As a very happy owner of 23” of high definition goodness, I’ve been very curious and eager to see the release of a new product line of cinema displays from the kids at Cupertino. And today my wish was granted, with the arrival of a new line of flat panel displays sized at 20”, 23” and a gargatuan 30”. So demanding is the 2560x1600 resolution of the largest display, it requires a newly announced $599 NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra DDL graphics card. Now that’s uh spicy meatball!

Colour me a designasaurus rex, but I find these new displays lacking in the industrial design department. In fact, they quite frankly come off as cold and bland. Yes, I understand they’re meant to be complimentary to the current Tony Starks Industries styled G5 (which I think are sophisticated minimalist chic), and with that goal in mind they succeed. But from the vantage point of these displays as individual design solutions, they seem underwhelming. I think the base reminds me too much of something IBM would have designed in the mid to late 1990’s. Don’t get me wrong, I’m wowed by the technical achievement of their sizes, and I’m sure the build quality is superior to most other flat panel displays. But although the anodized aluminum may be cool to the touch, this discriminating Apple fan doesn’t deem them as cool to the eyes.