Jony Ive Designs One-of-a-Kind Red Mac Pro for Charity Auction | Hacker News Reader

Jony Ive Designs One-of-a-Kind Red Mac Pro for Charity Auction

macrumors.com

24 pointsderpenxyne18 comments

This is one of the items being auctioned for (RED) in a month. Jony Ive and Marc Newson have had a hand in designing them. Here is a list of (almost) all of the items: http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/2013/null-n09014.html

Other items include a pair of Apple solid rose gold earpods, a (RED) Steinway & Sons grand piano, a solid aluminium desk, a Leica camera, an authentic Stormtrooper helmet, and a thermal window for a space shuttle.

There wasn't really much to 'design', was there? You take an existing product and color it in red or shall I say (RED). It's awesome there can be money raised for charity this way, but PLEASE let's not call this 'designed' really...

Ive designed the Mac Pro didn't he...

He did for sure. Well or at least his team did. But changing it's color to red (like ALL Product (RED)) can't really be called 'designed' in my opinion. Or else I'll just take a standard orange pencil, make it red, call it new design. Boom.

Red is nothing more than a marketing gimmick.

Apple has >$100 billion cash sitting overseas, unable to return to the USA to be distributed as dividends unless they can successfully lobby for a tax holiday.

If the board of directors and executive leadership of Apple truly wanted to help poor people in Africa, they could simply call a shareholders's meeting to vote on a proposal to donate, as an example, on an ongoing basis 1% of offshore (ex-USA) net profit after tax to a recognised pan-African charity.

It's a great cause but did it really take two people collaborating to come up with the design/idea of painting something red for a charity called.. RED?

I think someone posted this[1] here yesterday, but from the description:

>Electrical current is run through aluminum in an acid bath, causing oxygen molecules to bond to aluminum producing a thin, uniform layer of aluminum oxide (basically: aluminum rust). Because this surface layer is porous, dye can be used to add nearly any color to the aluminum part before the surface is sealed.

While they may talk about Jony Ive taking part in the design in order to convey additional prestige to the product, it could be more involved than just painting a regular Mac Pro. Isn't this how they color the iPod nano? Anyway, it is conceivable that they did at least oversee the addition of color, and that there was a small potential for needing someone with special expertise.

[1] http://atomicdelights.com/blog/how-apple-makes-the-mac-pro

Aluminum oxide isn't really like rust, it is actually quite hard. This property is one of the things that makes aluminum so useful, as the surface oxidizes, it gains a very good protective coating. Rubies and Sapphires are essentially aluminum oxide.

I know I'm being pedantic, but rust carries a strong connotation of degradation.

Yes, unlike with iron, the process does not continue and the result is harder and more durable than the original, but, my point was that the surface probably is not just painted over, but has dye incorporated in the surface.

In this case, I think calling it "designed" is a journalistic stretch.

So they made a Red version to sell for massive money at a charity event. Good on 'em.

I think that for convenience and conciseness they're just using the same wording that has been used for the other products at this auction, many of which have been entirely new designs.

Yes

This has got to be a joke.

Frankly, it is a rather ugly product. The headline made me salivate but I ended up disappointed! Don't get me wrong, the cause is a noble one and I say kudos for that.

It is “Selected and customised” by Johnny Ive and Marc Newson. I would heavily emphasize on “customised”.

The headline from MacRumors and many others are inaccurate.

in my opinion, if you want to help africans, go to africa and spend money in local economies.

How will buying street food in Africa get Africans to use condoms and how does it help to find cures for HIV/AIDS, TB, and malaria? Because that’s where the proceeds of product(RED) go to.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Global_Fund_to_Fight_AIDS,_...

ultimately, as a consumer (hah) you have to decide for yourself where you think the money is better spent.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Product_Red

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