Of course, there are plenty of examples of cool cars that look quite different to the regular car, and who can forget Motorola’s RAZR which brought forth today’s explosion of thin and stylish mobile devices?

This is a shame, as Intel’s own press release reminds us that “style is an increasingly important consideration to consumers who integrate them into a variety of rooms, lifestyles and uses”, especially as ‘like cars and mobile phones, computers continue to become a larger part of people’s daily lives”. To back this up, Intel quotes a recent study finding that 73 per cent of U.S. adult computer users want to buy technology products that reflect their personal style.

They also quote their own senior researcher and anthropologist, Genevieve Bell, saying that: “In the past, it has sometimes seemed like computer manufacturers were following Henry Ford’s motto: ‘The customer can have any colour he wants so long as it’s black,’. But today we are seeing the beginnings of a remarkable proliferation of styles, shapes and colours. And that is a good thing. We expect more – computers should not only offer compelling and meaningful experiences but also fit into the aesthetics and styles of our homes.”

To show how serious Intel are about bringing fashion and design to PCs, Eric Kim, senior veep and GM of Intel’s Digital Home Group said that: “Intel is passionate about helping making sure home computers evolve to become as sleek and fashionable on the outside as the level of performance and innovation Intel processors provide on the inside. Intel continues to evolve PC technology, making PCs ever more powerful and energy efficient, and we hope contests like this inspire others in the industry to match our aggressive pace of innovation.”

The only problem is that the two winning designs don’t tweak any bones in my body and give me that ‘must-buy’ feeling, they just make me think they’re slightly snazzed up versions of the Mac Mini, just as most ‘RAZR’ clones just make me (and many other people) just think they are RAZR clones.  

I mean, let’s take the RAZR as an example. People bought it because the phone looked totally fantastic, and at least at the time, truly next-generation. People bought it in droves DESPITE having a pretty lousy interface, with people discovering the interface woes after buying the unit pretty much on looks alone. It goes to show just how much brilliant design is a true influence in people’s purchasing intentions.

So, how is that $1m prize delivered? Intel says that “TriGem will receive up to US$300,000 to help offset the costs of enabling the mass production of its grand-prize winning system and up to US$400,000 for co-marketing and promotional activities with Intel around the winning system. The first runner-up winner, Mesiro, will receive up to US$300,000 to help offset the costs of enabling the mass production of its winning system”. 

That means that TriGem actually gets US $700,000, while Mesiro gets the rest. The panel of judges for the finalist submissions consisted of IDEO Founder and Chairman David Kelley; Ziff Brothers Investments Senior Vice President, Technology Strategy Michael Miller; Intel President and CEO Paul Otellini; and GQ magazine Associate Editor Kevin Sintumuang, who were chosen for their expertise in “technology, design and style”.

In conclusion, Intel is very happy about the first competition, so much so that they are running it again, with the next winner to be announced at the September 2008 IDF Conference in San Francisco. I just hope that we get to see some true design breakthroughs appear, instead of yet more derivates of the Mac Mini, or a derivative of the Mac Mini 2, which Apple hasn’t spoken about or released, but are undoubtedly working on.

It certainly would be funny if Apple’s next Mac Mini brought forth the true design breakthrough that I am looking for, although given Apple will likely never use the Intel Viiv platform, I’m sure they will be ineligible to enter.

Alex Zaharov-Reutt travelled to IDF Beijing as a guest of Intel.{moscomment}