As few will dispute, the iMac is the most stylish computer ever to come out of Silicon Valley, with the possible exception of the old jet-black NeXT cube. And it's pretty much a lock that the iMac is the most stylish computer that a consumer could ever afford. (If you take a look at what passes for style on the Wintel side of the fence in terms of their low-cost offerings, you may just need some Dramamine afterwards.) But there's just one teensy problem: what if Bondi Blue clashes with your decor? After all, while it's certainly a pleasant hue, it's not exactly a neutral color, if you catch our drift. In some environments, a Bondi Blue iMac would look as out of place as a Bob Mackie sportcoat worn with swimming trunks and snorkeling gear.

The possibility of custom-color iMacs, which has come up in the past, has turned up again, this time in a Don Crabb piece at MacCentral. The original rumors we'd heard were that Apple was planning on offering a choice of three or four translucent colors as a $40 build-to-order option at the online Apple Store, but nothing more has come of that cool idea. Now Don has received reports that Apple may be considering building iMacs in the school colors of educational institutions who commit to buy a certain number of units. It sounds like a great idea, though with some of the color combinations in use at some of these schools being just butt-ugly, there's a distinct chance that school-colored iMacs will lose a sizeable chunk of their visual appeal. Regardless, the customer is always right, and if it sells more systems to the schools, we say "go for it." By the way, Don's a little bit late with the whole "school colors" idea, as faithful AtAT viewer David Puett made the recommendation a week ago: "Here is a suggestion for the iMac. You know all of those schools that are recommending it to the students. Well, wouldn't it be cool if Apple would make the iMacs sold at the school in the school's colors? I think it would be majorly cool, IMNSHO." Once again, we see that AtAT viewers are always on the cutting edge of Mac design ideas...

So, while we're skeptical that non-Bondi Blue iMacs will see the light of day anytime this year, at least people at Apple are thinking about it. If a custom color program doesn't cut too heavily into the iMac's profit margin, it could be a real selling point. In fact, if Apple does allow custom-built colors for the two-tone iMac, it will catch up to the NeXT cube in one important respect: basic black goes with everything, but so would the iMac.