Everything Is an iPod In The Future: Difference between revisions

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Right now, being cutting-edge is all about plain black and white (maybe pastel colours if you're lucky), translucent plastic, smoothed edges, screens that slide and flip out, touch screens, unobtrusive buttons, minimalist advertising and displays, [[Design Student's Orgasm|lights that come out of nowhere]] and catchy little chimes when the devices start up. And of course, it's all small and convenient. For current evidence, look no further than the success of the iPod range and the [[Mac|iMac]] style it was based on, its [[Follow the Leader|imitators]] and other things that have adopted the style, such as pretty much the entire range of the latest game consoles.
 
[[Everything Is Online]], and physical data storage either consists of an equivalent of a USB thumbdrive or doesn't exist at all, considering that computers are so small and compact you can carry them anywhere and transfer data wirelessly. Interfaces are designed to be soothing, easy to use and colourful, and if intelligent they'll probably be [[Stop Helping Me!|annoyingly helpful]].
 
Of course, like every other "futuristic" visual style used in previous decades, this trope will probably be considered [[Zeerust]] after a while.
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== Live-Action TV ==
* The TARDIS in ''Doctor Who'' can be thought of as a version of this, in its original 1960s incarnation. The original set designer, Peter Brachacki, gave it a sterile white feel covered in a regular geometric pattern of circles with hints of neoclassical architecture to make it look "timeless", rather than making it deliberately futuristic. Due to the low budget the control console in the middle of the room was covered with conventional buttons, dials, levers and switches (Brachacki's original concept called for controls moulded specifically to the pilot's hands), but the sterile white roundel-covered walls became iconic and continue to inform the design of the current TARDIS sets nearly 50 years on. Amusingly, attempts by subsequent less visionary designers to make the TARDIS look deliberately futuristic (especially with [http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0d/TARDIS_console_1983.jpg the console design in the 1980s], which looked like a giant [http://en.[wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_Micro:BBC Micro|BBC Micro]]) dated at alarming speed.
** That original circular design on the walls is a hugely-enlarged photo of a pill packet!
* Inverted on the DVD [http://img.hotmoviesale.com/dvds/WAR-D73374D/1/The-Fresh-Prince-of-Bel-Air-Complete-Third-Season.jpg cover] of the 3rd season of ''[[The Fresh Prince of Bel Air]]''. Will had an iPod in 1992?
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== Video Games ==
* ''[[Portal (Video Game)|Portal]]'': Aperture Science product design borrows heavily from Apple, but it ends there. The game is said to be concurrent with the latter half of the ''[[Half Life]]'' series, and we all know [[Crapsack World|what]] ''[[Used Future|that's]]'' [[GaiasGaia's Lament|like]].
** In fact, one of the turrets from ''Portal'' was used to represent a Macintosh computer in a "Steam for Mac" ad, with a ''[[Team Fortress 2 (Video Game)|Team Fortress 2]]'' Sentry representing the PC.
* The city in ''[[Mirrors Edge]]'' is like [http://jollyjack.deviantart.com/art/How-to-play-Mirror-s-Edge-115382910 living in an iPod].
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* Bombardier Movia metro trains. [http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_cbqm1p3Iac0/SdMFUQkDz0I/AAAAAAAAITE/_Rz_7GudNik/s1600-h/BT-1503-BucharestHR.JPG Movia 346] model looks most like an iPod Classic from the outside, down to the combination of stainless steel and white panelling, and [http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cbqm1p3Iac0/SdME323jQFI/AAAAAAAAIS8/1MhJVPfmSGw/s1600-h/BT-2459-BucharestHR.JPG the inside] does not lag far behind.
** [http://i557.photobucket.com/albums/ss12/SBS1988U/Trains/BT-PR-20081107-Singapore_Downtown_L.jpg The version for Singapore's upcoming Downtown Line looks even sleeker], with the ridged metal paneling on the sides gone in preference for a smooth glossy white one. The headlights themselves have been streamlined into mere slits on the front.
* Mercedes-Benz [http://en.[wikipedia.org/wiki/:File:Bucharest_Citaro_bus_3Bucharest Citaro bus 3.jpg |Citaro]] series of urban buses. You can also have one in [http://www.britishmodelbuses.com/Real%20bus%20pictures%20Large%20Images/Mercedes%20Benz_Citaro%20Articulated_Stagecoach%20in%20London_Large.jpg red]. Or [http://bus-and-coach-photos.com.s3.amazonaws.com/1628.jpg both].
* [http://strand-craft.com/122.html Strand Craft] yachts. Not white, but [[Screw the Rules, I Have Money|they will make one in white if you have the big bucks]]. And she comes with her own supercar.
* [http://emea.skagen.com/ Skagen] [http://www.watchismo.com/skagen-watches.aspx Watches]. [http://www.skagen.co.uk/index.php?SCREEN=skagen_gents_steel&nCategoryID=33 Simplicity and understatement] [[Up to Eleven|pushed to the extreme]], at least as much as the outer design is concerned.
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* [http://www.benelli.it/articoli/Armi.asp?ID=126 Benelli Argo Comfortech] semi-automatic rifle is the iPod Classic of hunting: futuristic appearance, but innocuous enough to hide the fact it incorporates all technologies that could help to cancel recoil and steady the gun for accurate shooting, [[Crazy Prepared|down to the exact composition of the rubber covering]].
* The [[Wii]] itself seems to be going for this kind of aesthetic.
* The [[Nintendo DS]] series seem to be going for this look [http[wikipedia://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Nintendo-DS-Lite-Black-Open.png |in]] [http[wikipedia://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Nintendo-DSi-Bl-Open.png |its]] revisions.
** Subverted by the latest version of the [[Nintendo DS]] (the DSi XL), which is ''[[Bigger Is Better|bigger]]'' and marketed for it! Though it has bigger screens for the vision- and motor-impaired, it still folds smaller than the original [[Game Boy]].
* Also compare the iPad, essentially an iPod touch with a screen that's twice as big in each direction but which may in fact be thinner. Or, as one critic wrote, a more powerful iPod Touch that can be used by people without the eyesight of an Air Force pilot.
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:Everything Is An I Pod In The Future]]
[[Category:Trope]]