Is Apple getting into the automotive business? Nah, they're subcontracting it all out. The last big "Mac car" was the new Volkswagen Beetle, which everyone and their grandmothers compared to the iMac; they both came out in 1998, they're cute and curvy, they appeal to roughly the same demographic, and their ad campaigns (the product spinning against a stark background with minimal black text) were startlingly similar. We recall some people even painting Beetles (digitally and in real life) to look like iMacs as publicity stunts; Take, for example, this creation posted on NoBeige.

As for the next generation of Apple cars, faithful viewer Jerry O'Neil points out an Associated Press article which reports that Ford's new "24-7" series of vehicles was "inspired by Apple Computer's popular iMacs." It seems these new concept cars "look like smooth, brightly painted pods, more like the exterior of the egg-shaped, fruity-colored iMac than a car." Forget having a dashboard-- these things have a Desktop: the "virtual dash" is a projected computer image, so you can set up your gauges any way you like and even choose different background patterns. In addition to a standard radio, there's also Internet access and a videophone-- all voice-controlled. If people who use cell phones while driving get on your nerves, wait'll these things get on the road... (Addendum: Faithful viewer Brian steered us toward an auto.com story, complete with photos.)

But that's not all. Faithful viewer Jeff Benson sent a link to GM's press release about their new HUMMER H2. "The world's most serious 4x4" has been updated, and its design "draws from other sophisticated consumer tools like G3 high-performance laptop computers and the Spartacus Macintosh.... In essence [the H2] is a functional device wrapped in art." It's just a matter of time now before every car on the road looks like it came out of Apple's design labs. Remember the old joke about "What if Microsoft Built Cars?" Well, we're starting to see what would happen if Apple built them instead...