The Devil's Advocate - The Pyramid iMac [TMO Scoop]
by - August 26th, 2004

Today a little something new, and old, from Apple. On August 24, 2004, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USTPO) issued United States Patent Number D494,971 to Apple Computer, Inc. for a "Display device with a moveable assembly," which was filed on October 3, 2003. This is a division of an application first filed on November 8, 2001. Steven Jobs was the first named inventor along with Jonathan Ive and multitude of others.

This is a design patent for "[t]he ornamental design for a display device with a moveable assembly." We've seen some of the wacky iMac versions Apple considered before. There were the snake and double-hinged iMacs. This latest design combines the double-hinged design with a pyramid base:

Perhaps Apple thought going with the snake neck on the pyramid would be too thematic? It's not clear what the late October 3, 2003 division filing suggests (i.e., this application was filed significantly after the "sunflower" iMac was released in January of 2002). Does it mean this is a design that's being considered for the next iMac? Doubtful. At least I hope not; it seems rather homely.

Of less fanciful note, Apple also received design patents on its "nose cone" eMac and Aluminum PowerBook designs:

So what relevance does this pyramid filing have? Probably none. I, mostly, like this stuff just to get an idea of how wild Apple is willing to dream these days. And the good news is that they're willing to dream pretty big and wild things. In some ways, Apple is like the Wonka candy factory of the tech world. They develop designs that border on magic and inspire fun, curiosity and interest in what would otherwise be a really boring-as-all-hell industry.