Let's face it, the world of business has not been playing its part in the perpetual battle between beauty and brutishness. In a fast-flowing river of dreck, commerce has supplied just a handful of products that truly combine elegance of function with visual grace. We count the Coca-Cola bottle and the paper-clip as classics of industrial design.
This is why those on the side of the angels have a duty to award credit where it is due. The new Apple notebook computer, the iBook, is a profile in corporate courage. Here was a company pushed to the brink of extinction, its market share diminished to just 5 per cent, almost an object of derision. Apple's response was to launch the iMac, cherishing style and simplicity above all else. To follow this up, the company could easily have played it safe. It didn't.
The iBook has all the features of a good laptop - a fast processor, a built in modem and CD-Rom drive, a big hard drive, a clear colour screen - but it also looks and feels gorgeous. It comes in orange or blue, you turn it on and it works, and it is truly gorgeous.
The iBook, £1,569 (€1,992), is available from Apple stockists.
Gizmo suggestions welcome: smaccarthaigh@irish-times.ie
