them? Or did Apple, in their quest for simplicity, come to the same conclusions in styling as many before them?

As another example, the Hoffmeister kink shape on the rear windows of BMWs is a signature element (it even has a name - after the dude who came up with it!!) but you didn’t see BMW get all up in a huff when other makers started using variations of it - and even the exact shape itself.

Er ok, looks pretty close to me. The keyboard and trackpad are shameless, the AIO I could see a case for. Honestly there is so much opportunity in designing these things, why settle for something that is so provocatively a rip…

The point is people are going to walk into a best buy, say “Hey this thing looks like an Imac but it’s $500 cheaper, I’ll buy it!”.

Knockoffs make money too. Just ask anybody with a Goach bag.

a Goach bag. That’s a good one! But after one or two Goach purchases, you tend to really see the difference and curb your desire for another.

Maybe it’s this country’s over-stimulated litigious nature that irritates me so. When Honda started knocking off the same silhouette that BMW had mastered (the 3 series proportions of tire to hood height to glass to trunk, etc) not a single murmur was heard, because BMW understood that the sporting nature of its products were of a quality that Honda couldn’t match - and the same held true as car makers continued the ‘ripoff’ by adding the Hoffmeister kink in addition to the silhouette.

If Apple would just calm its little self down and stop acting like a 4 year old, they might see that people will still be buying their products even if a Samsung Galaxy S II is sitting side by side. Personally, I’m not surprised Apple is sticking to its guns with Samsung - I think they know Samsung is poised to roll over them - but it still amazes me that they are suing their largest contractor while still having project manager visits and quarterly cost reduction meetings, etc.

“Greetings, thank you once again for the wonderful room here at the Omin-ni, we would like to begin at 9am tomorrow - oh, by the way, your company now owes ours 1.2 billion dollars, minus the judgements in your favor, but back to business - we need to carve another 6 cents out of that iPhone5.”…Mind-boggling.