Generally speaking, I”m a big HP booster.  I really like their servers, and have been using them in datacenters for years.  They usually have really good, well-designed products, and they are reliable.  Give me an HP over a Dell or whatever any day of the week.

Have you seen the new HP desktop computers though?  Here’s what they look like:

This is the Microtower 3000.  Looks nice, has decent specs, so what could be wrong with it?  Look closely at the picture.  Where is the power button?  Can’t find it?  Now that’s odd, isn’t it.  Usually the power button is front and center.  Where is it on this design marvel?  Why, it’s on TOP of the box, upper right in the picture, and as the bezel on top slants back, you can’t see it.

What’s wrong with that you ask?  Have you ever seen anybody put something (a book, a scanner, an external hard drive, etc) on top of a computer?  Of course, you see that all the time.  Well, with this clever design, you put something on top of the computer, or worse still have it sitting there for a while as you are working, and then you nudge it … <poof> the computer gets turned off in the middle of your work because you inadvertantly pushed the power button.

Now, this takes a special kind of brain damage to design a case like this, and have it go through testing, and approvals, and manufacturing.  I am astounded that nobody in the whole arduous process said “um, isn’t that a bad spot for the power button?”.  It’s probably the Emperor’s New Clothes syndrome.  Whatever the reason, I’m sorely disappointed in HP for this horrible blunder.