what serious developer would use a pink imac?

April 21, 2021 1:47 PM

sailor mercury is a software engineer but eschews the grim dark computers and peripherals that so many coders use. They created the froggy computer for fun, cute computing. They also created ComputeCuter.com, a single serving site to inspire you to make your workspace cuter with software and hardware. via Lobsters, sailorhg previously
posted by Monochrome (42 comments total)

I would.
I just need/want a 28-inch iMac.
24-inch is too small.
posted by davebarnes at 1:54 PM on April 21, 2021 [2 favorites]

I love this! Business hardware is perhaps the one place that's even less varied than gaming - I'm looking at you, Logitech's monochrome suite of products.
posted by sagc at 1:57 PM on April 21, 2021 [2 favorites]

Sandbenders!!!!
posted by wenestvedt at 2:08 PM on April 21, 2021 [5 favorites]

Oh come on, I just bought a *BLUE MOUSE* from Logitech ... that must be their consumer division, their corporate hardware has to project a minimum level of hopelessness.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 2:16 PM on April 21, 2021 [1 favorite]

My Logitech G502 is black and steel grey with RGB lighting.
posted by Splunge at 2:32 PM on April 21, 2021

Been a million years since I thought about sailorhg!
posted by Going To Maine at 2:32 PM on April 21, 2021

Also, do these coding fonts have ligatures? Because coding ligatures are the cutest.
posted by Going To Maine at 2:35 PM on April 21, 2021 [4 favorites]

A lot of those font faces have coding ligatures, yup!
posted by vocativecase at 2:38 PM on April 21, 2021 [1 favorite]

A lot of those font faces have coding ligatures, yup!

(　＾∇＾)
posted by Going To Maine at 2:43 PM on April 21, 2021 [1 favorite]

I fly my freak flag at work with a ... yellow mouse.
posted by chavenet at 3:30 PM on April 21, 2021 [2 favorites]

The Witch Hazel theme is so good I finally installed Atom.
posted by krisjohn at 3:55 PM on April 21, 2021 [1 favorite]

The mechanical keyboard community is all about customizing your keeb. Some of them are rather cute.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 4:12 PM on April 21, 2021 [2 favorites]

Whenever I talk about custom mechanical keyboards I feel kind of like some sort of combination sports therapy ergonomics expert slash drug dealer but what better time than the present.
posted by mhoye at 4:46 PM on April 21, 2021 [10 favorites]

I'll holler it again from the rooftops: paint your computers, people! Grab a screwdriver, remove the case, get a can of spray paint and just go to fucking town. Grab two cans and some masking tape and add racing stripes. You will actually enjoy using your computer more. It's cheaper than a new set of keycaps. Try it and see.

A couple of weeks ago I took a boring old beige Apple and made it orange. Look at it! It's gorgeous! And now, suspiciously enough, Apple's suddenly all into colorful designs again. Huh.
posted by phooky at 6:12 PM on April 21, 2021 [12 favorites]

Apple's suddenly all into colorful designs again.

Yah, but oof those new iMacs are pretty horrible. The colors are fine, but it still has a HUUUUUGE chin, and now plus white bezels. The thing is skinny as hell and looks awesome from the side; too bad they couldn't make it look better from the front.
posted by nushustu at 6:18 PM on April 21, 2021 [2 favorites]

The mechanical keyboard community is all about customizing your keeb.

@sailorhg is actually how I first learned about the mechanical keyboard community: specifically, through her astrolokeys and kerokerokeys keycaps. Anyway, she's a fun follow on Twitter if you're at all interested in hardware and whimsy. It's not really my aesthetic, but I kind of love it anyway.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 7:02 PM on April 21, 2021 [1 favorite]

That is some ancient javascript in that cute arithmetic function. The elderly are often cute.
posted by Kwine at 7:05 PM on April 21, 2021 [1 favorite]

The very first cute, pink computer
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 7:08 PM on April 21, 2021 [3 favorites]

I'll holler it again from the rooftops: paint your computers, people! Grab a screwdriver, remove the case, get a can of spray paint and just go to fucking town.

I did that once. I went for blue and a shiny metallic gold. It was forever kind of sticky :(

I have a "gaming" case that's frosted white, and has a big smoky glass window in the side and is full of RGB fans that are either doing rainbow cycles, purple/pink, or ghostly white depending on my mood. And I've got backlight LED strips on my widescreen LCD, too. I don't have a glowy keyboard, but it's wireless and I can switch it over to control the Monome Teletype in my modular synth, with its amber monochrome display, so there's a definite nerd/cyberpunk appeal in that.
posted by Foosnark at 7:12 PM on April 21, 2021 [2 favorites]

Oof! I'd try a clear coat of lacquer over it; that was my original plan for the Apple IIe, but the finish on the base coat was sturdy enough that I skipped it.
posted by phooky at 7:41 PM on April 21, 2021

Don't use spray paint, research two part epoxy paint, big project but the surface will be tougher than the original and with care incredible looking. But big project.
posted by sammyo at 7:49 PM on April 21, 2021

I just installed Fantasque Sans Mono and made it my default console font and DROWNING IN CUTE

Thank you.
posted by pianoblack at 7:51 PM on April 21, 2021 [3 favorites]

I am so glad the Mac color is back. I was just talking about this last fall, that they'd lost something with the sea of silver.
posted by hilberseimer at 7:55 PM on April 21, 2021 [3 favorites]

In all seriousness, why not fancy up your rig exactly the way you want it? If you're somebody who hammers keys for a living, the difference between "this is the trash my corporation bought in bulk from the OEM" and "this is the best possible keyboard, mouse and screen for me, it is a joy to use, I am happy here" is pennies an hour, and you're worth it.
posted by mhoye at 7:58 PM on April 21, 2021 [6 favorites]

Oh come on, I just bought a *BLUE MOUSE* from Logitech ... that must be their consumer division

They only sell the Trackman Marble (the one true pointing device) from their business side these days I think (and it costs over twice what it did when they sold it from their consumer division) and it is dominated by the giant red ball. Logitech stuff is decidedly not monochrome!
posted by Dysk at 1:43 AM on April 22, 2021 [2 favorites]

Yah, but oof those new iMacs are pretty horrible. The colors are fine, but it still has a HUUUUUGE chin,

I keep seeing this exact comment wherever the new imac is discussed, and I just don't see a 'chin' on them at all. Is it just that the bezel is a little bigger in the bottom edge? With people calling it a chin, I'd expected a thicker bump at the bottom middle or something, but it looks completely uniform?
posted by Dysk at 1:49 AM on April 22, 2021 [1 favorite]

"Chin" is a code word that haters have latched onto.

The coloured back and logo placement is just plain weird, mine backs onto a wall I'd never see it. But this will be a carefully considered design and if it proves popular everyone will be copying it by the end of the year. Typing this on my 27" iMac, and yes, 24" is a bit small.
posted by epo at 3:11 AM on April 22, 2021

RE: The new iMac chin, it seems like a clear carryover of the familiar iMac design that originated in the iMac G5 back in 2004. What I wonder is, if they were to "eliminate" it, what would the new iMac even look like from the front? A screen with uniformly minimal bezels around the edge? It would be indistinguishable from a monitor, unless something elaborate (and expensive) is done with the base/stand. I can't see Apple releasing an AIO Mac that looks 99% identical to a Dell monitor from the front.
posted by Nutri-Matic Drinks Synthesizer at 4:56 AM on April 22, 2021

The "chin" is where the computer stuff is, you guys. The processor, memory, storage, speakers, power unit, ports, etc.

The top part contains the monitor. They could eliminate the "chin" but then it wouldn't be as thin because all of the computer stuff would have to go behind the screen.
posted by Fleebnork at 5:11 AM on April 22, 2021 [2 favorites]

One thing to consider when cutifying your setup, btw: watch out for ergonomics. Last autumn I picked up this hexagonal keyboard which does indeed look amazing, but unfortunately the key caps are all flat, which makes it really difficult to touch type on.
posted by phooky at 5:16 AM on April 22, 2021 [1 favorite]

I think the new iMac looks great. Chin? I call it a handle. Perfect for adjusting the screen angle. Plus where else are you going to put your stickers.

💕 cuteness in computing 💕

we've gone through an era where "design" meant austere, and while i think clarity and simplicity are excellent design principles, that doesn't mean things have to be cold and unwelcoming
posted by dis_integration at 5:25 AM on April 22, 2021 [4 favorites]

phooky, I use Columbus method ("find it and land on it") instead of touch-typing, so do you think that keyboard might work for me? Right now I have an old Happy Hacker HHKB Lite 2, and its keys are smoooth and flat after all these years.

The first time I saw those hexagonal keys I was very infatuated -- especially the one done in yellows that some artist(?) put together. Such a great look!
posted by wenestvedt at 5:57 AM on April 22, 2021

Your computer keyboard is your Internet mattress, you spend a third of your life on it! Spend accordingly.
posted by lefty lucky cat at 6:41 AM on April 22, 2021 [3 favorites]

wenestvedt, they're never going to be super-pleasant to type on-- it's just a rubber-dome membrane keyboard under the nice keycaps-- but it's certainly usable. If you're used to nice keyswitches, it may be a bit of a letdown. I knew it wasn't going to be a great keyboard going into it, but-- hexagonal keycaps! Nice colors! I am exactly the sucker for this product.

There's also this thing, which has individual keyswitches, dished hexagonal keycaps and RGB LEDs. Not a full keyboard yet, but I've been following the development of it because it really is gorgeous.
posted by phooky at 7:42 AM on April 22, 2021

Whenever Apple announces new designs, 1) people critique them harshly 2) Apple's stock prices falls 3) Apple sells a billion of them. Personally, I like the look of the new white bezel and tinted exterior iMacs. It is definitely a call back to the original iMacs and iBooks (my Blueberry iBook still works, and honestly still looks futuristic). The new ones look kawaii.
posted by jabah at 8:09 AM on April 22, 2021 [2 favorites]

It is definitely a call back to the original iMacs

Really? Looks much much more like the G5 iMac than the G3 to me - I kinda struggle to see any similarity to the G3 in fact. I do like the design, but it is way out of my budget.
posted by Dysk at 8:18 AM on April 22, 2021

To clarify regarding the new iMac design, what I mean is that while the design adheres to the squarish form factor of the G5 (foregoing the rounded edges of the G3, iBook, and sunflower iMac), in terms of using bold colors as a design factor, it feels like a return to that era (and the white bezel adds to that feeling).
posted by jabah at 8:40 AM on April 22, 2021 [3 favorites]

Behind the Scenes: The Magical Keycaps that caught 50 Cent’s eye

Featured on Keyboard University, if you want to go down the rabbit hole.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 8:46 AM on April 22, 2021 [2 favorites]

ComputeCuter has been delighting me for awhile – my Sublime Text editor is now in the beautifully understated but adorable Witch Hazel colour scheme, and I just realised I need to get all those monospaced fonts here on this MacBook Air (which is in rose gold, because that's the closest I could get to not-boring-silver, and then it has a pink transparent case on top of it and a Marina sticker covering the Apple logo).

I also keep on thinking about how much I'd love a mechanical keyboard, but I also know I get grumbled at for typing loudly even on my boring-ass Logitech one, so, alas, no.

(This pale blue/rainbow LED one keeps on taunting me, though...)
posted by Katemonkey at 2:53 PM on April 22, 2021 [1 favorite]

They could eliminate the "chin" but then it wouldn't be as thin because all of the computer stuff would have to go behind the screen.

Yep. And this is where I don't get all of the forgiveness for apple when they design stuff the way the often do. I get it, the new iMac is like 1.5x the width of an iphone 12, and yah, that's amazing. Except, why? The iphone has to fit in my pocket, and be carried on my person much of the day. Nobody gets an iMac for the portability, that's silly. So then the only reason to make them thin is just because. How often do you look at your monitor from the side? Like, once? And then you spend 99.99999% of the time looking at it from the front.

Imagine if they made the entire thing with a 1mm bezel. Or, no bezels at all. That would be amazing, and people would talk about it. Do you think people would say, "oh, but it's still as thick as other all-in-ones." I do not think they would. Instead, there would be thinkpieces about how "apple" was ubiquitous with "computer," so much so that they could remove all labeling from the front of their machines. Now it's just you and a portal to the internet, Apple's done it again, they're the bee's knees, etc.

That would be cool. Instead we get a G5, but thinner.
posted by nushustu at 10:12 AM on April 23, 2021 [1 favorite]

I picked up this hexagonal keyboard which does indeed look amazing, but unfortunately the key caps are all flat, which makes it really difficult to touch type on.

I'd be surprised if it was the relative flatness of the keys; laptop keys are even flatter and people regularly report typing faster on them than standard keyboards (mostly due to switch travel, but the keys aren't getting in the way.)

My guess is that it's actually the layout that's throwing you. The hexagons mean that it's a regularly staggered keyboard, which is a little different than a standard keyboard with different offsets above and below the home row. The key shape may also be a factor, since there is key where there wouldn't be otherwise. (Now I really want to try one.)

I get grumbled at for typing loudly even on my boring-ass Logitech

Just pointing out that there are "silent" mechanical switches now. (You can also do things like exchange springs to discourage bottoming out, but that's getting hardcore.)
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 12:13 PM on April 23, 2021

<3 sailorhg, nice to see her work all together and credited in one place. It tends to get lifted and reposted a lot without context.

Wanted to give a shout-out to the Pink Hello Kitty Laptop which a friend of mine made way back in 2001. I'm sure it's not the first cute pink laptop project ever made but it sure is one of the fuzziest.

Another good source for this kind of inspiration are the Battlestation posts on /r/GirlGamers.

Finally, while the Petticoat 5 may be a spoof the Honeywell Kitchen Computer was a real marketing stunt really done in 1969. Nothing particularly gendered about the computer (although the console is sure stylish) but the marketing is very feminine in a particular stereotyped way.
posted by Nelson at 11:09 AM on April 24, 2021 [2 favorites]