“Inspired by Apple’s audacious iPod campaign, Microsoft hopes Xbox 360’s minimalist industrial design and frosty white appearance will appeal to more than just hardcore gamers,” Che Chou reports for 1UP.com. “The move away from a traditional console look is, of course, a calculated move on the part of Microsoft’s designers. ‘We did lots of color studies,’ says J Allard, corporate VP of Xbox and one of the console’s most outspoken evangelists. ‘Part of it is that plasma screens are going really big with glass and frosted glass. They’re getting away from black as the framing, so as we move into the HD (high definition) era and think about the next 10 years of TV, there’s that. Part of it is consumer preference and value. They associate a lot of value with the lighter colors. Most people actually came back and said, ‘This reminds me of iPod.'”
“The heart of the system itself is made up of a custom-designed IBM PowerPC-based CPU [yes, like CPUs in Apple Macs – AIM was an alliance formed in 1991 between Apple Computer, IBM and Motorola to create a new computing standard based on the PowerPC architecture.] with 3 symmetrical cores crunching data at 3.2GHz each (for a total of 6 hardware threads) at any one time,” Che Chou reports. “Allard himself hopes to model Xbox 360’s growth and evolution on Apple’s iPod success — to him, flexibility and adaptation is the key. ‘Our initial thinking was there can only be one [Xbox 360 SKU], but you know, that just limits options,’ says Allard. ‘I don’t wanna think that way. If Steve Jobs thought that way, iPod sales would have [plateaued] because there’s a finite market for people that want 20GB white things that play music at a price point that’s above $200. And that’s all he could do with iPod.’ While Allard doesn’t think Microsoft will ever have a family of Xbox 360 core units like Apple does for the iPod, he suggests that a year or two down the line, we’ll begin to see divergence in different territories, so that the North America 360 suits the hardware needs of its respective market, and likewise with Europe and Asia.”
Che Chou reports, “Taking further minimalist cues from Apple’s iPod, the Xbox 360 opts to keep most of its functionality hidden. Even the Xbox 360 logo, which was brazenly stamped dead-center on its predecessor, is all but invisible on the new system, carved discreetly instead on the DVD disc tray and imprinted on the sides of the system.”
“During our initial visit to check out the Xbox 360, Allard took significant pains to emphasize the system’s power button, which has been dubbed internally as ‘the ring of light.’ Aside from functioning as a just another on/off switch, the Xbox 360 power button is surrounded by a ring of colored light, divided into four quadrants. Depending on the individual game and programming by individual developers, these lights can be used to communicate certain info. For example, let’s say you’re playing Halo 3 splitscreen with three other friends and one of them gets an invite over Xbox Live — his quadrant of the circle could light up red as an alert. How the ring of light will work in practice with actual games remains to be seen. Since the Xbox 360 can stand vertically or rest on its side horizontally, an internal gyroscope sensor will let the machine know its orientation and adjust its circle of light quadrants accordingly,” Che Chou reports.
Full article with much, much more here.
MacDailyNews Take: Microsoft sounds pretty happy that most people in their focus groups said, “This reminds me of iPod.” Does anyone remember Microsoft’s Chief Software Architect (Windows was obviously constructed without a building permit) Bill Gates’ sarcasm, “Oh, wow, I don’t think we can do that,” regarding Apple’s iPod? We do.
So, Xbox uses a PowerPC CPU, huh? Created by Apple, IBM, and Motorola’s AIM alliance and just like Apple’s Macs have used for longer than a decade? What’s the matter, Intel/AMD x86 CPUs not good enough?
Now, about that ‘ring of light.’ Doesn’t Apple already own the patent, specifically U.S. Patent #20040156192? Hey, do you think that maybe Microsoft actually licensed the patent from Apple?
How’s that “Thought Thieves” short film contest going there, Bill?
Related MacDailyNews articles:
RUMOR: Sony and Apple working together on PlayStation 3 – May 13, 2005
Microsoft’s Xbox 360 demos running on Apple Macs – May 13, 2005
Microsoft holds ‘Thought Thieves’ short film competition focusing on intellectual property theft – May 12, 2005
Apple to release new computers and devices that dynamically change color? – December 28, 2002
Apple’s patented chameleon computer case could have many uses – August 16, 2004
Apple to release new computers and devices that dynamically change color? – December 28, 2002
Thanks to ‘Informed’ and others that help to refresh the memory of our trolls with “selective short term memory” and also for helping to inform our youngsters about life before yesterday.
Yes, M$ did take much better advantage of other people’s vision and yes they are still doing it here. But what really bothers me is nasty Bill’s trash talkin’ when he aint doing doing the walkin’
Informed,
Please don’t kid yourself, Apple is not a chip designer. Apple’s main role in the alliance have always been on the receiving end rather than technical specifications or R&D. IBM (and Motorola of previous PowerPC generations) designs and engineers the newer PowerPC chips, not Apple.
http://www-106.ibm.com/developerworks/library/pa-microdesign/
“One of the original design goals of the Apple-IBM-Motorola partnership that developed the PowerPC architecture back in 1991 was to define a 64-bit architecture that was a superset of the 32-bit architecture, in order to provide application binary compatibility for 32-bit applications. The PowerPC architecture that was born of this partnership is — and always was — a 64-bit architecture derived from the IBM POWER architecture. From the very beginning, PowerPC was designed to support switching between the 64-bit mode and the 32-bit mode. As a relative of the IBM POWER4 and POWER5 processors, the PowerPC 970 family may be a new generation of PowerPC processors, but it inherits a history of over ten years of 64-bit computing at IBM.”
When Motorola ran into a brickwall for Apple’s G4 series, and IBM’s PowerPC 970 seemed inevitably delayed, Apple did seriously consider a move to AMD based processors.
Right on Sammy,
i love it when readers give it to the MDN takes. The MDN writers are so frickin one-sided and full of S__T!
I come here for the articles, not MDN takes.
I think the Xbox 360 looks pretty impressive. In my experience, the Xbox is one of the few products that Microsoft has actually designed well, and the 360 seems to follow that line.
I don’t have any problem with them borrowing from the look of the iPod. We don’t design in a vacuum and every designer is influenced by strong elements found in their colleagues’ work. I appreciate the fact that he acknowledged the fact that that’s where some of the ideas came from. He’ll surely be fired soon.
Sammy, get off the “Apple didn’t have anything to do with PowerPC, they just buy it” BS. Anyone who knows anything about the history of AIM knows different. Sure, IBM put the most into it, but it wouldn’t be what it is today without Apple and Motorola.
Lastly, to those complaining about how the 360’s PowerPC is over 3ghz, keep in mind that this chip was custom designed for gaming. It wouldn’t be very efficient at the variety of operations that a Mac performs.
How many 17 year olds do you know in the Air Force smart guy?
I’m old enough not to want to pay extra for a computer that makes me feel cool. Feeling cool and superior is for high school jocks, which reminds me, they let you post to MDN during 2nd period?
As a graphic designer, I make money, and with my Windows PCs, I have less overhead. Plus, I can build my own computer with enough space for 5 hardrives, and whatever flavor of AMD64 I want, for the same price and performance of a G5. Apples spits in the face of designers and video pro’s (their “core” business right?) by only offering 2 harddrive bays. Oh yeah, and how many reviews have we seen lately of the Dell 2405 whipping the 23″ Cinema? All that “we get the best panel, our competitors get seconds” crap is just that. A bunch of lip service.
To all who think that the PowerMacs are the best of breed, Apple and Jobs really has stuck it to’ya. You’ve been seduced by aluminum and the need to feel falsely superior.
Love live Apple software, NOW LICENSE OSX TO OTHER MANUFACTURERS!!!
Antares will ship BEFORE a single X-Box 360 is ever shipped. Just watch the WWDC Keynote. What is Antares? A Dual Core 970-series IBM PPC64-bit chip. The new Apple Developer tools support multiple dual core processors. How about dual dual-core CPU’s? BTW- that new X-Box is liquid cooled and sports 2 fans just for the CPU. I bet it’s gonna run hot, even with IBM’s power scaling.
Correction: LONG live Apple software.
I have no idea how one would “love live” something.
Once again, Micros@#t’s industrial design sucks!! Big Time. Why is MS always trying to copy Apple but bad mouthing it at the same time? Look at that dirty white of the Xbox 360, they are copying the color scheme of Apple’s iMac and Mini but fail to color tune it right!! The thing looks like a cow leg bone!!! The people at the top have no taste and it trickles down.
I dont know about the hardware, but the ad that is on the net to promote the xbox 360 looks very very similar to the Apple switch ads – white backgrounds and all.
Apple is ahead in terms of design, and the rest of the industry copies the leader, always has, always will.
Thankfully there is no risk of SJ leaving Apple this time around so they can stay, or even extend their lead over the competition.
The more people copy the iPod, the more the conusmer wants iPod. The more people who copy Mac OSX, the more consumers want OSX, etc. etc.
Interesting that M$ products cant be mentioned nowadays without reference to Apple …
No matter what, everyone is “copying” crApple…
Whatever…
Where’s apple’s console?
Sammy: You Windows whore!! How do you know IBM is going to deliver the 3.2Ghz chips to MicroS@#t on time??? At this point, the promise is just as good as the promise for “Long Yawn”. You MS sellout turd, get the hell out of this site and go suck up Bill instead!
Steve Jobs said of Microsoft” “They can’t even copy fast.”
After seeing the xbox 360, I would add: “They can’t even copy well!”
The xbox is stunningly ugly, imho.
The XBox sits in a living room, right? Design wise, go pick up any newer Home Design magazine, and see how designers dressing up interiors. Looks very industrial, eh?
THEY ARE ALL COPYING APPLE TOO!
Or, as a sensible person might think, there is a whole world outside of the reality distortion field. One where people realize that an Xbox in no way competes with ANY Apple product. A world where Xbox’s and PS3’s need to fit into home decor and match plasma screens, but also look expensive yet understated.
Nevermind, I’m tired of explaining. Apple rules, long live G5/powerbook/ipod/ibook/mini/iMac. I will die valiantly for your 3% market share and superiority.
afcombatcrayola: I think- wait a minute . . . afcombatcrayola? WTF?
Anyway, as a “graphic designer” you must have a bizarre clientele, and your printers must really love you. Serious color work is soooooo difficult to do on a Windows box it’s almost not worth it. And any printers you work with (if you really do) are probably just translating your PC files before RIP’ing them, or before sending them to press. Either that, or they’re just rebuilding them completely to workable postscript level output for the pre-press RIP’s.
And who the hell cares about having “5 drives” inside a box? A sensible computer user realizes that that’s more of a liability — heat issues, inaccessability, etc. Why the hell aren’t you using a real set-up with some striped SATA’s in an external box? Maxguru’s sells some good configurations. Make ’em hot-swappable, too, for safety and backup and archiving reasons.
And of course, you thoroughly gloss over the dreck that is the Windows OS when you post. As a designer, I have yet to meet another creative who, when given the choice, won’t choose OS X over Windows hands down. Not a single one.
And you really need to learn how to do an accurate cost-benefit analysis. There’s no way — NO WAY — that a Wintel box will cost less over the long run (TCO) than a Mac set-up. No way.
(HA! Magic word: “cases”. These MDN magic words are downright scary sometimes.)
It may turn at 10,000 rpm but it’s only a 3 cylinder, 2 stroke engine.
HOW MANY TIMES MUST THE MEGAHERTZ MYTH BE EXPLAINED?
They are 2 different chips, megahertz is a meaningless metric.
Even Intel knows that now.
a
lot
of
people
use
windows
and
think
‘this
reminds
me
of
a
mac’
then
the
keyboard
starts
acting
up….
Um, did you hear me compare OS X to Windows XP? Did I not end my post with praise for Apple software, and a plea to port OS X to other platforms? Seems to me like I was debating hardware.
Steve Smith (generic as they come), you suck at conversing. Stop it.
Color correction/reproduction is tough on Windows, but not impossible. Do I care how the printers get it to print properly? No, as long as it does. I’m not a printer, and I’m not going to worry about their workload. If it’s the wrong color, than they don’t get their money.
“Why the hell aren’t you using a real set-up with some striped SATA’s in an external box? Maxguru’s sells…”
Typcial, and proving my point. You want me to spend more money on an external box for things that should’ve come stock in the original case! Heat issues? AMD’s don’t run that hot, and a proper case (Antec, Silverstone) makes heat a non-issue.
OS X is awesome, but my personal cost/performance ratio says that buying a PowerMac just so I can run OS X doesn’t work out. I deal with the issues in XP so I can spend less, and make more.
Profits, profits, profits.
What attracts all these Windows-lovers/MDN-haters? You don’t see them commenting on other posts. Is it because the XBox was mentioned? What, did some fanboy post on an XBox website “Hey, these Mac faggits are dissing our beloved console! Let’s go rip ’em a new one!”
No one mentioned M$ dropping nvidia for ATI graphics. Any thoughts?
I love Apple.
Most of the games that I want are not available for OSX.
Apple does not make a gaming console.
I love my xbox.
I hate Windows.
I’m buying an xbox 360 the day it is released.
Shut up already!
hey mike I got some suckin´keyboards from apple if you want them…i´ve got a powerbook where one whole column of keys don´t work….try typing with that…
lordrobin – lots of us mac owners own pcs too. we are enlightened, we know the truth, we work with both – both are tools, neither are gods.
Why haven’t they also included a pulsing light to show when its in sleep mode ? – since they have lifted just about every other design cue from Apple products
Refresh my memory.
Didn’t some dude get fired from microsoft cause he took some pictures of G5’s or G4’s being delivered to MicroSoft?? I think he said they were being used to do development on the XBox because of the PowerPC chips.
So does that mean all development for the XBox is done on Macs???
afcombatcrayola
Whatever cost savings you may have thought you were getting by building your own box, it still sounds like you’re running some flavor of Windows. Windows is the the big Profit/Time Sink in the Total Cost of Ownership of the AMD/Intel box.
You can get “some striped SATA’s in an external box” and the G5 and it will still cost less than the build your own box solution with XP on it.
The average user of Windows spends an hour a day on Spyware/Virus/Windows patches etc, or if not spending that time, getting so slowed down by the spyware & the virus that you can’t work as quickly anyway.
You can debate the hardware all you want, but that’s not at all the whole picture of a cost of a computer.
Without a good OS that runs the hardware, you have nothing.
As far as color correction on a pc goes, it sounds like you don’t respect the Printhouses you print with. In my experience, if you get on the bad side of your printers, the people who quote the jobs will hear back from the people who prepress your files and you will most likely get overcharged (which also negates the cost savings of the MS box).
^ Similar: Excellent points. In our design work we too need to be aware of the printer’s requirements. Of course, my wife and I actually worked in printing before opening our graphic design company.
^^ afcombatcrayola: You missed some of the point of my original post. Similar expands on some of them rather well. You sound as though you definitely have no printing background — the number one reason the company we have gets work against other designers, because they wouldn’t know a RIP station from a pre-press flight check (much less know what a “stripper” used to do, or chokes vs. spreads, or a vacuum press, etc. — and we’re talking only about 12 years ago!).
Similar is right, too, about TCO. I seriously doubt you’ve priced everything out correctly. You harp on one quasi-meaningless aspect of the latest PowerMac design yet admit that Windows is substandard for color accurate work.
But this statement of yours is perhaps most telling: “I deal with the issues in XP so I can spend less, and make more.”
Doesn’t sound as though you value you’re time very highly — I’ll bet you spend more time than you think dealing with those “issues”. But good luck, seriously, I hope it works out for you. I do think, though, that one day in the near future you’ll be moving over to a PowerMac and OS X.
Oh, by the way: Steve Smith — really sorry, but that’s my real name. What’s yours?