You know the drill by now, right? Apple introduces a funky blue egg-shaped computer. The rest of the industry laughs it off. Said funky blue egg-shaped computer flies off store shelves and sets sales records. The rest of the industry takes notice. A year later, Wintel-based iMac copycats start to surface. So Apple sues the companies producing the clones, and manages to secure a preliminary injunction against one of them-- Sotec, the producers of the e-one computer, which they sell in Japan and export for eMachines to sell here in the United States. Under the terms of the injunction, Sotec has to stop selling and exporting the e-one until the lawsuit is settled. Sotec then issues a statement that they're redesigning the e-one to have "distinct" features that are "not to be confused with the iMac," so that they can keep shipping their product while still complying with the injunction. Fair enough.

Or it would be, if Sotec's "remodeled" e-one weren't a big joke. MacCentral has a photo of the brand new system, which basically looks like an iMac dipped in silver paint. All the company did was replace the blue and white plastic with silver plastic, which actually makes the new e-one look more like an iMac, since without the color accents to distract the eye, the e-one's obvious copying of the iMac industrial design becomes the center of attention. Heck, our joke redesign is more distinct from the iMac than Sotec's real version. Note to Apple: want to win that suit against Sotec? Build a single iMac using all-silver plastic, bring it into court, and plop it down next to the "new" e-one. The judge won't be able to keep a straight face. (If you do this and win, we'll accept the one-of-a-kind silver iMac as a thank-you gift.)

We can't say we're surprised by Sotec's half-assed "design change," since they announced the "new" e-one scarcely a week ago. Sorry, Sotec, but painting stripes on a tree frog doesn't make it a zebra. As it stands, we're wondering if Sotec's new silver e-one will actually help Apple's case; by eliminating only the blue-and-white color scheme to get around the injunction, Sotec has issued a tacit admission that they at least meant to capitalize on the iMac's success by copying its colors. But even if it doesn't strengthen Apple's case, at least the new e-one gave our eyes a nice workout; upon first glance, our eyes rolled so far back in our heads, we could see our frontal lobes.