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See the original image at gizmodo.com

Apple designs look like reworkings of 1960s Braun designs

gizmodo.com — Nice story showing how parallel evolution (or design borrowing!) ends up with current and perhaps future Apple products, with ideas inspired by old Braun gear.

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  • xtremesniper, on 01/14/2008, -14/+68That's actually pretty interesting stuff. Maybe we can reference other Braun designs as a way to foreshadow unannounced Apple products?
    • jon02129, on 01/14/2008, -6/+31Sure. But I'm sure it'd be like finding predictions in the bible: you wont see it until its already been happened (or in this case, announced).
      • trebuchet03, on 01/14/2008, -9/+14Braun is the new Nostradamus o.0
        • Nitesmoke, on 01/14/2008, -4/+6no, Braun actually gets stuff right once in a while.
      • Viend, on 01/15/2008, -1/+1That's funny...I don't see the iRack nor the iRan.
    • dkoon, on 01/14/2008, -15/+12look like re-workings, a very creative of stealing.
      • DocGlass, on 01/14/2008, -6/+24thats pretty much what creativity is; stealing well.
        • dkoon, on 01/14/2008, -10/+10Yea, when the thief is Apple.
          • FatLoser, on 01/15/2008, -2/+10Don't you dare criticize Apple and/or hold them to the same standard as other companies. If this was Microsoft products there would be 500 flaming threads already. Since it's Apple... the closest you get is they "steal well."
      • Radan, on 01/14/2008, -1/+20"Good artists borrow, great artists steal" - Steve Jobs quoting Pablo Picasso.
        • dkoon, on 01/14/2008, -6/+21It's great when you don't know what idea Picasso stole. But not great now when we know what Steve Jobs stole. Seriously, if Microsoft did something remotely close to that, I bet you are 100% going ape *****.
          • Nitesmoke, on 01/14/2008, -2/+16Exactly, how many articles wee on Digg about how MS stole all the new Vista features from Mac? When apple steals, its cool, whenever anyone else does it, they suck.
          • InitialDMP5, on 01/15/2008, -1/+1@ nitesmoke

            Ive's is completely inspired by this designer and follows his design philosophy. So when he takes something from these designs and applies to a product he is designing, its because its a problem that has already been solved. Why fix what isn't broken?

            On the other hand, when a company like meizu or iRiver copies the exact designs that apple implemented, then that is a problem. They are taking what apple has done and merely employing the "if they can make it work, then we should do it too" method.

            There is a huge difference.
      • Frinkiac, on 03/04/2008, -0/+1despite how much everyone goes ***** over how apple "stole" the designs, the real magic is the foresight by apple designers and hardware and software engineers to turn something like a speaker on a portable radio into a modified laptop touchpad. face it, the ipod has the most intuitive and well designed interfaces of any product, dare i say, ever. a single product overtook an entire market almost overnight and turned the downtrodden apple stock into the investment of the century. fanboy-ness aside, numbers don't lie, and neither does design that you can still look back at today and appreciate. try that with an old beige box. still think beige is sexy? how about those cow boxes still sitting in your garage next to the superbly designed dell product manuals... nobody will ever remember those.
    • etandrib, on 01/14/2008, -25/+92Buried as Gizmodo
      • sv650touring, on 01/14/2008, -1/+27shhh! I don't want them turning my TV off.
    • joshuaer, on 01/14/2008, -8/+4If you try hard enough and look hard enough you can make two things look alike. The only one that i as having a similar design is the Braun T1000 radio and PowerMac G5/Mac Pro and that is only because they used the same metal.
      • Nitesmoke, on 01/14/2008, -0/+13The iPod looked very similar to the hand radio.
      • senatorpjt, on 01/15/2008, -0/+1The front of the Mac Pro looks quite similar to the top of my Braun electric razor, too.
    • inkswamp, on 01/14/2008, -12/+2bury.
    • FredFredrickson, on 01/14/2008, -4/+1Maybe we could get a life while we're at it, too?
      • burgerpocket, on 01/15/2008, -0/+1maybe YOU could get a life while you're at it.
        DAHRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

        no, but seriously. stop belittling people.
    • 1town, on 01/15/2008, -0/+1Alot of stretches there. The imac comparison is just ridiculous. What, they both have screens? iPod Hi-FI. What, they both have speakers?
  • slimjim5811, on 01/14/2008, -6/+90Some of the similarities are uncanny. Who knew my G5 tower used to be a radio?
  • cello, on 01/14/2008, -24/+193Good design is good design is good design.
    • coit, on 01/14/2008, -10/+76Developers, developers, developers, developers....
      • Laxaloot, on 01/14/2008, -2/+20location, location, location?
        • NightStryke, on 01/14/2008, -4/+46beetlejuice, beetlejuice, beetlejuice

          ...uh oh
        • sv650touring, on 01/14/2008, -2/+27Dr. Frasier Crane: There's an old real estate maxim that says the three most important things when looking for a property are location, location, location.
          Woody Boyd: That's just one thing.
          Dr. Frasier Crane: That's the point Woody.
          Woody Boyd: What, that real estate people are stupid?
          Dr. Frasier Crane: No, that location is the one most important thing in real estate.
          Woody Boyd: Then why do they say that it's three things?
          Dr. Frasier Crane: Because real estate people are stupid.
          • mindsnare, on 01/15/2008, -4/+1You ruined the combo breaker sv650touring, I hope you're happy.
    • Spectre77, on 01/14/2008, -32/+25Fanboys are fanboys are fanboys.
    • Dylson, on 01/14/2008, -15/+2No no no no no.........
    • sroop, on 01/14/2008, -1/+30Bad artists copy, good artists steal.
      /Picasso
      • coit, on 01/14/2008, -6/+11I thought Bill Gates said that in Pirates of Silicon Valley?
      • Hensworth, on 01/14/2008, -0/+5Jobs first said it in the movie to someone, than Gates said it to Jobs at the end, if I remember correctly.
    • MxM111, on 01/14/2008, -8/+4Come on! How many designs of PC tower can be?
      A box is a box is a box!
    • FredFredrickson, on 01/14/2008, -8/+3If you think a G5 tower is "good design," try picking that heavy piece of ***** up. I've had better luck lifting my car out of the ditch.
      • UNL1M1T3D, on 01/14/2008, -0/+7How often are you picking your G5 up? It wasn't designed to be picked up.
      • exomni, on 01/15/2008, -1/+0It's a hell of a lot easier to pick up than most computers, thanks to its convenient handles located on all four corners.
      • DeFex, on 01/15/2008, -0/+1those are for doing a huffy toss with it.
    • willynilly, on 01/15/2008, -1/+2"design genius Jonathan Ive"

      More of the same old tired mantra we hear in every story about Apple. Endless fawning with no critical evaluation whatsoever. Worst of all are the plaudits for the iPod, which only looks like "genius" compared to Creative's unbelievable ineptitude. It's not hard to compete with a company that made MP3 players inexplicably disguised as a Discman. Large, saucer-shaped music players containing rectangular hard drives. It doesn't take a goddamned genius to top that and own the marketplace.

      Apple's designs are sometimes very good. But in many cases they're simply the obvious, or (gasp) even bad.
  • 10001110101, on 01/14/2008, -16/+6I hope Apple starts making lighters.. "The iLight - release your inner pyro."
    (braun70.jpg)
  • aristotle0dude, on 01/14/2008, -78/+19Does anyone have an alternative site? I don't want to give traffic to Gizmodo.
    • Lucifer7, on 01/14/2008, -9/+25I'm getting very, very tired of seeing comments like this. Just bury the article and move on. Saves me a mouse click on the red button.
    • wonderwal, on 01/14/2008, -7/+12The article is original, so no alternative link.

      Now, go home and whine to mom.
      • aristotle0dude, on 01/14/2008, -10/+3Brian Lam, editor of Gizmodo is that you?
    • death2newbs, on 01/14/2008, -8/+9grow up, nobody gives a *****; you're insignificant
      • aristotle0dude, on 01/14/2008, -8/+4Let me guess, you work at Gizmodo too? Do you mind if I drive by and turn off your TV while you are watching the game?
    • abhiroop, on 01/14/2008, -2/+3I bet before Gizmodo actually got banned you thought it was an amazing idea! Gees the did something childish but do you really care? Its interesting to read articles! Thats why you come to digg!
      • aristotle0dude, on 01/14/2008, -5/+3No, I actually thought they were quite immature and childish long before their latest sabotages at CES. Blogging != Journalism.
  • asdfer, on 01/14/2008, -12/+30Probably Gizmodo can use the "Design B-Gone" right now.
  • bjs3171, on 01/14/2008, -17/+8that was fairly retarded.
  • ersnyder, on 01/14/2008, -36/+255The iPod one, I can see. But the rest I feel are a stretch. A silver box is a silver box and a monitor is a monitor.
    • diggingaround, on 01/14/2008, -12/+6And that's because you are not a designer... (I'm not the one eider)....
      Example: Person with pale face and bad cough.. for you and me - he just looks like he have a common flu, but for a trained professionals he got Yellow fever at a very specific stage of incubation period.
      • Speed, on 01/14/2008, -1/+2Difference between different diseases that look the same and different devices that look the same.
      • t0ken, on 01/15/2008, -1/+1I am a designer and I agree with ersnyder. So there. You can obviously tell that they both follow the same kinds of design principals but the similarities seem to stop there.
    • asauterChicago, on 01/14/2008, -7/+21I agree, this looks like a couple of coincidences, but you really can't compare an old TV to the 24in Imac, that seems a bit of a stretch. I'm fairly certain you can take any old white TV from the 1960s from the front view, and it will look somewhat similar.
    • schroeder, on 01/14/2008, -2/+4The radio had a perforated face plate like the powermac which makes it look a lot more similar. Kind of looks like it could be a subwoofer for the powermac.
    • jaradjohnson, on 01/15/2008, -5/+3Agree. This article isn't based on anything at all. That TV looks like any monitor ever made until recent times and the Radio isn't anything like the iPod.

      I guess people will believe what they want.
      • EzraT1, on 01/15/2008, -0/+1yeah I really want to believe an old tv looks like an Imac. It wouldn't be that someone has a different perspective then you.
    • carleethian, on 01/15/2008, -0/+1but a lot of the designs look like what they would've become by around our time
      if there were a timeline of nextgen products between those, it'd all make sense
    • iammacgyver, on 01/15/2008, -0/+0Totally agree.
    • csonjeow, on 01/19/2008, -0/+2Disagree. I see very similar style lines and surfaces that are remarkably similar regardless of what the functionality is.
      Yes, the metal box may just be a metal box, but the rounded corners and circular grating is pretty tell-tale sign of "inspiration".
      But again, like the top digg says, "Good design is good design."

      And I am an industrial designer.
  • Niubai, on 01/14/2008, -2/+63Those vintage Braun radios and stuff are quite cool
  • Langford, on 01/14/2008, -2/+29Funny, suddenly Apple's products don't seem to clash with my old cars quite as much.
  • narcofiche, on 01/14/2008, -2/+11Now I'm going to look up some Braun products on ebay.
    • mydigga, on 01/14/2008, -0/+5and I will be jacking up the prices of my "Braun collector's items" ;-)
  • Hoov, on 01/14/2008, -45/+163So when Apple does it, it's evolution but when someone else does it they're lazy?
    • Chirp08, on 01/14/2008, -16/+62you've never taken an art class have you? That was one hell of an assumption there to say people think a design influenced by a past design is lazy.
      • Hoov, on 01/14/2008, -11/+17I'm talking about the criticism others get when their products look similar to others. I'm not an artist but I know the difference between inspiration and copying. The tech industry is filled with both. But some of these, like the iPod, were it any other company, like Microsoft, would be accused of "borrowing heavily" which in nicer terms can be associated with a lack of inspiration.

        When the 360 went to its white color scheme (which I still think they should have kept it in black) and slimmed down its chunkiness there were numerous observations and sly remarks of its "Apple" traits.

        Look, I'm not accusing them of stealing or ripping off. I like the minimal feel of Apple's products. I'm just saying there's a double standard about this company that originates at the top and perpetuates through some of the consumer base. And it's annoying.
        • narcofiche, on 01/14/2008, -7/+8For every person who thinks that Apple doesn't 'borrow heavily,' there is a person who thinks they do. Maybe you should just visit sites that aren't as 'pro Apple.'
        • t0ken, on 01/15/2008, -0/+1There is no such thing as an artist or designer that is 100% innovative and knows and borrows nothing from the past. Doesn't exist. You want to see "lazy," go check out some iPod or iPhone clones from China.
      • gutterboy, on 01/14/2008, -3/+16He is simply saying everyone tends to credit Apple with pulling all of their designs out of their ass as if they invented modern design. When yes, as you mentioned anyone who has taken Art history and design history classes knows, most design flows out of previous design whether it is a continuation or a statement against the previous trend. As with Apple's, clean modern minimal styling? Just look at the entire modernist artistic and design movement. The current line up of Apple doesn't simply stem from one designer, it stems from an entire previous movement. It isn't a bad thing, but stop sucking Apple's balls and pretending they have invented the wheel. For all of you still clueless, search Bauhaus.
        • MacnCidar, on 01/14/2008, -3/+3But you're assuming all Apple fans think that...
        • yetAnotherCroc, on 01/14/2008, -1/+5Listening to some of the discussions around here its easy to get that impression (Especially when some of them state it plainly)
    • betobeto, on 01/14/2008, -0/+10No design in the recent history of mankind is completely devoid of any past influences or references. It would be just too naive to assume that Mr. Ive and company never had at least a tad of inspiration taken from the design of products such as those by Braun and other European product designers. It's just the way it's always been.
    • RetlawST, on 01/14/2008, -2/+11They brought a vintage concept to a "futuristic" product. Computer complexity was increasing: more i/o ports, more capabilities, more technology and Apple looked to the past and asked, "How has this issue been dealt with before." Many companies do this quite well.

      What you are referring to, however, is the trend to produce goods similar to what's popular at the time. Just because x product's design is great, doesn't mean y design which is copied from x is any good. In fact, this leads to really crappy designs, because while the designers of y know what x looks like, they don't know WHY.
      • UNL1M1T3D, on 01/14/2008, -1/+1Very well said.
      • InitialDMP5, on 01/15/2008, -0/+1well put. Which is why those external drives that have the mesh holes that look like the mac pro look horrible.
    • sv650touring, on 01/14/2008, -2/+15When fanboys declare Apple designs to be wonderful, I don't really care. But the fact is that other industrial designers have said the same thing. They win design awards for their designs, and anyone who claims not to be able to see "what's so great about Apple designs" is intentionally missing the point.

      Apple also deserves credit for emphasizing the importance of good design in an increasingly commoditized industry.
    • node3, on 01/14/2008, -4/+11"So when Apple does it, it's evolution but when someone else does it they're lazy?"

      Yes, because Apple does it *well*. (and usually it's not cited as "evolution", but "innovation", or sometimes just "original/inspiring/elegant")

      If you really want to understand the dynamic, you need to understand the Picasso quotation mentioned above. When Apple comes out with a design, you don't think "gee, this is just like some other computer", you think, "this is like *no other* computer". With the other translucent colored plastic computers came out right after the original iMac, you think, "this is like an uglier version of the iMac", which comes across as unoriginal and "me too".

      And, similarities aside, it's *highly* unlikely Ive copied Braun's designs, while it's extremely clear that eMachines copied the iMac, and HP took significant cues from the iMac on their curvy desktops with the translucent plastic doors and panels.
    • inkswamp, on 01/14/2008, -7/+2Apple has a clear design philosophy and a lot of their look comes from that. But even when you can find influences on their look, it doesn't stop there. Braun didn't invent the swiveling iMac G4 design. Braun didn't invent the Aqua interface. Braun didn't figure out how to incorporate multi-touch into a phone. All that combined points to a clear design philosophy that results in a certain aesthetic that is very clearly unique to Apple.

      A lot of the design work you see in tech products nowadays seems to be an attempt to imitate Apple or to do something Apple-like. That reveals a distinct lack of design philosophy and more of a wannabe approach. That's why when people point to interface elements in Vista and say, "See, it's just as cool as OS X so you design people should shut up now," they're missing the point. Vista's UI came from an attempt to imitate OS X. OS X's interface (and most of Apple's product design) came from a design point of view, not any attempt to imitate someone else's work.

      *That* is the difference.
      • FredFredrickson, on 01/14/2008, -1/+1You need to learn your history, son.
    • gwhardyiv, on 01/14/2008, -2/+3Who said that?
  • method77, on 01/14/2008, -14/+94Great designs by Braun. At least Apple "borrowed" some good ideas, not crappy ones
    • stackered, on 01/14/2008, -8/+11Of course whenever Microsoft "borrows" its called stealing/copying.
      • MacnCidar, on 01/14/2008, -2/+5They SHOULD follow sensible design principles because theirs suck.
      • niczar, on 01/14/2008, -3/+2When MS "borrows," they dumb it up so hard that people go "meh."
        Look at the Zune. It's not bad, it's "meh." And it comes 5 years too late.
        • stackered, on 01/14/2008, -2/+6wow. Zune 80 gig blows Apple's 80 gig out of the water, not even close. why don't you actually try both before posting. 5 years late? really?! I guess the mp3 player business died and I wasn't aware.
          • niczar, on 01/15/2008, -3/+2"Blows out of the water", really? It does the exact same thing, with a slightly bigger screen, a crippled WiFi and an FM tuner added. Wow. $10 worth of extra. Way to go!
    • seeyounorth, on 01/14/2008, -0/+5I wonder what people would have thought of these designs without having seen the Apple products first. Would they still have been considered "great designs"? For instance show someone a picture of the Portable radio, ask them what they think but don't compare to the iPod at all. Food for thought...
  • neotrooper, on 01/14/2008, -15/+14the similarities of the G5 tower to the radio is truly uncanny. (...right down to the perforated metal face) Somehow, i don't think just being objects of art lets Apple get away with plagiarism.
    • bjs3171, on 01/14/2008, -4/+11it's not plagarism. just because it has a fold down side and some perforations doesn't make it a rip off.
    • Jerryskid02, on 01/15/2008, -0/+4In the product design world man....there really is no plagiarism.
  • thickape, on 01/14/2008, -26/+28Intellectual property theft is intellectual property theft is intellectual propery theft.
    • mdeppi01, on 01/14/2008, -3/+25Oh no! My car has four wheels! Call the Intellectual Property Police!
    • postalblowfish7, on 01/14/2008, -1/+9"Bad artists copy. Great artists steal." -Pablo Picasso
      • FatLoser, on 01/15/2008, -2/+3Can't bash Microsoft in one thread for copying Leopard, then compliment Apple for stealing from somebody else.
    • t0ken, on 01/15/2008, -0/+2By that rationale, Apple should be suing Nintendo for using a glossy white case on the Wii, and Nintendo should be suing Microsoft and Sony for making controllers with the direction pad on the left and the buttons on the right.
  • blazerin05, on 01/14/2008, -13/+8100 diggs and the site is dying already? Gizmodo sucks! Mirror please?
  • yuriko474, on 01/14/2008, -21/+6 yeah but is it good design.. or stealing other peoples ideas.. tut tut.. mac products might look good but that doesn't mean they work well!
  • CraigJ, on 01/14/2008, -18/+27I don't really see it, other than the perforated aluminum on that case, which is simply a choice of materials. The TV / iMac comparison is lame. There are lots of TVs out there I could say look like that one, I.E. black border and rectangular in shape. The use of a flat dial for the tuner on a radio has been used many, many times: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/arch ... for example.

    Just because both designers are great minimalist designers does not mean any copying is going on.
    • yetAnotherCroc, on 01/14/2008, -1/+6He didn't say copy. He said they were influenced. Anyone that knows anything about design knows that this is how its done and there is nothing wrong with it. I guess its just a good reminder to Apple fans that there is a history behind the designs and that Apple didn't "invent" modern minimalistic design. And that it isn't a rip-of when someone else does it too. Sometimes Apple fans act as if looking good is somehow an Apple trademark and that any product that doesn't look like a PC from the eighties is somehow copying Apple.
      • CraigJ, on 01/15/2008, -0/+1The article didn't say that per'se, but a lot of people diging this article clearly think that is what is going on...
    • domness, on 01/14/2008, -4/+2Aha, craig your welll going to get buried now. I dugg you.. but knowing the digg community they have already started burying your comment and 80% of digg users are sheep and follow on and digg or bury whenever other people have like a flock of wooly sheep. Bahhh.
    • Jookly, on 01/14/2008, -1/+2I agree completely. The only similarities are in the size of the products. If aluminum, white plastic and dials are similarities they could have written this about Apple compared to all sorts of stuff.
  • vader101, on 01/14/2008, -13/+28What a cost-effective way to "Think Different"
  • SteaminTmann, on 01/14/2008, -11/+3Blasphemy!
  • diggtochina, on 01/14/2008, -17/+9What a ***** rip off!
  • gstep, on 01/14/2008, -13/+5I don't think its safe to say that Apple really copied Braun. A lot of these designs are pretty generic anyways. That being said, I think a lot of companies could benefit from trying to copy Apple a little more.
    • mdeppi01, on 01/14/2008, -4/+2*coughdellcough*
    • willynilly, on 01/15/2008, -0/+1You just undermined your point. First you say the designs are generic, then you say people should copy Apple. Why not just make generic designs then?
  • katorga, on 01/14/2008, -1/+18Too bad Braun lost some of their original vision. They made some really classic products over the years, but their current stuff is pretty weak.
  • kidjay, on 01/14/2008, -18/+36are any of you industrial designers? artists?
    have you ever built anything before? plagiarism? "ripoff"? stealing?


    ive is one of, if not the best designer in the world. you think the community of industrial designers, historians of design and anyone else would have noticed he was "stealing" ideas from the past? yes...they would have. if they thought he was.

    but now that giz has the scoop, boy look out. conspiracy!

    be serious, guys.
    • gutterboy, on 01/14/2008, -1/+7Inspired by is the right word, not stealing. And you would be a fool to assume that Braun and other modernist designers didn't influence Apple's current trend. If their were mp3 players and LCD screen computers available during the Modernist movement, you can bet your ass they would look strikingly similar to todays Apple line up. The true credit Apple is due, is that they choose a good starting point for inspiration.
    • sv650touring, on 01/14/2008, -0/+7Ive and Apple both win design awards and are universally considered among the best individual designers and best design firms around. People who bash Apple design are free to their opinion, but their opinion is often determined more out of contempt than real thought.

      When I worked at a Ducati dealerships, 17-year old boys would often ask things like "But why would I get this if the GSX-R is faster for less money?" We called them "Spec-sheet Junkies".

      /Just because I use a PC 99.9% of the time, and all of my motorcycles were Suzukis, doesn't mean I can't appreciate a nice design when I see it.
    • bowe, on 01/14/2008, -0/+4not best in the world by any stretch of the imagination. He's one of the best known though.
    • bxblox, on 01/15/2008, -0/+1he's great but i couldnt say the best
    • steviedee, on 01/15/2008, -0/+1us industrial designers gotta stick together!
  • etandrib, on 01/14/2008, -18/+39Buried as Gizmodo
  • macwisdom, on 01/14/2008, -9/+7it seems a bit of a stretch
  • skeletorcares, on 01/14/2008, -8/+3Biters. Nothing more than biters. Now its just got visual evidence.
    • t0ken, on 01/15/2008, -1/+1I'm sure you have a basement full of ingenious, totally innovative hardware designs. Is your new line coming out in the fall?
    • skeletorcares, on 01/15/2008, -0/+1TOTALLY INNOVATIVE HARDWARE DESIGNS. ha. You mean from intel? or Motorola? HA!

      But no, I don't do product design for a living. But if I did, first of all, I wouldn't rip off others. And second of all, I'd make it actually work (as the commercials imply they do, but in reality, don't). But if you want to continue to listen to what apple's marketers hand feed you, that's fine by me you'll just continue to be an uninformed fanboy who spent too much money and time on a 40 year old "computer" design.

      Get informed.
  • uptwolait, on 01/14/2008, -2/+26So when is the iShaver coming out?
  • nimbletimble, on 01/14/2008, -0/+5Influential design will surely be just that? Not surprising imo..
  • coolbru, on 01/14/2008, -0/+26As Picasso said: "Good artists copy. Great artists steal.", as well as "The quality of a painter depends on the amount of the past he carries with him."
    • skeletorcares, on 01/14/2008, -2/+3And now he's dead. Good job.
    • MacnCidar, on 01/14/2008, -1/+3Many great artists have said, to journalist mostly, "I only steal from the best". But, amongst each other, they understand it doesn't work that way. The problem with Apple's competitors is, they let engineers do the designing instead of sensible designers (or so it would seem that way).
    • replikhant, on 01/14/2008, -1/+2Excellent comment. Point settled.
    • anaesthetica, on 01/14/2008, -1/+1"The past is a nightmare, from which I am trying to escape" --James Joyce
  • theprez, on 01/14/2008, -11/+3Trying to get banned from MacWorld as well, hmm? Apple has NEVER stolen or bought out anyone!
  • Redpaw360, on 01/14/2008, -2/+2Do we expect to see a MacBraun Shaving Cream Mp3 player anytime soon?
  • skidooer, on 01/14/2008, -1/+23The calculator even looks like the iPhone calculator: http://gizmodo.com/photogallery/dieterrams/1000468 ...
    • AprilEthereal, on 01/14/2008, -0/+9http://www.intomobile.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/ ...
    • domness, on 01/14/2008, -0/+4Haha, it does as well! Just checked on my iPhone and who else has a bloody orange "=" sign except for Braun and Apple? aha.
    • Jookly, on 01/14/2008, -6/+2are you kidding? Neither of these companies are responsible for the standard calculator layout.
      • skidooer, on 01/14/2008, -0/+1Who said anything about the layout?

        Also, it's funny you say that, because the two calculators have completely different layouts. Not even the + and - buttons are in the same position.
      • ZigVicious, on 01/14/2008, -0/+4FAIL
    • quantumduck, on 01/15/2008, -3/+2Yeah, they totally stole the whole "putting the numbers in numberical order" thing. I mean, come on.
    • willynilly, on 01/15/2008, -0/+1You mean the calculator that has no scientific or hex capabilities, despite running on a goddamned handheld COMPUTER? That awesome calculator?
  • directive0, on 01/14/2008, -6/+11OMFG Apple made something using an original existing design as a model! Alert the media, we got a breaking story!
  • sabarsky, on 01/14/2008, -10/+10seriously, you anti-apple ppl are as fanatical on hating apple as mac zealots are about loving apple. maybe we need to call you ppl hateboys.
    • CATSCEO, on 01/14/2008, -2/+1O_O
    • willynilly, on 01/15/2008, -0/+1Maybe we need to call your elementary-school teacher and find out why you still can't spell or capitalize.
    • t0ken, on 01/15/2008, -0/+1Actually, you can still call them fanboys(and it would irritate them more) since they are fanatical, just opposite the way the traditional Apple Fanboys are...
  • bjs3171, on 01/14/2008, -15/+23it's still retarded. LOOK! APPLE DESIGNED A CUBE! AND BRAUN HAS CUBE SHAPED PRODUCT! OMG!
  • mrgreenjeans9, on 01/14/2008, -5/+8i had a teacher in a design class years ago..his motto was: better to steal someone else's good idea than to come up with your own bad idea.

    seems like mr. ive subscribes to that notion as well?
  • BenjaminWill, on 01/14/2008, -10/+4Most of these so called comparisons don't look anything alike. And I am sorry but comparing a crappy old TV to an elegant new iMac is laughable. They look absolutely nothing alike. No wonder I don't visit Gizmodo anymore when their headline news consists of crap like this. And for the Record, Apple's designs are often regarded as the best in the industry, well ahead of anyone else. It's not Apple who are copying off anyone, if anything it's other companies copying off Apple, albeit not very well. I am sure Apple's design, especially in the old days, was inspired, but today they are coming up with their own ideas and approach. I'd be fine with that article if it was merely an observation, but its assuming nature, especially the way it has declared everything as fact, aggravates me.
  • meshman, on 01/14/2008, -12/+12Apple stealing ideas and hyping them as their own form of modern day miracle? No! It can't be!!!
  • Shakermaker, on 01/14/2008, -3/+10The "Braun Atelier TV and latest iMac 24" look nothing alike....same with the "Braun L60 sound system and Apple iPod Hi-Fi" and the "Braun LE1 speaker and Apple iMac"
  • MacnCidar, on 01/14/2008, -2/+20Gizmodo is on the right track, but it isn't Braun Ives was influenced by, he chose a set of design principles to adhere to that many, including Braun has. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bauhaus Did the artist in the Art Deco movement "steal" or "borrow" from each other? Or, did they choose to be part of a design philosophy. The same is true in musical styles, and so on...
    • MacnCidar, on 01/14/2008, -1/+1Maybe not Bauhaus? In any case, Gizmodo acts like they think these things up all by themselves... journalistic "borrowing"?
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dieter_Rams
    • bowe, on 01/14/2008, -0/+2dude it's wikipedia! this is in the wikipedia article MacNCidar linked to. "Rams' designs have been very influential on Jonathan Ive of Apple Computers, designer of such products as the iMac and the iPod"
      Everyone has influences, sometimes intended and otherwise unattended, especially artists. I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility that when Ives was designing the ipod, he looked through some old design books and saw the Braun radio, thought it looked cool, and then riffed off from that design.
      • sudowrestler, on 01/14/2008, -0/+0And, of course, there's a parallel between what the iPod and other players are to this generation and what the transistor radio was to the 1960s- the first incarnation of 'music in your pocket.'
  • chris1012, on 01/14/2008, -4/+5so mac isn't original after all.. not like some of us didn't know that already. They stole their ipod advertisement ideas from somewhere else.. i'll reference it in a reply once i find the source again.
  • jdenial, on 01/14/2008, -0/+1http://gizmodo.com/photogallery/dieterrams/1000468 ...
    this is my bet for apple's new groundbreaking product.
    http://hci.stanford.edu/research/itable.html
    • domness, on 01/14/2008, -0/+2You mean Microsoft Surface?
      • jdenial, on 01/14/2008, -0/+0oh yeah, it totally looks like an apple product
    • t0ken, on 01/15/2008, -0/+1gah still not used to the coment system i guess... @ domness...
      I think that was just a coincidence brought on by some student's adherence to Apple's naming conventions... either that or I've been carrying around some student projects in my pocket for a while...
  • skellener, on 01/14/2008, -7/+4Good artists copy; great artists steal.
  • sanotaan, on 01/14/2008, -1/+3good design is timeless

    /obvious
  • shounenyuki, on 01/14/2008, -2/+1The design is beautiful and angular, if it was a gas it would be inert
  • rampancy, on 01/14/2008, -0/+2I got the watch they have up there as a gift from my dad several years ago (they still sell it in versions with the date and the day and date). It's a great watch which I find really elegant and functional. A bit pricey though...
  • LLLSecretChimp, on 01/14/2008, -0/+13Good thing Braun didn't patent rounded corners.
  • ZenMojo, on 01/14/2008, -2/+1...I wonder how big a check Ives' estate gets.
  • bobcatred, on 01/14/2008, -0/+1Oh yes, it's hugely shocking to discover that Apple was inspired by the 60's design aesthetic.I can not believe that another company may have made similarly styled products first. Shocking. How dare Apple.
    /sarcasm
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