Ubiquity works a strange magic upon a society. Soon the iBook's distinctiveness will be seen with new eyes and it will begin to infiltrate markets beyond the consumer space. As the design flourish of the iMac and iBook become more pervasive in society they will most assuredly begin to turn up in offices. Small businesses at first, then mid-sized outfits until eventually even the largest corporations adopt them. Some of today's business users may feel that colorful computers aren't businesslike, but very soon they'll have to be reminded of those days when a flashy computer wasn't seemly.
Fashions are like that.
Seldom does a corporation dramatically change the public consciousness through a specific marketing plan to do so. Generally a new product will inexplicably catch the public fancy and become a groundbreaking force of its own, while the originator sits in awe of its unexpected impact. To create such a force for change by design, again and again, is a mystic art. The value of any art is in the eye of the beholder, I suppose, but great artistry requires the ability to reinvent oneself. If Evelyn West had known how to reinvent herself she might have parlayed her assets into more than fleeting fame in a St. Louis nightclub.