Bling's the thing

It's pretty easy to figure out where the PC style revolution came from. In 1998, Apple introduced the iMac, screaming for attention with its candy-Apple design, tangy fruit colors, and its promise that, with the power of the Internet, a really cool computer could deliver more than word processing docs and spreadsheets. Then in 2001 the iPod took things a step further, vaulting the personal gadget into the realm of wearable art.

Finally the left-brained PC world is meeting the computer-as-bling challenge. Bill Gates' CES keynote address last Sunday night featured, among other things, a 'Spotlight on PC Fashion for 2008' that featured a dozen high-style, high-concept designs. Viewers were treated to notebook PCs painted vermilion red and Barbados yellow; laptops disguised as high-end handbags or sporting Lamborghini trim; and PCs that hang demurely on the wall and double as flat-screen high-def TVs.

There were even some notebooks, like the knockout Dell XPS, that blend high style with function, lightness and durability (click here for a video demo).

Relative newcomer Asus seems to have based its whole PC market strategy on style statement, showing off a line of bold, crafted and smart-looking designs at CES.

And industry leaders like Sony are using a sophisicated portfolio of materials and stylings to offer PCs that cross the line between office workhorse and home entertainment system.

For us in the aluminum business, this revoloution in PC fashion means one thing: a similar revolution in materials. Ideas that companies like Alcoa have developed for other industries -- automotive, consumer packaging, aerospace, architecture, for example -- will play well in this environment.

Problems we've solved in the past for other industries, and research we're doing on today's challenges, make it easier for PC makers to find a solution that cuts costs, solves engineering problems and meets the demands of a growing and sophisticated consumer audience, all at the same time.