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Handhelds Hardware

Retro Palm Pilot Case 120

Posted by Nik from the yes-of-course-I-want-one dept.
PsyMaster writes "I found this article over at PalmStation. There's a dude who made a Palm case out of rosewood. There are some great pics and the person even changed his stylus to be wood-covered. I wondered if it was a simulated wood initially, but you can definitely see the real wood scratches. Very cool."
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Retro Palm Pilot case More

Retro Palm Pilot case

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  • I don't know much about wood, but that Pilot looks like it probably weighs about 10x than it originally did! Looks damn cool though. I'd like one made of plexiglass, but that's prolly a tad bit harder to work with than wood ;)

    Esperandi
    Upon reading the headline I expected a story about a guy who invented a PalmPilot back in 1963 and was bringing suit.... litigation on the brain
  • You know, I often wonder about this obsession with retro looks. The new Thunderbird is ugly, and doesn't at all look like it's worth as much as Ford plans on charging. Likewise, the Palm is supposed to be modern, sleek, and high-tech. Rosewood rather destroys this appeal.

    -----------------------

  • Individual Creativity (Score:5)

    by Effugas ( 2378 ) on Tuesday January 25, 2000 @03:11PM (#1336598) Homepage
    And to think. With but a line in a contract, this is the kind of individual creativity that the software industry would seek to suppress.

    Yes, this is hardware, so yes, this guy can do whatever he pleases with it once he owns it. I think the world's a better place because of it--the ingenious and polished nature of this design will hopefully inspire new and fascinating ideas from case designers.

    Once you accept the value from such individual achievement in hardware, it is impossible to claim it disappears in software, in music, or even in a DVD video.

    And once you allow the right to modify and create anew to slip to a simple stroke of seven point text, you doom everyone to nothing more than derivative boredom.

    There's more to the DVD case than technicalities. The sheer beauty of this Palm Pilot is but a whisper of the possibilities.

    Yours Truly,

    Dan Kaminsky
    DoxPara Research
    http://www.doxpara.com

  • Cray (Score:3)

    by Datafage ( 75835 ) on Tuesday January 25, 2000 @03:16PM (#1336600) Homepage
    In a shocking press release, Cray has announced a rosewood makeover for their entire line of supercomputers. "They didn't look refined enough," one of Cray's representatives said. "We learned that out customers would be happier if we made the servers look more like furniture than a water heater. Market research indicated that customers wanted sophistication, not power." Representatives from Dell could not be reached for comment.

    -----------------------

  • It looks classy, not retro. While I agree that it is a high-tech gaget and I wouldn't expect something like this to be sold by Palm, this is the kind of thing that an exec would love. It keeps the funcationality of the device and adds good looks. Interestingly enough this is the same tactic that Apple used for all of their new products but went the other way with it. High tech merges with high class. Props to the guy who did it.
  • Visit the Signal 11 Shrine [geocities.com] to see Signal 11 naked and petrified.
  • This looks cool, but it's probably rather heavier than the original plastic. Also, what of wood's known tendency to expand/contract/warp/split in response to atmospheric conditions? This wood has to be pretty thin. I vote for a carbon-fiber Palm case. Cool look, lighter, stronger, and much more expensive. Of course, this is all a moot point for me since I don't have one of the beasts, but I can dream...
  • What's with this obsession with wood retro? Personally I think this "upgrade" takes a PalmPilot, which is a very sleek, cool-looking device, and makes it look like crap.

    Don't get me wrong, I admire the construction...I just have no idea why someone would want to do this. It's like those cars in the '50s that were plastered with wood....**shudder**....

  • I wonder... (Score:4)

    by garcia ( 6573 ) on Tuesday January 25, 2000 @03:27PM (#1336605)
    did he name his Pilot Rosy Palmer?

    "I got wood for my palm!" ;-)

  • A whole new line (Score:3)

    by Mateorabi ( 108522 ) on Tuesday January 25, 2000 @03:31PM (#1336606) Homepage
    Changes like this could inspire others. I'm sure there are a FEW people out there who would like other designs. I can just imagine some more retro looks:
    The fake leopard skin case
    The pewter palm (a bit heavy)
    The lego palm (can attach lego pieces to it on top & bottom)
    The lucite palm (just like those phones you can see inside)
    The rubber palm (adds another inch of drop survivability)
    The palm float (take it in the pool)
    The sandstone palm (look like Fred Flinstone)
    Fishtank palm (from the soles of your shoes to the palm of your hand, sure as hell beats a tamaguchi)
    The Neon palm.

    call now, supplies are limited.
    any others?

  • Not bad. (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I bet this "Deluxe Executive Model" Palm Pilot could be sold for three times the price!

    Personally, I would rather see a chrome-plated streamlined (think 1950s toaster) computer. I thought at first glance the Apple G4 was like that, but as we all know it's that silly transparent plastic.

  • - (Score:1)

    by Ekapshi ( 61544 )
    Imagine the effect a couple of termites would have on his PalmPilot...hehehehe...

    -Ekapshi
  • Now if I could just get Christina Aguilera on my Palm to match my ICQ and Winamp skins...

    -----------------------

  • VERY impressive woodworking ability. He would do Norm Abrams proud. :-)

    A wealthy eccentric who marches to the beat of a different drum. But you may call me "Noodle Noggin."

  • Great :) (Score:2)

    by / ( 33804 )
    I must commend this industrious gentleman for pioneering the first pda that can double as a bar of soap [victoriangreenhouse.com]. Now there's no reason to be without your palm wherever you go, although some have been known to use their palms in the shower before, wink wink, nudge nudge, if you know what I mean.

  • Odd coincidence on theMushroom (Score:3)

    by TheDullBlade ( 28998 ) on Tuesday January 25, 2000 @03:52PM (#1336612)
    The Mushroom [themushroom.com] top story: fake wood panels making a comeback in the console market.

  • Think that's different? (Score:3)

    by Rjcc ( 143360 ) on Tuesday January 25, 2000 @03:53PM (#1336613) Homepage
    Check out the home of the cardboard PC. As I recall, someone was asking about cheap rack mount cases, but Martin's Cardboard PC [mobile.al.us] is in a class of it's own.
  • customers would be happier if we made the servers look more like furniture than a water heater.

    Haha - I sat on the Cray 1 at the German Museum in Munich while none of the museum staff were looking. Around the bottom of the Cray 1s, Cray built a circular leather covered base which looks (and feels) like a comfortable bench in which to sit. Indeed the Cray 1 was powerful AND furniture.

  • Have you noticed lately (actually its been going on since the 60's) the over-proliferation of plastic. Its kind of nice to break up the monotony of life with wood or in some cases just cold hard steel. What really irks me is the look of new cars and trucks where the interior is almost 100% plastic. What happened to the good old rugged Ford's with there steel dashboards and rugged appearance. I mean the trimmin on my new Ford is already starting to fall apart after only a couple of years. Compared with my Grandpa's '78 it looks like a toy.

    I think the retro look is nice and in many cases more rugged and functional. I'm sick of these cheap plastic cases that fall apart after a month or two. Take my pager for instance. I'm a pretty physical person so at least once a day I ding the thing into something. Now if it had a tough nylon or metal shell it would be fine but the thing is already starting to come apart at the seams.

    You would think with all the advances in material science corporate america would utilize them more.


    Nathaniel P. Wilkerson
    NPS Internet Solutions, LLC
  • The lucite palm (just like those phones you can see inside)

    But such a thing already exists [ebay.com]!
  • So is this guy gonna start doing this professionally? I'd love one... only he might have to do some things different to get the wood to fit around my Visor. Plus, he'd probably have to have it for awhile, huh? Oh well, it'd still be cool... custom wood finishes for Palms.

  • This is a damn fine effort. The photographs clearly don't do it justice. Real wood has a visual and tactile quality that beats the hell out of plastic.

    The only thing I might change would be the buttons; the grey plastic clashes. I'd make carved wood buttons as well, possibly out of maple (for contrast).

    Schwab

  • Oh my (Score:1)

    by nsfmc ( 105841 )
    I guess this brings an even more reality to the saying
    "I'll never be lonely now that i have my Palm"...
    well, at least i'm guessing this guy wasn't lonely.

    --nsfmc

  • I agree. What about buttons made out of marble? Or maybe making the whole case about marble? Sure, it it heavy, and maybe fragile, but it'd look awesome.

    Oh well. Enough of my crazy ramblings.

    -V

  • I mean yeah, it looks cool, but this guy had to have spent a hell of a lot of time doing this! Wouldn't it be a bit cooler to spend this time doing something remotely useful, and getting paid for it? Perhaps this is just my way of thinking... Ace
  • Where are all the other people that like to take their stuff apart and make it look the way that THEY want it to. Like I just started running windowblinds, which seems to end up running either WinAqua or BeOS skins (I really want to use BeOS, but I can't network). There's even a program for palm pilots that allow you to change the look of the OS, it's called Silver.... something or the other, a quick search on palmgear and you'll find it. I truly wish that palm would create an easy way for users to "skin" their pilots. The color cases are just out, but lacking personality. Custom palm cases, there's an idea, that would be quite fun actually, give you some "extra" personality. If Apple gets their palm device out, you Palm could have an Apple skin :) And this one would have a much better OS inside.

  • That is IT! I am sick of people using MY NAME for their own benefit. Im talking to my lawyer. Oh yeah -- Hemos -- no more using the word rosewood on the front page w/o my permission. }:P
  • He's got too much time on his hands.

    But while he's at it, I'd like to see some other old fashions come back in a new tech life:

    Tie dyed monitors
    Velcro wrist rests
    'Pet Rock' Mice
    Ergonomic bean bags
    Olive Green and Almond colored cases
    And lava lamps for the hell of it.

    Lisa
    [grrl.org]
  • When I saw that subject heading, I thought
    that someone had figured out how to squeeze
    one of the new goofy looking streamlined
    palms back into the good old rectangular
    plastic boxes.
  • It's the Feel. Rosewood has a warm, soft texture that is so much nicer than cold hard plastic. The conversion (which was completely awesome woodworking, btw.) probably made his palm a lot nicer to hold while he is working on it. Wood just feels "right."

  • What's with this obsession with wood retro? Personally I think this "upgrade" takes a PalmPilot, which is a very sleek, cool-looking device, and makes it look like crap.

    What's with this obsession with "very sleek, cool" looks? C'mon now, texture, people, texture!

    (Of course, I would've preferred brushed aluminium surfaces and wood siding, but that probably would've been too expensive and involved...)

  • This guy's probably a master woodworker. I suppose selling one for $1600 might be worth it. But considering the skill of the craftsman, I doubt 3 * 200 would even be worth it for him to do...

    Amber Yuan (--ell7)
  • I don't know how practical a wood case would be, but it's certainly the most beautiful case I've seen.
  • I mean yeah, it looks cool, but this guy had to have spent a hell of a lot of time doing this! Wouldn't it be a bit cooler to spend this time doing something remotely useful, and getting paid for it?

    Yeh, god forbid us if we ever were to do anything fun with our free time!! we should be working 100% of the time! Laziness is what brought down Russia!

    Perhaps this is just my way of thinking... obviously, idiot.

    Amber Yuan (--ell7)
  • That's planned obscelesence for you. The companies have to keep the profit margins up by making you replace everything every couple of years. The same reason the computer you bought 2 months ago is now "too slow." I agree that the retro look is nice, though. I don't think I'd want that case for myself, but it is kinda cool. And the Lego case...that would truly rock
  • Imagine a whole line of case covers.. similar to the posts [slashdot.org] on Slashdot before about cases... wherein you had just about anything you wanted. Want Matrix code all over it? you got it. Want it to be blacklight responsive? there ya go. What about glittery and glow-in-the-dark? We've got that. Or, better yet, how about with some shiny chrome look to it? Or, Picasso? Camouflage? Iridescent?.........
  • Yeah well, just don't sit down on it - you'd bleed out in 30 seconds.
  • This strike anyone as fairly similar to what the Sandbenders do in the Gibson novels? Take the guts otu of the cheap, knockoff shell, and put them into a handcrafted work of art... gotta like it. :)
  • Does bring up the question though of why technology seems limited by certain forms. Why do PCs all have to be oatmeal boxes? Why do stereo components all come in black boxes?

    Anybody remember Sandbenders in Gibson's Idoru? Computers cased in sandcast silver and turquoise.

    Or the decadent medievalism of Herbert's Dune?

    Or the pizza-box Linux server?

    As long as it can hold the circuitry, there's no reason for it to be a beige box. So, yeah, Apple's little gumdrops are rather too cute to stand near without an insulin shot, but at least they tried. After all, you're going to be staring at that thing sitting on the desk long enough, might as well enjoy it.

  • Ah but you miss th whole point! Is Michaelangelo's "David" not still beautiful after all these years? True beauty transcends time. Modern? What is modern in a few years?

    I would want one of these even if the weigh penalty was 2x!

    -DF

  • Obviously it was (Score:3)

    by dsplat ( 73054 ) on Tuesday January 25, 2000 @05:27PM (#1336642)
    Of course it was worth the time! The value of time spent on something is in what the person doing it gets out of it. It doesn't matter if it is useful to him or anybody else unless that was part of the goal.

    If I gave up reading books that weren't useful, I'd have to throw out most of my fiction. Of course, I wouldn't miss some of the non-fiction that should be thrown out as useless.

    As for getting paid for your time, as we become wealthier, time quickly becomes the most valuable commodity we have. An hour spent can never be reclaimed. I spent the last hour reading to my son. I had a good day today. I gave my employer good value for my salary. But that last hour, for which I wasn't paid a penny, is the one I will remember longest and treasure most.

    Wouldn't it be a bit cooler to spend this time doing something remotely useful, and getting paid for it? Perhaps this is just my way of thinking...

    What he did may not be valuable to you. Enjoy the diversity of the world. It is part of the reason that the world needs you as well as him. I could try to say something deep and profound here, but the point is too obvious.

    Chorus of thousands of massed followers under a window: "We are all individuals!"
  • there is palmcolors.com that makes nice replacement cases, i like their millenium but its too expensive just for a fancy color :-)

    ---
  • If I were to make a "retro" case for my palm, it'd have to be something with a more "electrical-type" retro style. Remember what old phones were made out of? Imagine a bakelite palm. Now THAT's retro.
  • Touche on the old T-Bird :)

    -----------------------

  • SCENE 45B - CLOSEUP

    Lips fill screen, and utter cryptic phrase:

    "Rosewood..."

    - Richie

  • Sorry to add another pointless post, but I hate the New Beetle as much as AOL and iMacs.

    -----------------------

  • What kind of finish did he put on it? I ask because many polyester and polyurethane finishes reduce heat dissipation (a serious problem for any handheld computing device). It looks like he put a pretty thick coat on, too.

  • Wood is a wonderful material, but you can't have it. It's against the law to import nice woods to the US. Something about conserving the rainforests, promoting slash and burn agriculture instead of crafts and industry, it's all very confusing and reeks of protectionism. You will be happy with plastic, ha ha ha!

    see this American University Page as a start [american.edu]

  • Re:Cool!! (Score:3)

    by farmkid ( 15226 ) on Tuesday January 25, 2000 @06:15PM (#1336659)
    Indeed!

    In fact, rather than Norm Abrams, he may want to contact www.taunton.com -- Fine Woodworking might be interested. A couple of comments from a woodworker:

    1) I'm not sure whether this is a translation issue or not, but cocobolo is not usually considered rosewood. An equally wonderful and exotic wood -- just different.

    2) Some have questioned the additional weight: Perhaps tropical hardwoods are more dense than plastic, but the thinness required probably makes any additional weight unnoticable. I doubt, therefore, that this is a problem. (Hint: I"m willing to field-test this! :-)

    3) And to expand further on the 'thinness': this is a tour de force. Wood has a grain and a mind of its own, and does not submit easily to suggestions from humans to drape itself seductively around small objects. Well done! (But, yes, another commenter's suggestion is true: maple buttons would be better than plastic.)

    4) But I'm not entirely satisfied -- I have to quibble: the battery door was obviously cut from a different piece: the grain doesn't match.

    Despite the last (minor) complaint, I'm in awe -- I wouldn't want to tackle this project myself, and I think that it was masterfully carried out. Bravo!

    Oh, but before I quit:

    5) Despite other comments, I'm not sure "retro" fits, since the shape of the Palm is so closely duplicated. Style encompasses materials, to be sure, but also line. I agree with many of the previous comments about the desirability of a myriad of textures: aluminum, wood, powder painting, stainless, plastic, copper... even stone? Design ingenuity will eternally encompass (I think) both the natural materials at our feet and the new creations from our labs.

    Greg

  • Re:Cray (Score:1)

    by Uart ( 29577 )
    i never actually saw one in person, but i saw a picture, and my initial impression was, "Why does it have built in seating?"

    anyway..... havingone in your living room would make a good convrsation piece, huh.

    anyway, on the topic of the pilot, wont this make it kinda big? Maybe i'm just soiled but compared to my palm Vx, the standard case for the III or reletives is practically huge, and this looks like it makes it even bigger. Not a totally bd look though,maybe it they used plastic that looked like wood instead?
  • Plus (it seems to me.. from the pics at least) he'd have to rip off the plastic to stick the wood on there.. dun sound like that much fun to me.. someone needs to find out how long it took him to make it..
  • On my home computer, I have a picture of Mount Baker at sunrise. Orange and yellows and reds. Bits of sky in dark blue and turquoise, and all of it reflected in a river. It is, for the most part, an image that could have been seen 100 years ago. I'm glad I have that picture.

    I know people who take HOURS to craft a background image for their Window manager. -- Why do we do it??

    What good is life without beauty? Bare white (or grey) walls are completely functionial, yet people INSIST on cluttering them up with pictures and posters. Other people will go out and spend a day's wages to listen to a good musician for an evening.

    Yes, we can make it through life without beauty. A better question, however, is: Can we truely LIVE without random acts of beauty?

    A sunset; a beautiful person; a rainbow; an interesting picture or painting; a kind word from a friend (a stranger even!) -- all of these things have no, obvious, utilitarian value. All of them can make someone's life that much better.

    To say that something with no utilitarian use isn't "remotely useful" is to argue for the life of a souleless drudge with no other purpose in life beyond working -- eating, and sleeping only in support of accomplishing your boss' wishes. It's not a life that I would willing ly lead, and it's not one that I would suggest to my worst enemy.

  • If you want cold and hard, the Palm V is made of metal

    You don't want to lick that on a cold day. Some of us (Roblimo) have been known to do that on salow day...
  • He is lame. He's an imposter. I don't have a period on the end of my name. Why do crappy things like this happen to me?

    -----------

    "You can't shake the Devil's hand and say you're only kidding."

  • Want to talk about rugged... My nokia cellphone has had just about everything done to it, from being thrown into a wall (i was having a bad day) to being slammed in a car door, (fell out of my pocket while i was closing the door and it got in the way) and its still ticking!, and barely a scratch of damage. (ok, the car door left a mark, but its barely noticeable. Good american design right there!\

    Wait! Nokia isn't American? oops, my bad.
  • an (insert hot media-personality here) naked-and-petrified statue with a PalmPilot embedded in it?
    Of course, you could just take that rosewood case and leave it for a thousand years, and then it would be petrified wood! Sweet...

    Notice that this isn't a troll: it's on topic, and does not deal with specific people.
    --
    Talon Karrde
  • >I mean yeah, it looks cool, but this guy had to have spent a hell of a lot of time doing this! Wouldn't it be a bit cooler to spend this time doing something remotely useful, and getting paid for it? Perhaps this is just my way of thinking...


    You knew some karma-whore like me would Have to compare this to open source.
    But, seeing as how I've said that, do I actually have to type it out for you?
    OK then, I won't. But remember, others might not let you off with so little as a warning.
    --
    Talon Karrde
  • heh i gots titanium watch and sunglasses, titanium palm pilot would just make the ensemble complete :)
  • What I want to see is an iMac strapped to the top of a new Beatle. They look like they're made for each other. (How about an AOL cd in the back window? Or a whole window made out of them?)
  • Ever notice something? Audio cables are always black, and computer cables are always beige, besides power cables, which are either black or beige, and AC adaptors are almost always black except in rare occassions. Nearly everything better catagorized as "consumer electronics" is black, maybe just a touch shiny, and designed, above all, to be as obscure as possible. Computers, however, are always beige, seemingly to scream to the world, "HI! I'M A COMPUTER! LOVE ME! USE ME!"

    I nearly took the shell off my monitor and spray-painted it black while I was home over Christmas break. I probably should have. Too many things came up, though, like staying up all night long [festing.org] coding like crazy.

  • Thought this was a really cool idea so I hit the site. Turns out it IS a cool idea. The product might even be worth it if I could get a snazzy case for my Palm SEVEN!! The company's cases are apparently only compatible with the Pale III series. Didn't those become obsolete quite awile ago? Granted there are many folks still using them as it's hard (and expensive) to stay on top of the current gadgets, but I still think palmcolors is going to need to keep up with the Palm people if they're going to stay in the game.

  • Re:He could go into business (Score:3)

    by CaseyB ( 1105 ) on Tuesday January 25, 2000 @08:31PM (#1336675)
    He's got too much time on his hands.

    He used his time to make something beautiful.

    In my book that qualifies as time well spent.

  • What's with this obsession with wood retro? Personally I think this "upgrade" takes a PalmPilot, which is a very sleek, cool-looking device, and makes it look like crap.

    No kidding. It's like those people that use cedar when building a home instead of vinyl siding.

  • Yeah, I thought the sandbenders were a bitchin' idea--heavier, but oh so real.

    None of this plastic fantastic crap for me, thankyouverymuch. I'll pay the weight penalty any day.

  • Not Palm devices, but there are some wicked
    customized PowerBook G3 pics here:

    http://www.powerbook.org/soberay/Gallery.html

    (Mostly in Japanese, but the pix are cool)

    --Kevin

    =-=-=-=-=-=
    "...You and me baby ain't nothin' but mammals/
    so let's do it like they do on the Discovery channel..."
  • First of all I would like to say that this palm-case looks quite neat. Although I just wouldn't do that to my little Palm. But how much time do you have to spend to do such things?

    Then I would like to point out to a different fact:
    At a local university (in Germany) they are seeming to get interested into the PalmPilot and now offer classes about that. I think that's great news for all Pilot users as it seems Palms are no longer treated as toys or geek-stuff.

  • I'm pretty sure I saw a Mac magazine with exactly that on the
    front cover...No idea which magazine, but I think it was a month or a two after the iWack introduction...

    --Kevin

    =-=-=-=-=-=
    "...You and me baby ain't nothin' but mammals/
    so let's do it like they do on the Discovery channel..."
  • So? I made a case out of STONE! And not just any old stone, mind you...
  • Anyone ever see that skin for winamp called "woodamp?" It looks just like this guy's palm pilot.

    I guess wood paneling isn't just for dentist waiting rooms and station wagons anymore.

    OK, I can't resist..."I have wood on my palm!!"

    Sorry
  • Wow - I know I feel my machines are outdated quickly. NOW I can just get a cardboard/disposable PC! Weeeh.
  • Lucite palm - they were giving clear cases away at Palm Devcon 1998. Very cool.

    I'm waiting for a marble one, look, its a PDA and melee weapon in one easy to carry brick %^)

  • Isnt rosewood an endangered/rare species of exotic wood... (It might actually be a multitude of species)
  • I think you can get a visor [handspring.com] to do that with a bit of work....
  • Wow, what a cool case. Good craftmanship. Now the deeper question, how does this case relate to computing as a whole? Can this type of craftsmanship take foothold in the world of computing? Would be great. And with the ugly crap I see out there now, I can only hope so...

  • PalmIII (,e,x) aren't obsolete -- PalMVII has its wireless network support, but in places like SF Bay Area one would rather use smaller PalmIII and attach Ricochet modem when necessary, like I do -- as opposed to others, Ricochet is fast, and flat rate. And, of course, there are a lot of people, who don't need any wireless connectivity on their PDA, especially if it makes PDA more bulky.

  • Rosewood is used almost exclusively for fingerboards on most acoustic and electric guitars and basses. (For those of your who are musically or visually challenged, the fingerboard is on the neck, with all the frets-think railroad ties)
    Soooo... my guess is... um, no, it's NOT an 'endangered species' of exotic wood. Mahogany, ebony, now that's a different story. I'm sure that the U.S. Customs Office has a list of woods banned for import, if you are really interested and want to maybe try and dig through a U.S. Government site for useful information. I sure don't have that much free time. :)

    doc
  • Why stop here? You could plasticize the entire case and add a virtual pet. Dumb down the OS and make it dependable on the virtual pet for navigation. Then you could market it to kids, as some hybrid of the Nano/Tama-whatever. Look out IMac, here comes IFriend.

    Seriously though, alot of people ask "why did he do this?". Why don't people know the answer? It is simple...because he could, because he wanted to, because it is different! Followers ask "why?", Leaders/Dreamers/Thinkers ask "why not?"

  • I used to make tons of things out of duct tape with a friend of mine. I think I feel another project coming on. :)
    Disk boxes, toy boats...now a computer case...
    Hey it'd be flame retardant!

  • My old Palm III now wears a coat of aircraft walkway anti-slip paint. It's black, looks rugged (in that ubiquitous neo-Gibson stylee) and is abrasive enough to sand plastic.

    Why do you think your Palm is better than my Psion ?

    Because my Palm can do this < grind, grind, grind> to your Psion.

  • this is hardware, so yes, this guy can do whatever he pleases with it once he owns it.

    Hardware isn't entirely free of red tape. Just look at the legalese, hardware compatibility checks and NDA that Palm plug-on developers need to wade through, just to buy Palm connectors. The one-off hobbyists have to buy sync cables at retail and chop the ends off.

  • That's right. In a few years' time, collectors will be bidding up the prices of beige hardware. Imagine that.

    -Dave
  • At a computer show, I bought a Packard Bell keyboard just because it was black and was 101-key. I used a razorblade to cut off the "Packard" (which was a decal over the lights) and used White Out to write in Taco. I love my Taco Bell Keyboard.

    -----
    "Dogs love me cause I'm crazy sniffable/
    I bet you never knew I got the ill peripheral"
    -Beastie Boys 'The Move'
  • Where in Germany?



    -----
    "Dogs love me cause I'm crazy sniffable/
    I bet you never knew I got the ill peripheral"
    -Beastie Boys 'The Move'
  • One of the aims of the great "modern" furniture designers of the 20th century was to design furniture with new materials, like tubular steel, but that the "user" should only touch natural materials such as wood, cloth or leather. Regardless of aesthetics, I think natural materials are more comfortable to touch.

    I would like to see computers made with beautiful cases, mice, keyboards and monitors. Let's have retro 50's looking stuff, like many of the new appliances you see at Williams Sonoma. Let's have wood, or for the more budget minded they make a plastic that looks pretty close to a burled wood (it's already used in Nokia phone covers and Nissan Altima dashboards). How about brushed stainless steel! The trick would be to design the functional components so that they could be replaced or upgraded.

    I would especially love a sturdy keyboard made with stainless steel or chrome with wood accents and leather wristrests. The keyboard should have the touch and feel of an IBM Thinkpad, and be replaceable. Are you listening, Lou?

  • I have a Palm VII, which has a notorious lack of cases available
    for it. So I made one, using plexiglass and leather. Basically I
    wanted a hard case with some padding inside, so I bevelled edges
    onto the plexiglass, epoxied it into a box with no top, and used
    felt to pad the insides. Then I covered the whole thing in black
    leather, and attached a triangular belt loop so I could hang the
    case at odd angles -- the Palm VII is a bit tall to fit with any
    comfort on my hip if it's lying straight up and down.

    Cleverly, I haven't scanned in any pictures of it yet, but I can
    do that and update this comment...

    TMH I have a Palm VII, which has a notorious lack of cases available
    for it. So I made one, using plexiglass and leather. Basically I
    wanted a hard case with some padding inside, so I bevelled edges
    onto the plexiglass, epoxied it into a box with no top, and used
    felt to pad the insides. Then I covered the whole thing in black
    leather, and attached a triangular belt loop so I could hang the
    case at odd angles -- the Palm VII is a bit tall to fit with any
    comfort on my hip if it's lying straight up and down.

    Cleverly, I haven't scanned in any pictures of it yet, but I can
    do that and update this comment...

    TMH

  • damn, you don't have to bite my head off. Ace
  • Aww.. no "Funny" moderation for this one :(
    The case looks very nice. It looks a bit larger than an original Palm, but wood just rocks. A few years ago I was trying to make a wood PC case (the FCC be damned) but I gave up...

    Ian "zsazsa" Scott
  • Talk about your weight gain. But indestructible, no question. And it'll be a godsend for any personal self-defense needs -- load that sucker into a slingshot and you could probably take out King Kong.
  • Yeah, like Apple didn't invent the idea that looks are more important now that _everyone_ thinks they need a computer. Duh. Maybe Apple will sue all these retro-designers.
  • Ya' know, the list you put up is really not all that absurd. They have most of this same crap for cell phones now, (save the lego and fishtank) It wouldn't surprise me a bit to see this in the near term. Sad part is that Palms are so expensive to start with.

    Never knock on Death's door:

  • Why does it have built in seating?

    Not to be a smartass, but it has seating to provide a place to sit. Really.

    Machine rooms are generally filled with lots of expensive equipment, and managers tend to want to remove things like chairs that could scratch, bump, or break the equipment. In the machine room for the place I used to work, there were no chairs within a good 30 meters of the crays and other expensive machines. When it was necessary to work in that part of the room, we had to stand or drag a chair across the room.
  • Not when you screw Microsoft out of $400 with the rebate fiasco. An $85 palm 5x wasn't bad.

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