Filed under: Humor, Cult of Mac, PowerBook, MacBook
That unique "new Mac" smell
You all know what I'm talking about: the moment you tear open your new Mac and are greeted by that complex combination of a "little bit of plastic bag with a hint of lindenberry followed by a rush of Styrofoam." We all love it. Just like every other Apple product I've purchased new, my MacBook features that same unique scent.
I'd forgotten how much I missed it. I purchased my last Mac (a 15" Titanium PowerBook) second hand, from a smoker. Then I spilt a glass of wine on the keyboard which made it pong of cheap rosé. Needless to say, my MacBook smells significantly better than my old Mac. Its scent is amongst my most favorite smells and in my opinion it is second only to the smell of napalm in the morning.
Knowing this, you'll understand my disappointment after I Googled "that new Mac smell" and found that research suggests that the smell emanating from new gadgets is very unhealthy. Wikipedia's entry on a similar feature found in cars, "that new car smell", links to research that likens the odor to sniffing glue. There's also an article from 2004 on Geek.com that recounts evidence that toxic fire retardant chemicals found in computers can be transferred to dust. Although the article says that "two of the chemicals in question (penta and octa-brominated diphenyl) have already been banned and will no longer be used in production by the end of this year," I'm forced to reconsider my love of the smell of new Macs.
Does anyone have any information that would restore my confidence in my new Mac's smell?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
phi said 2:08PM on 5-26-2006
new tuaw blogger? i supposed greetings are in order. welcome aboard. wish I could experience a new mac smell, my powerbook (and first mac) was a refurb model i bought 2 years ago.
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Azhar said 2:20PM on 5-26-2006
peeling the plastic label off the back of my 5 year old imac keyboard still brings that smell. I dicovered the smell again while looking for some screws. Also my ipod boxes
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Big Ray said 2:27PM on 5-26-2006
Chances are you don't get enough new mac stuff to kill you. So inhale away.
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_don said 2:32PM on 5-26-2006
It's probably one of those things where *if* you sniffed your Mac for a continual week (no sleeping in between) for the next 5 years, you *might* get some disease. Life is too short. Stop and smell the...er...Macs. :-)
Like eating tomatoes will help ward off cancer...if you east a bushel a day. Yeah, right.
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sriracha said 2:32PM on 5-26-2006
What the f is a lindenberry? Maybe it only exists in Second Life (though in that case I don't want to know what one smells like...)
Maybe you mean Lingonberry...
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Alex said 2:36PM on 5-26-2006
Looks like someone's a fan of Comic Life.
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R031E5 said 2:43PM on 5-26-2006
I love that smell too! (and the new car's). Don't worry, the "penta and octa-brominated diphenyl" chemical doesn't exist, maybe they were suggesting octa-bromate diphenyl and that's used in the food preservation. Even if the "penta and octa-brominated diphenyl" was real you would need a minumum of 30 or 40 mg to feel a little bit sick (every inhalation extracts 1 mu-gram (0.00001 g) so you would have to smell your mac directly up to 300,000 times to get sick. Keep sniffing, is safe ;)
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Ffats said 2:43PM on 5-26-2006
You're not a Walt Mossberg that's getting units shipped to you on a weekly basis, so I highly doubt that anything bad is going to happen in small amounts. Imagine how high that dude must be from sniffing Treos all day...
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NNTPgrip said 3:00PM on 5-26-2006
I don't know how it is now, but I seem to remember opening the box for any new console from nintendo also carried the smell of something from apple.
Unboxing Expeirience: IIc(1984), IIgs(1998), Powerbook 12"(2005) - NES(1986), SNES(1992), N64(1996), Original GB(1990), DS(2005)
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NNTPgrip said 3:00PM on 5-26-2006
Edit- that's 1988 of course for the IIgs
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Alan said 3:01PM on 5-26-2006
I haven't experienced the new mac smell since '03, however in a couple months I hope to pleasure my snoot with the boot of a new macbook.
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Eric Ruiz said 3:12PM on 5-26-2006
Anything can kill you these days - screw the fatalistic possibilities and love the smell for the reasons you already do, and leave it at that!
ERIC
www.areyouseriousblog.com
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Azhar said 3:34PM on 5-26-2006
Best smells ever list.
1) A new jaguar.
2) New Apple box smell
3) Fudge hair wax
4) My farts after lunch.
Delcious.
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KSB said 3:38PM on 5-26-2006
or.... a brand new car with leather interior .... MMMmmm I love that smell
My dad used to sell cars some years ago and nothing was like going into a brand new Rover 75 and just experience the new feeling of a car.... !!
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Adrian vG said 4:12PM on 5-26-2006
The smell won't stay for too long, and during that period it can't be that hazardous. I just told two friends today when I opened my MacBook package how much I love that smell!
It's the small things in life, keep it real, so smell away!
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Chris said 4:33PM on 5-26-2006
iPod dock connector. such a potent smell. hehe
same with the wireless keyboard, they have the same distinct smell.
if you can try sniffing celery, they actually smell quite similar.
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JClark said 4:49PM on 5-26-2006
"Looks like someone's a fan of Comic Life."
Posted at 2:36PM on May 26th 2006 by Alex
I was thinking the same thing, two posts in a row with the Comic Life images.
CL is a fantastic program, it totally deserves to be on ever Mac, and now it is. Major props to the guys at Plasq.
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Deerhoof said 5:10PM on 5-26-2006
I work in an Apple Centre and I try to fit RAM to as many Macs as I can so I can sample that smell.
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Sean said 5:56PM on 5-26-2006
I love the smell of Apple Stores. Now I'm wondering if new apple products and the stores have the same smell...
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AP said 9:57PM on 5-26-2006
When I opened my powerbook the first thing that I could smell was what I imagined the seaside air at a port in Shanghai might smell like. Seriously.
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