You know that old saw, "be careful what you wish for"? We're thinking that Apple's marketing department might want to take that advice a little more seriously now that its ad copy has apparently come true, with disastrous consequences. Those of you mourners still looking for a scapegoat on whom to blame the passing of the Power Mac G4 Cube, we're happy to report that we've found one for you: whoever penned the Cube ad that said the product "looks like it belongs in the Museum of Modern Art." Because as we all know, dead things go in museums, and, sure enough, the Cube really did find its way into MoMA's collection-- just prior to its demise.

No joke: according to the New York Times, Apple's cubic-- or is that Cubist?-- interpretation of its (slightly) more conventional Power Mac G4 boasts such a stunning design, the museum recently "acquired" one for its design collection. Granted, this isn't the first Mac to wind up in the hallowed halls of MoMA; the original 1984 Macintosh led the charge. Neither is the Cube likely to be the last, and indeed, the Cube was inducted along with "six other Apple products" whose identities aren't revealed. Still, we can't ignore the extraordinary coincidence that first Apple's own ad touts the Cube as looking like it belongs in MoMA, then MoMA adds the Cube to its collection, and then the Cube disappears from Apple's price list. (Here's hoping that the Deco-looking Quicksilver isn't part of the collection, because we don't want it to vanish before we have a chance to buy one.)

This whole issue of "tempting the fates" aside, Steve Jobs (certainly the Cube's spiritual daddy) states that he and the rest of Apple are "surprised and honored" by the Cube's acceptance into MoMA. According to Steve, while the creation didn't enjoy much success as a commercial product, "that was not a failure of design; it was a failure of concept. We targeted the Cube at a professional audience. We thought they would rather have something small on the desk than expandibility and we were wrong. It was a wrong concept-- fabulously implemented." And that, folks, is of course why we love Apple so much: the company makes mistakes, sure... but they're spectacularly well-executed mistakes. Congrats to the Cube for its induction into MoMA; we think it's finally found its market.

On a vaguely-related side note, we guess we can stop wondering whether or not Apple employees tune in to AtAT; it's only been a week since we pointed out the use of the redundant phrase "rounded circles" on the Cube page, and now it just says "circles." Clearly the gods on Mount Cupertino are listening. So let's try a little experiment, shall we? (ahem...) "Gosh, it sure would be nice if we found a fully-loaded Quicksilver on our doorstep tomorrow morning!"