
Jony Ive Designs One-of-a-Kind Red Mac Pro for Charity Auction - derpenxyne
http://www.macrumors.com/2013/10/25/jony-ive-designs-one-of-a-kind-red-mac-pro-for-product-red-charity-auction/
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davidjohnstone
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](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.

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ulfw
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...

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jreed91
Ive designed the Mac Pro didn't he...

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ulfw
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.

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yapcguy
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.

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lttlrck
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?

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rz2k
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](http://atomicdelights.com/blog/how-apple-makes-the-mac-pro)

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maxerickson
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.

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rz2k
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.

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DigitalJack
This has got to be a joke.

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curiouslurker
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.

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37prime
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.

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

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Samuel_Michon
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,_...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Global_Fund_to_Fight_AIDS,_Tuberculosis_and_Malaria)

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beachstartup
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](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Product_Red)

