Why are modern arms so ugly?

Halcro -
Dont intend to be cynical, but your criteria was "advanced the art and science". You said if an arm does not meet this criteria it is not of interest.
Can someone please explain how the Continuum arms have advanced the science. That is my question. What do you think are the breakthrough design concepts that are unique or new that have been introduced to tonearm science from the design, development and production of the Continuum arms.

Dover,
Look at the shape and materials used in the arm construction and tell me it looks like all the other tonearms produced today?
To say it is similar to those plastic arms of the 50s is fatuous.
Look at the unipivot design with a stabilising pivot on a sapphire jewelled swash plate to maintain stability.
Look at the total lack of headshell?
Look at the cam-weighted anti-skate designed to increase as the arm moves inwards.
Look at the jewel-encapsulated unipivot.
Look at the tonearm wiring exiting from the top of the arm and how it's supported on a stainless steel hoop frame to avoid any pressure on the arm movement.
Look at the azimuth adjustment utilising the actual swash-plate?
Look at the ability (with the Copperhead) to have additional armwands which can be substituted complete with their fixed cartridges?
Look at the counterweight system design with its placement so far below the level of the turntable platter?
And finally.......listen to the results!
To say any one of these elements has been used before negates the fact that there is a vocabulary of successful design principles which is fairly
limited in regards to choice?
If you don't agree that the Cobra/Copperhead designs have advanced the state of the art then that is your prerogative.
Please provide an example of an arm that in your opinion does for us to analyse

Dear Dover, if you wait a few months, you can answer Halcro's last question with much more ease ....;-) .....
Cheers,
D.

Halcro, see my comments below :

Look at the unipivot design with a stabilising pivot on a sapphire jewelled swash plate to maintain stability
Comment - I would argue this is not a unipivot as the bearing has multiple contact points and the arm does not have a single path to ground.
Look at the total lack of headshell?
Comment - Alphason - one piece titanium arm/cartridge mounting, ET2 - one piece tube/headshell, Syrinx PU2 - no headshell.
Look at the cam-weighted anti-skate designed to increase as the arm moves inwards.
I'll give you this but there have been other solutions to provide increasing antiskate force using magnets, elastomer threads ( Helius ), etc
Look at the jewel-encapsulated unipivot.
Comment - Naim Aro, Immedia Centroid
Look at the tonearm wiring exiting from the top of the arm and how it's supported on a stainless steel hoop frame to avoid any pressure on the arm movement.
My ET2
Look at the azimuth adjustment utilising the actual swash-plate?
Not a unipivot then, the Vector also uses a stabiliser system.
Look at the ability (with the Copperhead) to have additional armwands which can be substituted complete with their fixed cartridges?
Naim Aro, VPI - both complete with counterweight etc.
Look at the counterweight system design with its placement so far below the level of the turntable platter?
Odyssey RPG from 20 yrs ago, Naim Aro, Kuzma unipivot, Blue Note Unipivot, countless others.

Modern arms that have interesting facets - by the way this does not guarantee performance - Naim Aro for 1/2 the reasons you gave for the Contimuum, Roksan Artemiz - pyramidal bearing and intelligent counterweight, Eminent Technology - 1st air bearing tangential that worked, Air Tangent air bearing, Helius - single point allignment of vertical and horizontal bearings that they claim ensures energy hits both vertical and horizontal bearings in phase to reduce smearing, then you get into the likes of the Breuer, Da Vinci where craftsmenship are clearly evident.

You missed the unique counterweight and pivot point at the same height as the record surface.
Answer - Immedia RPM & Centroid.

I'm sure there are many others. I have no doubt the Continuum arms are excellent, and they would be on my short list if I were to upgrade from the Aro, along with the Immedia Centroid. However to suggest they are beautiful and push the frontiers of tonearm science is an overstatement in my view.

Hey Halcro - thought you might like to read up on the original Vector by AJ Conti -

The Vector 1 tonearm utilizes a hybrid bearing featuring a point contact, .020” radius polished male pivot fabricated from hardened tool steel. The female cup is ground and polished from sapphire and is precisely radiused to achieve self-centering with the pivot. The entire weight of the tonearm is concentrated on the primary pivot, with an innovative stabilization bearing controlling azimuth as well as guaranteeing stability of the vertical rotational plane of the stylus. This new, advanced bearing system solves the problems with all previous fixed bearing arms (bearing chatter, lack of azimuth correction) as well as the problems with unipivot bearings (azimuth “rocking” reaction reducing bass and dynamics, “loose” hand operation, unstable azimuth reaction to vertical record warps). The result is a tonearm of unprecedented sonic performance and superior tracking, guaranteeing reduced record wear.

The Vector tonearm is designed with a center of gravity offset from the main pivot, generating a couple (torque) about the axis of the armtube. This torque creates a secondary force resulting in a constant side-load against the stabilizing bearing, which consists of an azimuth guide arm riding against an ABEC 7 precision ball bearing. The guide arm is ground and polished to a .060” radius, creating a point contact against the .125” radius bearing. The secondary bearing is loaded in a purely radial, uni-directional fashion, eliminating all free play as well as any requirement for the bearing to support axial loads. With a radial runout of .0001” or less, the secondary bearing guarantees azimuth stability to within .01070. The secondary bearing is submerged in an extremely temperature independent damping fluid, guaranteeing no possibility of bearing chatter. The azimuth guide arm is angled at the exact angle of the headshell, forcing the tonearm to maintain azimuth while traversing record warps and at all VTA settings. The above arrangement yields a silent bearing that is supremely stable, resulting in effortless sound and pinpoint, stable imaging.

Look familiar.

This has been around for years. Better add the Vector to the list of true advances in tonearm science. AJ Conti has also been championing a balance centre of mass approach to unipivots as well, ie dont hang the balls too low, because if you do when the arm hits a warp, the low riding weight acts as a pendulum and tracking force increases as the arm has to lift the balls through a wider arc.

So what's new about the Continuum - did they invent the ABEC 9 bearing ??