$1m concept PC contest winners named
But neither of them on the public shortlist
IDF Korean combine TriGem this week pocketed $700,000 of chip giant Intel's money for designing what a panel of experts have voted the world's coolest Viiv box. Norway's Mesiro walked away with the $300,000 runner-up prize.
Black Crystal by B&O TriGem
TriGem's Lluon 'Black Crystal' machine restyles the media centre machine as a Bang & Olufsen-like hi-fi. Mesiro's Asono Merium system adopts a miminalist approach reminiscent of a paper shredder. It's also beige, a colour we'd have thought wouldn't have got it a look-in in a competition designed to find alternatives to the "big, beige box".
Both beat off an array of challengers, all of whom submitted concept PC designs to Intel after it announced it would pay a $1m bounty to whoever could come up with the most sexy dual-core containing machine based on its Viiv platform.
Fjord focus: Norway's Mesiro Asono Merium
Intel announced the contest in September 2006, and opened the shortlist of winners to public scrutiny last month.
Ironically, neither winner was among the list of machines anyone but the contest's judges were allowed to vote for. Out of the shortlist of ten would-be winners, the designers of only seven machines were willing to let the rest of us have our say about their entries. Would the public's preference have made any difference, we wonder?
Intel Challenge People's Choice shortlist
Folk who believe they can do better have the chance to try - Intel is running a second such competition, with the winner due to be unveiled in September 2008.
COMMENTS
People still have trouble.
Even in contests where the main focus is style, let alone usability, companies still seem to fail to be able to find the hallowed ground on which Apple's products seem to always land. I mean, the bulk of these computers resemble either an uglified Mac Mini, some form of audio device, or are just plain odd. I mean, the runner up looks more loke a room dehumidifier than a computer, it's ugly as sin! For some reason, companies just fail to be able to make nice things in the homogenized, designed by committee world of the modern desktop PC. Even the winner of the contest reminded me of the 20th anniversary Mac with the exception that the latter was likely less easily scratched. I guess it's just safe to say that there are no new ideas, and that it's all been done.
Worthy winners
Being as fair as possible to those who did allow us to publically vote (i placed my vote for the Acer unit), if given the chance to vote for either of the 2 judges choices as well, i certainly wouldn't have picked the Acer.
The winning design is imo what the judges were looking for, the rest, well they look like they were trying too hard.
The impression I got from this competition was such that they were looking for a "mac-mini beater", but the public designs looked more at home in off high street kitsch electrical stores, sure they may find a few buyers but the idea is for them to appeal to the general public.
simple clean lines, not retro nor DVD box looks
well done to the winner
Ah but....
Ok, someone's got to state the bleedin' obvious....
It's still not as cool and funky as a certain other (white) box, is it? Oh well, at least they tried, eh? :-)
What a laughable parade of bad taste.
Where did all the Vic 20s go? Oh, yes... They were melted down and turned into Asonos!
Innovation and extravagance
There are a lot of PC modders out there with great ideas, but most of these look like the bog standard PC's that you can pick up at any half-decent computer parts outlet.
OK, the Black Crystal looks good, but from from your photo, it looks like an IBM - euhh, Lenovo Thinkpad glued to a perspex sheet - not really 700 000 dollars worth of exciting design and innovation, and the runner up to me looks more like the hidden love-fruit of a Mac Mini and an electrical junction box, but WTF, it's art and supposed to be expensive ;-)
The other point is that if I remember correctly, designs could only be submitted by Intel partners, and not John Q. PCModder, who could of had a more innovative design... and some public scrutiny could have been nice, if only as a marketing exercise to gauge trends...
Cheers,
Daniel
