You knew it was only a matter of time before the iMac knock-offs started appearing, right? After all, given that the iMac is one of the most successful computers of all time (yes, we're just making assumptions, so don't ask for proof), it was obvious from the beginning that some companies would try to figure out just what made the iMac so darn popular and then incorporate that "iMacness" into their own products. For a particularly blatant example, NoBeige pointed us towards A-Top Technology, whose new PC cases could not be a more obvious ripoff of the iMac color scheme. After all, there's no denying that the iMac's distinctive translucent coloring is at least partially responsible for its runaway popularity...

...But A-Top's "Color Series Translucent Plastic Cases" aren't just colored and translucent-- the clearly went beyond just borrowing a page from Apple's book and instead pretty much photocopied the whole chapter on "Color," crossed out Apple's name, and scrawled theirs in instead. One glance at the A-Top cases and you notice that they use a solid translucent color highlighted with a translucent white-- "Ice," anyone? More to the point, three of the available colors are named exactly like Apple's: Lime, Strawberry, and Grape. Then there's Orange-- how sneaky of them to rename Tangerine. A note states that Blueberry is "coming soon." And the final color available now is called "Blackish Green," which is basically a muddier Bondi Blue with a name that, instead of evoking the deep blue-green waters of Bondi Beach in Australia, evokes the mental image of a brackish swamp. (Elsewhere on the page, the color is referred to as "Dark Teal," which is a step in the right direction.) Not that A-Top doesn't have some innovation coming soon-- apparently black and white enclosures are on their way.

Sure, it's kind of goofy to see a company hawking iMac-themed PC cases that lack the overall curved and integrated simplicity of the iMac itself, but if you've got to use a PC, we suppose they beat having a beige box. Plus, A-Top claims that owning one of these cases "drastically increases the overall quality & value of the entire system," so how can you go wrong? You even get something that you won't find in an iMac or a blue-and-white G3-- a slot for a floppy drive. Where do we sign up?