The December 8, 2003 issue of Fortune magazine features its editors’ picks for the 25 best products of the year. Apple’s Power Mac G5 is on the list, along with offerings from Herman Miller, Toyota and many other companies known for their design skills.
“Great consumer-product design is no longer hard to find. It’s everywhere—from toilet plungers to espresso machines. A terrific design might be remarkable for sheer simplicity. It might use revolutionary materials. It might change the way you attack an age-old problem, like opening a bottle or warming your hands. Ideally, it does all those things,” explain Julie Schlosser and Kate Bonamici.
Among four products included in the “At the Office” category is the only computer — the Power Mac G5. Fortune said Apple’s new pro desktop machine is cool because “The G5’s anodized aluminum enclosure isn’t just an aesthetic home run: Its perforations keep the computer from overheating. Two sleek handles make the machine easy to move. And the G5’s 64-bit processor is one of the fastest around.”
Fortune also acknowledge’s Virginia Tech’s recent accomplishment of stringing together more than a thousand of the boxes to build the world’s third-fastest supercomputer.
Also on the list is Altec Lansing’s Inmotion speakers, which have been designed to work specifically with the iPod. Toyota’s Prius hybrid gas/electric vehicle also gets a nod; as did Canon’s PowerShot SD10 Digital Elph camera; the U.S. Treasury’s recently redesigned $20 bill; Schick’s Quattro razor; the Rabbit Lever Vacuum Pump Wine Preserver and many others.