beige rant (was Re: IBM 5150 with red case on ebay)

On Fri, 13 May 2016, Benjamin Huntsman wrote:> I was so disgusted with IBM and other TLAs who I won't name for fear of being flame-blasted for the "beige orthodoxy". Most companies always acted like doing any industrial design or adding color would scare off their business customers. I guess soulless bean counters have to be surrounded by items just as boring and life-sucking as they are or they will spontaneously combust along with their checkbooks. The attitude is akin to the type of suit-wearers or HOA-lawn-preeners who want to *force* their thoughtless and wasteful conformity on everyone else. Hopefully, during the 80's punk rock and Iron Maiden nearly gave them a heart attack (at least there is that). (Why yes, sir I did have a mohawk.) In the 1980's and 1990's SGI was a bright shining exception and I love them for that early middle finger to the beige box priesthood. Apple/NeXT did a decent job, too. Once they became one and Jobs got his way, he seems to have set about claiming a significant space in the then-wilderness of PC industrial design. In the meantime, their stock went from @$30 a share in 98' into the stratosphere, splitting a few times along the way. Guess thinking about design wasn't such a bad idea. In a way I'm glad I didn't learn much appreciation for beige box machines. My house is already full enough of "pretty" junk. Having ugly junk would just add insult to injury and possibly lead to homicide by my SO. It's all in the eye of the beholder, though. Also, nowadays you get machines in all kinds of colors, shapes, and sizes. The only trouble is that, no matter what color or size, they are opaque, undocumented, low-quality, and crass. Be careful what you wish for, I guess. "Life is too short for beige boxes, b****y women, or bad beer." -Overheard at SIGGRAPH -Swift