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Technology Hardware

"Bookshelf" Computer Wins Design Contest 169

Posted by CowboyNeal from the hardware-libraries dept.
aibrahim writes "Industrial designers at Purdue University win a competition for next generation computer design sponsored by Microsoft. The design emulates a bookshelf, with hardware components that are "stacked" horizontally around a cube shaped CPU. The design attempts to address hardware issues from a user perspective and is pretty cool despite a focus on DRM."
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"Bookshelf" Computer Wins Design Contest More

"Bookshelf" Computer Wins Design Contest

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  • the B&O of computers and computer design (Score:5, Insightful)

    by yagu ( 721525 ) * <yayagu.gmail@com> on Saturday January 14, 2006 @10:15AM (#14471030) Journal

    First of all, I'm always curious and a little suspicious when anything is a winner of a competition, "next generation computer design sponsored by Microsoft." My gut reaction to MS sponsored design is that the winner is going to be more about something Microsoft will leverage and much less about what is good for the consumer. Here's why:

    Interesting design, but even more constrained in some ways than traditional computers. For my personal taste I much more prefer to put my computer somewhere completely out of sight and not taking up any desktop real estate. I'm not adding and modding so much that I need the "bookshelf metaphor" to accommodate my computing needs.

    I'm not even sure I'm convinced this modular design will stem the constant support I give to friends of family when things don't work. Visually it looks simpler for managing a computer, I wonder that vendors would do any better creating truly modular and plug 'n play components for this design.

    As for the DRM, from the article:

    One of the greatest concerns in the computer and digital industries today is copyright, Shim says. Studies show that consumers are more likely to disregard the ownership and copyright of digital contents because such files lack the physical properties of format media such as compact discs (CDs), laser discs (LDs) or digital video discs (DVDs).
    ..., I think this is just plain wrong. The industry doesn't get it, and these guys aren't getting it either. People are willing and able to consider copyright even in abstract form. People who aren't disregard it in physical and abstract form. Forwarding a design ostensibly to instantiate (in the OO sense) abstract copyright products is a canard (yet another) and a trojan horse to impose even more restrictions (unnecessarily) on customers and users.

    This new look is essentially a Bang and Olufsen computer -- lots of sizzle, but compared to what really could be done advancing computer design, not much new. If you're into eye-candy, this is for you.

    • Remember the last Microsoft designes computer MSX?

      Did not do all that well.. (thankfully)

    • I don't disagree on any particular point, but what I found interesting is the notion that people were thinking, or at least trying to think, in a new way about we use our actual PC's.

      Not the software- the actual machine. Aside from some of the Mac Mini and Media Center windows machines meant to integrate with the home entertainment centers, this is the most different design I've seen for decades. That is intrinsically interesting.

      That says a great deal about the industry, and its lack of innovation. Remembe
    • First of all, I'm always curious and a little suspicious when anything is a winner of a competition, "next generation computer design sponsored by Microsoft." My gut reaction to MS sponsored design is that the winner is going to be more about something Microsoft will leverage and much less about what is good for the consumer.

      Can you name any company-sponsored competition or event that wasn't about furthering the company's own agenda?
    • I think the main problem is that I can't see the "books" costing anywhere near real book costs - $20, or even video game costs (to put it against MMORPGs and the subscription model) $60... I'm guessing it'll be closer to $100-$150 at the low end. Of course this will come down in price but it also misses a lot:

      First, one main reason I like Digital media is to save space. If I wanted to need an ever larger bookshelf, I'd still use DVDs...

      The worst part is with DVDs, I could buy a Sony release, a MGM release,
    • I was going to post this very thought, but being a little more generous regarding the "sizzle" aspect.

      I purchased a B&O 5500 stereo system around 1986 for the living room of my first apartment. Complete with Carver Silver Edition Amazing Loudspeakers, and a Carver amp, the whole kit'n'kaboodle ran around CA$10k or around US$8.5k. A 30" Sony XBR TV rounded things out -- call it US$10k in 1986 dollars.

      Yes, I could have purchased stereo equipment for half the price that would have sounded as good. But,

    • First of all, I'm always curious and a little suspicious when anything is a winner of a competition
      Yea I could never trust those Miss America contestants either.

  • YEY more DRM! (Score:3, Funny)

    by luvirini ( 753157 ) on Saturday January 14, 2006 @10:16AM (#14471034)
    and thus one more reason to stay away...

  • From my experience (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 14, 2006 @10:18AM (#14471041)
    A lot of these are merely for show, and most people have never actually read their computers.

  • No genious but not terrible (Score:5, Interesting)

    by hey ( 83763 ) on Saturday January 14, 2006 @10:23AM (#14471053) Journal
    With present machines if you want to add a USB drive, just plug it in. But then where does it physically sit around. On your desk, I guess. If there are many such add-ons it becomes messy. So this design sorta addresses the mess issue.

    I'd like to see a standard spec for stacking (verically) components. They can be connected at the back with USB.

    • Re:No genious but not terrible (Score:4, Interesting)

      by ciroknight ( 601098 ) on Saturday January 14, 2006 @10:29AM (#14471074)
      Eh. This design borrows heavily from the old Mac/NeXT Cube idea, and the more recent Mac Mini idea. People have already figured out you can duplicate the footprint of all three and make components that "stack" well together.

      The problem is, stacking isn't really a good interface for a computer, it's best to be as freeform as possible, just in case someone wants to put their computer sideways on a bookshelf, or mount it in some odd configuration inside of their car/boat/etc.

      But, then again, you could always build USB/Firewire/SVideo into the "stack connector", so that it would look seemless. No ugly 1' usb cables going from the harddrive to the computer, to the speakers or anywhere else.

      • Apple Design (Score:4, Interesting)

        by hotsauce ( 514237 ) on Saturday January 14, 2006 @11:10AM (#14471212)
        No, Apple actually did design the bookshelf computer back in the 80's, and it was an ingenious design (separate processor, drive, graphics, etc modules). Read AppleDesign [amazon.com]; it's hard to get but can be found in some libraries. Practically pornography, and will make you weep at the wonderful designs that never made it out of their design shop.
        • I have that book. I'll have to go back and check that out...
          • Lucky you. I got my library to buy that book, wish I had, too. Its price is mirroring AAPL right now.

            If you find that picture, maybe provide a link to a scan? It was really cool...
        • you're thinking way to past what this design is. this design is a PC where the 'media' you plug in (hds. dvd-roms. flash memory etc) are plugged in along the bookshelf design concept. not 'hardware perphrials' DRM protected content. so, you have a 'sony' book, this 'book' holds all your 'sony' DRM content. you can take your sony book to anyone's bookshelf and play your sony content on it, but you CANNOT move the content to say, your itunes 'book'. or any other book in the unit.

          this 'design' is all about
      • There are already a lot of products designed to stack under a Mac mini, I have actually designed and made a couple but never really marketed them. Like you say, they don't stack with integrated power and I/O connections, those have to be separate cables, so they are a bit messier. I would hope they don't pass analog connections through the row or stack, that would be bad.
    • Just look at the back of a computer to see one of the great unsolved design problems -- there still seems to be a "rats' nest" of cables behind every computer.

      My PC has about 6 mains leads, for the PC, the monitor, a desktop light, the speakers, the modem, the camera charger, etc. If I had an MP3 player, or a network hub, or a KVM box, or a printer, or a wireless mouse, they would all need mains cables too. 6-foot long cables, with massive plugs on the end, all sitting on the floor behind the computer. S

  • DRM and security don't mix (Score:4, Interesting)

    by openfrog ( 897716 ) on Saturday January 14, 2006 @10:27AM (#14471068)
    What is the greatest issue facing computing today? For the users, it is security, for some vendors, it is the security of their hold on some part of some market. DRM answers the second interest to the detriment of the first. The jury who awarded this prize don't understand this, or they do, and have themselves some interest, therefore are not impartial.
    • The jury who awarded this prize don't understand this, or they do, and have themselves some interest, therefore are not impartial.

      Of course a jury from that industry/discipline dealing with industrial design has an interest in preserving intellectual property rights. Professional industrial designers, who might spend years on a project that actually sees production - and thus are spending/costing a lot of money in the process - wouldn't have those jobs or be able to do that sort of work if the people hir

  • aka (Score:5, Funny)

    by doofusclam ( 528746 ) <slash@seanyseansean.com> on Saturday January 14, 2006 @10:28AM (#14471071) Homepage
    aka the "Dressing up a turd" competition.

    Having to change the aesthetic of the computer to hide the fact your paid for content is under someone elses control is exactly that.
  • A Danish Modern computer case.

  • Anyone Remember the IBM PCjr ? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by ccandreva ( 409807 ) <chris@westnet.com> on Saturday January 14, 2006 @10:29AM (#14471076) Homepage
    Aside from the chicklet keyboard, it's claim to fame was expansion by stacking cartridges on the side.A little memory here, a printer port there, and you had a few feet sticking off the side.

    http://www.oldskool.org/shrines/pcjr_tandy [oldskool.org]

    Sounds like the same thing with a new paint job.

  • 'Stacking Comptuers' (Score:3, Interesting)

    by nurb432 ( 527695 ) on Saturday January 14, 2006 @10:30AM (#14471078) Homepage Journal
    Was done back in the 80s.. I cant remember what company t was now, but i thought it was cool at the time.. Not practical, but a cool idea.

    You started wtih a 'CPU block' and added 'extras' like a 'ram block', video, ports..

    Now the DRM 'block;, can we not purchase that 'block' ? Id prefer my comptuer to be fully functional and under MY control.

    • Now the DRM 'block;, can we not purchase that 'block' ? Id prefer my comptuer to be fully functional and under MY control.

      That's easy. You just avoid the Windows block and instead use the Linux block or OS X block (although you'd end up with 'lite' DRM in this case).
      • The Gentoo block actually comes as a box of tiny pieces along with a 270 page construction manual.

        Towards the end of the build process, you notice it starts to resemble the cardboard packaging it arrived in and you wonder why you just spent several hours assembling it.
    • you're thinking of the TI Sinclair. I remember add on modules for it that stacked. But that was not as elegant (asthetically pleasing) as this one.
      • No. It wasnt a *Timex* ( FYI: TI = Texas Instruments ) Sinclair. ( or any other similar machine )

        These was true blocks that you stacked together to make a computer. Sort of like a electronic lego concept.

        Each block was about the size of a thick pack of 3x5 cards, and had connectors on top and bottom so they could be stacked. The bottom was just the power base, and it had a top piece to protect the connector on the top block.

        Perhaps they were called blox? Or was that a kids toy..
        • I think this is talking about a third party add-on expansion system that was available on the Sinclair ZX81/Timex Sinclair TS1000. In theory it would have enabled you to expand a Z80A based computer with 1K (yes Kilo Bytes!) up to a maximium of 4 Megabytes (which was an enormous amount of memory in 1982 when Bill Gates said that 640K should be enough for anyone!). Thing is, I have recently see a similar system on the market at a local computer shop recently that uses the system for stacking external hard d
        • It was Apple [slashdot.org].
          • While Apple may have done someting like that in the past, I'm sure the product I'm remembering was not an Apple product.

            Too bad all my old BYTE magazines from the 80's are all put away or i would go look.

        • Perhaps it was the PC/104 Linux Minicluster (IEEE P996.1)? [sandia.gov] (Some pictures provided).

          Sandia National Labs have this interesting article on a Linux computer that is built
          vertically with the power unit at the base, and optional modules which are stacked
          on top of each other (CPU Modules, Dual PCMCIA Interface Modules, Hubs, KVM Switch and End Plate Wiring).
        • It was a system firstly based on the National semiconductor COP line of microcontrollers. It was an attempt to create a "programmable block" architecture that plant engineers weaned on dedicated and fixed programmable logic controllers and ladder logic would (hopefully) be able to relate. You had a CPU/memory block and I/O and interface blocks of various types that could be 'stacked" and then programmed via RS232 from a terminal. Because it was a cop8 it didn't have a lot of horsepower but the "host" pc cou
    • Yes, I worked on computers like this in the late 80's. C3 Incorporated had these and so did Unisys. Both companies purchased the bookshelf type computers from Burroughs which later got swallowed up by Unisys. They're nice since all you had to to do was attach and detach like lego blocks. The main cpu block powered any 'book' side attachments. This of course stresses the power supply as your attachments can get over two feet wide from which you have to add another power brick. It's very convenient when

    • TI-99 (Score:2, Interesting)

      by killenheladagen ( 461470 )
      The TI-99 http://oldcomputers.net/ti994a.html [oldcomputers.net] was heavily stackable.
      • Man I miss my old TI computer. Nothing like writing usless BASIC programs and saving them on the external casette tape. Way too much fun.
    • The ICL DRS300 (I saw them in around 1988, but I suspect the design was earlier) was like this, but not quite as B&O looking. Somehow the ICL cream livery (matching the 1970's paint scheme of many of the UK councils where many of them ended up) didn't quite carry it off.

      It had a Z80 in it I think and ran CCPM / Concurrent DOS (possibly as an alternative to something else - it was all a long time ago). Horrible machine. I seem to remember that the language that we were using on it didn't have working
    • "Now the DRM 'block;, can we not purchase that 'block' ?"

      Of course not. You would merely "license" a single limited nonexclusive right to be able to use it under certain conditions. Purchases are so old-fashioned in the Microsoft era -- they'd imply that you owned the computer or something silly like that!

  • Portable Computer? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by jbreckman ( 917963 ) on Saturday January 14, 2006 @10:32AM (#14471088)
    A guy at work has been talking about how nice a small, non-laptop cube would be which essentially had the equivalent of a docking station. He wanted to easily have one computer at a couple of locations, but doesn't want to be constricted by laptop shortcomings. If they left the CPU completely port free, and relied on those book-things to get a monitor/keyboard/mouse hookup - it'd be pretty cool.

  • Nifty (Score:5, Interesting)

    by fwitness ( 195565 ) on Saturday January 14, 2006 @10:37AM (#14471103)
    You know what we be cool to put on that bookshelf? An Encyclomedia PC [mini-itx.com]! This is by far the nicest form-following function I've seen home-brewed in a long time. I couldn't resist the chance to plug it.

    • Re:Nifty (Score:4, Interesting)

      by hey ( 83763 ) on Saturday January 14, 2006 @10:40AM (#14471116) Journal
      This guy had a cute idea but what about the ugly cables from the fake books to the TV. And it should be in a book shelf!!!
    • Cool. One question remains:

      The dude's mom is anal enough about her perfect living room, that she wouldn't let him put a traditional grey PC next to the TV, but she let's him put a hulk doll on top of the TV?? Wild.

      • Re:Nifty (Score:2, Funny)

        by RichardX ( 457979 )
        >but she let's him put a hulk doll on top of the TV

        <Comic Book Guy>
        That is not a doll, that is a rare and highly valuable fully poseable action figure with Hulk Smash movement.
  • First of all, way to go Purdue, I think it's a clean and functional design. If it was on the market, I'd buy it and promptly try to put FreeBSD on it. Very cool. --S
  • That reminds me of an idea I discussed with a friend sometime during University, it was something similar.

    The main idea was a cube like the Apple computer (dont remember the model) and the idea was that, on that cube you only had the basic components (mobo+cpu) and then, this cube has at its sides USB (or firewire or even some kind of PCI-Express) connectors.

    When the user buys a new device, she has to attach it to one side of the cube, say for example a CD-RW, you attach it on the top or on one side of the

  • Amiga Walker (Score:3, Interesting)

    by YorgleLlama ( 814842 ) on Saturday January 14, 2006 @10:43AM (#14471120)
    It looks like a horizontal version of the vertical "Amiga Walker" http://www.blachford.info/computer/walker/walker.h tml [blachford.info] It was never functional as intended, but the top and bottom halves were meant to be separated and expansion modules placed in the middle. Which would make the top and bottom the equivalent to the bookends...
    • Walker??? It always reminds me of taking a dog for a walk or something old people use.
      There is not much modularity in it except for teh insinuation of the name...

      try this instead, and instead of the article topic too.... I mean, what will some digital DRM media look like when it gets shrunk down and flatten out? A CD/DVD??? So what are they really saying? That they want to sell you a harddrive with every movie??? And lets not for get about whether or not you can take it with you when you visit you friends.

      G
  • The bookends create a loop. Split the books to the left of the cd rom drive, pull it out, put a dvd drive in, and push it back together. Mount the dvd drive. Of course, Windows crashes when you do this (just like with Cardbus), but every other OS is okay with it.
  • The Microsoft sponsored design is a Mac Mini, a Nintendo Revolution, a Toaster and a Bookshelf?

    I know the Xbox360 power supply can be a nice bread heater, so they have the toaster market covered, but does MS have competition in the digital boockshelf market?

  • "Probably won an award" (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Council ( 514577 ) <rmunroe AT gmail DOT com> on Saturday January 14, 2006 @10:52AM (#14471160) Homepage
    The book The Design of Everyday Things [amazon.com] discusses horrible design decisions in appliances, doors, locks, gadgets, computers, and basically anything with a user interface. The book shows how the same mistakes are made over and over by each new designer, issues of user interfaces as simple as buttons and levers, which many engineers know little to nothing about.

    In this book, the author repeatedly criticizes designs with the phrase "It probably won an award." He attacks design awards as being given out to aesthetically pleasing or structurally innovative designs, but without sufficient consideration and testing by people who actually have to use the device.
    • You mean like how no A/C system in any car has a good design?

      Seriously. Why the hell can't I have both the dashboard and the defrost vents open at the same time? Or all three (dashboard, defrost, floor)? Why can't I run the air up onto the defrost vents without the fricking A/C compressor kicking on? Sometimes you just want to melt ice, not defog.

      Yeah, I've kinda noticed that most user interfaces suck, even in everyday and accepted situations.

  • other winner (Score:2, Informative)

    by dotpavan ( 829804 )
    I think it is the same sompetition, where an Indian (from Bangalore) won $50,000 [hindu.com] for a comp named "schoolpak", more info on the competition can be found http://www.startsomethingpc.com>here
  • I have a coffee table book that explores the history of Apple's Advanced Design Group, and it has photographs of a prototype Apple 'puter that worked around the "bookshelf" paradigm. That would have been back in the early Nineties...

    I'll see if I can't dig it up for more info (and maybe some pics).

  • Dosen't that thing look like something Mac would build?

    Hasn't Mickysoft been chasing Mac ever Bill first got started?

  • I can't believe that while computers could cut down on unnecessary transportation and manufacturing costs for digital media, Microsoft wants to introduce even more resource-hungry "disposable" hardware to help us continue to ruin the planet! This is worse than printer cartridge legislation preventing recycling - a new hard drive every time I upgrade my content???
  • I think the idea behind it hardware-wise seems good. It would be so much more convenient to be able to have every piece be interchangable, not to mention the fact that the amount of space you have to work with would be limited only by your shelf space, and not the case size. However, I highly doubt it will work.

    First, since the components are so completely different from anything that's out now, it will be difficult to get people to adopt it simply because of intercompatibility.

    Second, it's operating under
  • Student #1 : "Alright, let's see (plays with tiny lego car while checking email on Mac Mini)... the contest is about innovative computer design, but it also needs to looks sexy ... I know! Mac + Lego's = sexy stackable computer parts that lock together!"

    Student #2 : "Damn! Microsoft is the Judge though, they'll nev e r (drops coffee) ... DIGITAL RIGHTS MANAGEMNET! DRM! DRM! DRM!"

    Student #3 : "" (speechless)

  • Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • Unisys had an entire system like this back in the old days -- each component just had a bus connector on each side, you started with the CPU and added boxes to the ends until you had a long grey rectangle of a computer.

    Of course that was:

    1) Before there were only about 2 kinds of computer in the world
    2) Before it would occur to people to patent shapes ...so here we have the same thing again with a Microsoft/Apple look.

    • We actually tested one of those Unisys systems way back when. This was around the time the orginal Windows 386 came out. The Unisys system was interesting but the overall size of the assembled parts took up more space than a typical tower case. This will be the problem with this setup.

      From a media center perspective the best solution is to have a diskless/fanless silent front end box that talks to a backend system that is hidden in another room or closet. The big plus is you can put several front end

  • Thinking Beyond the Box: Microsoft Hardware-Design Competition Spurs Windows PC Innovation [microsoft.com]

    You can find the laptop computer in the first photo in the personal productivity section. The computer that started this article is the entertainment section.

    Microsoft / IDSA PC Design Competition [startsomethingpc.com]

    (flash required) IDSA News Thinking Beyond the Box [idsa.org]

  • What drives what?? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by johnlcallaway ( 165670 ) on Saturday January 14, 2006 @11:28AM (#14471276)
    Does function drive design, or should design drive function?? The 'modern' PC appears to be made the way it is for functionality purposes. The internal bus structure is faster than the external buses, so fast stuff goes there such as memory, video cards and disk drives. The external stuff aren't as fast, so long runs of cables are allowed.

    I don't want my memory or video card sitting a couple of feet away from the CPU, with signals bouncing across several interconnects. The amount of noise in the system that will have to be overcome will surely result in decreased performance from current designs.

    I don't want a computer that is designed around DRM instead of speed. DRM is not being requested by the masses, and results in pissed off customers. I want faster and better, not slower and less function. I want to be able to copy any DVD/CD to my hard drive so I can put my media on a shelf and never touch it again because the media is too fragile. I want to be able to copy it to my car/phone/media player so I can listen to it anywhere without buying more than one copy. Just like being able to carry a book anywhere and read it, I want to be able to take my music or video anywhere and enjoy it.

    Any computer or system that doesn't provide the above, and CDs/DVDs that won't run unless used on an approved DRM device will not be purchased by me. Or if accidentally purchased, will be returned.

    If they have come up with a fiber interconnect that the average Joe User can manage. Now that would be a great design idea.

    • so fast stuff goes there such as memory, video cards and disk drives.

      Disk drives "fast"? Hardly. Do people who aren't involved in, say, HDTV production or running a heavily-trafficked database-driven web site need disk drives that are significantly faster than the full-duplex 800 Mbps of the FireWire bus? Remember that if you have two hard drives on one bus, one can be reading or writing while the other is seeking.

      I want to be able to copy any DVD/CD to my hard drive so I can put my media on a shelf

    • Sata is what 150-300mbps? not 800, but its the latency, not the mbps, and the price. An 80gb hard drive costs $40 on sata, and what, $200 with a firewire bus, a power source, the extra material, the inability to mass produce, etc?

      Hell, how many companies will implement this exact form factor? -- This is just retarded.
  • This isn't a new idea. Applied Technologies has a similiar concept in 1985, called the "Computer In a Book." Kudos for the new peopel for applying the concept to a modern format, but it's disingenuous to tout it as some breakthrough, innovative new product idea.

    See: href=http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer. asp?c=1059&st=1

  • This goes back to the dawn of computing (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Flying pig ( 925874 ) on Saturday January 14, 2006 @11:28AM (#14471281)
    I used to get told by old guys in the industry how they used to build early machines a 19 inch rack cabinet at a time, stacking cabinets side by side as the design grew. Problems came when the signal path got such that signal degradation started, whereupon intermediate cabinets had to be built containing latches and signal regenerators. This was in the days when Philips had a vacuum tube catalog...for computers. I've now lost my copy, sadly.
    And that's the problem with this kind of design. Signal paths need to be as short as possible and with as few intermediate connections as possible. The design with the smallest possible CPU, short memory and GPU paths, and everything else on point connections using the highest possible serial clock speeds to minimise the actual number of signal lines and so reduce cross channel noise - that's the most efficient design, and with the rise of Firewire, Sata, USB-2, Gigabit Ethernet and optical connections, that's exactly where the industry is going.
    Interestingly, this was forecast by Ivor Catt in the 1970s - though he failed to spot that the CPU itself needed to be as integrated as possible, and it is the peripherals that need the high speed serial links. Not surprisingly, given the state of the industry at the time.

    Conclusion: looks nice but design actually sucks technically. Too many connectors, enforces a form factor that will often be inconvenient, and the issue is going away for other reasons (USB-2, Firewire, hardware miniaturisation)

    • I work a little bit with PLC's, and a few of the more advanced models follow a similar concept. You have a base module with the processor, core chips, and the power supply, then you add on functionality. With the PLC's, it's typically things like extra input or output modules or high speed counters. The reason it's economical to build the high-end PLC's this way, is because the applications are very different. Some may need 2 or 3 digital inputs and outputs. Some may need 40, with some of the channels being
  • Nice looking design, but it leaves out something important: the human interface.

    Without a keyboard, mouse/pen, and display it's not going to be very useful. And until video signals can be delivered wirelessly, this will mean you'll have clutter.

    -ch
    • This has been done since the 40's. This is why they make yagies. Of course the guy who designed this artsy farty system forgot to design in the yagi. He forgot a dish too. And I can't see any edge connectors. If we used rabbit ears properly designed then the CPU unit could look like a cartoon character.
  • wirelss keyboard+"mouse" (or input devices to suit) large screen on wall(or on end of desk), sound output (using purely digital entirely drm compliant connectivity of course) via speakers that are tastfully integrated with the screen/room decor/where they sound best.

    The actual computer? with those too difficult to understand cpu's and hard drives and magical wires, net connection? power?
    Out of sight out of mind. So who cares what it looks like as long as it fits into the space it got put into.

    I like artistr
  • ...at least for this kind of design. Why? Because of its modularity. Say, I visit a friend who also has a computer like that: I simply remove one of my hard disk modules at home and plug it into his setup. All of my music, videos and other data is immediately available and ready to be copied to another drive, no hassle with copying stuff to DVD and back, just plug & play. Oh, and if the hard disks are swapable: what about games, commercial applications or other stuff that is installed on them? This new
    • Currently hotpluggable external drives are not the norm, nor are they easily transportable (hassle with power supply wall warts, sensitivity to jolting movements etc.) but if they become standard, won't the sneakernet gain increased relevance?

      I'm guessing that you're forgetting about iPods. They certainly work well for that purpose for me, at least. Then again, I've only done this on Macs... perhaps it's a bit more tricky on PCs?

      m-
      • I would guess that's one of the reasons why they made it quite difficult to use an iPod to swap music. They don't use a standard USB cable; unless you enable certain options they won't show up as a standard external drive when plugged in; and even if you set them to this behaviour the folders with the actual music files in them are hard to find, spread out according to an internal database and renamed. Also, files protected by Apple's PlayFair can be copied but won't play on an unlicensed computer. I have n
        • They don't use a standard USB cable; unless you enable certain options they won't show up as a standard external drive when plugged in

          Huh?? What's non-standard about it?

          When my GF got an ipod mini, I plugged its USB cable into the USB keyboard on my creaky 1990s PC (only has USB 1.1) running debian GNU/linux, and mounted it as a disk. I even copied some MP3 files over to the ipod and listened to them. Copying was kinda slow because the PC only had USB 1.1, but otherwise it seemed to work just fine...
          • What I meant is that the connector socket on the iPod [pinouts.ru] side is not a standard USB type. Instead of using a standardized USB (or mini-USB) socket together with a standardized stereo line out Apple created their own version. That means that you have to take your cable with you if you want to hook up your iPod since none of the standard USB cables will fit.
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • these people don't think (Score:3, Interesting)

    by idlake ( 850372 ) on Saturday January 14, 2006 @12:46PM (#14471612)
    There have been numerous designs like that before. The Mac Mini is the lastest example, with stackable components being increasingly available.

    They look clean and nice, but they don't catch on. Why? Because they don't make economic sense. A lot of the case material is between components, where it actually impedes heat flow and ventilation. Each of the boxes needs its own fan and power components. And the connector design is tricky and costly, too, compared to internal connectors. Finally, the vendors that the customer can choose from is restricted by such designs; what good is an easily expandable system if my vendor only offers a tiny set of the possible expansions?

    Their Shifttricycle is similarly stupid: learning to ride a bicycle is a fairly quick affair, and training wheels already ease the transition; spending a lot of money on a weird, mechanically complex bicycle just doesn't make sense.

    I think these people are entirely missing the point of good design: good design combines form with function; they seem to forget about the "function" part.
  • Scott Shim won another design award last year for the SHIFT [idsa.org] tricycle that transforms into a bicycle.

  • DRM (Score:2, Interesting)

    by smilingman ( 942304 )
    If you thought the DRM on the grand prize was scary, take a look at this [startsomethingpc.com]
    From the article:

    Touchtron is a window to the future of Personal Computers, attuned to innovation at the component level. The Data Storage Unit shall either be located away from the user location or would be on the servers of Application Service Providers (ASP) to which the user shall have subscribed.

  • Whatever. (Score:2, Insightful)

    by MrNougat ( 927651 )
    "... eliminates the most common problems - digital copyrights and inconvenient accessibility ..."

    How does changing the physical design of the player eliminate the problem of digital copyright?

    Oh wait, is it because once the content is downloaded via subscription to those 7" square, 2" thick modules, you can't move the content off of the modules - you have to take the physical thing itself? That'll be real convenient in all the places we already use CDs, DVDs, flash drives and MP3 players.

    Besides that, I do
  • Linux Digital Media Rack (LDMR)
    by NZheretic (23872) [slashdot.org] on Mon 08 Aug 02:57PM (#13266481 [slashdot.org])

    The problem with high end all-in-one media center PCs is that despite the claims of the vendors, they are either unable to scale to do all the high definition media encoding/decoding/storage tasks you need at once or are very noisy due to the cooling requirements of the high end processor.

    A solution is to use a rack of dedicated relatively low cost embedded systems that connect via ethernet to each other. You could pu

  • it looks | The new iMac is much more practical and forward thinking. The big space waster is the screen, while the computer components continue to miniaturise.

    This bookshelf box stuff is just a waste of space.

    RS

  • With the memory and pci-e controllers now getting embedded into the CPU to reduce latency here comes a design that not only makes the PC too big and greatly limits the industry to a crappy form factor but completely destroys low latency and performance? - If I were a judge, I would grant it the dumbest design of the 21st century - its been done in the 80s, 90s and proved not to work, are they just taking the mick now?

    The speakers must be situated some distance from eachother or whats the point of stereo, mo
  • This looks exactly like something I saw at the Institute of Design at Illinois Institute of Technology in about 1996... freakily similar in fact - that won an award too.

    Of course that looked kinda like something I had seen in an article from the 80's....

    Which looked alot like the stuff they played with tin the 70's...

    Oh screw it, it wont be commercially successful this time either. Those connections last about 13 seconds around a 3 year old kid, or a clumsy adult.
  • ... that people on /. are becoming ever more dense to reality.

    To pick on a few previous posts:

    1. It's a DESIGN COMPETITION. Do any of you go to school? Competitions like this don't usually turn into an actual piece of retail equipment. It's DESIGN. Design? Holy crap!

    2. The "bookshelf" part has nothing to do with the connectivity. Look at it. The connectivity occurs through the SIDES of the device (most of the gripes here), not through the "trac".

    3. Yes, it's been done before. This is a slightly new

  • Quote of the week: (Score:3, Funny)

    by mustafap ( 452510 ) on Saturday January 14, 2006 @04:52PM (#14472624) Homepage
    "Up until now, personal computer designs seemed to be based on the issues of processing speed or performance rather than the user's convenience."

    Yea right. DRM gives me convenience eh?

    But it will probably give some far-east outfit an idea for a $50 Mini-ITC case. Thanks guys!
  • i can not find the information right now, but they had some usa funded research about computer where you just throw parts in a box and they communicate with short distance radio waves.
    removes all slots, thus requiring less space.
    i haven't heard anything more about that, though.
  • Moto did this many years ago with the PowerStack:
    http://www.corestore.org/Mvc-002s.jpg [corestore.org]
    http://www.corestore.org/powerstack.jpg [corestore.org]

    The bottom unit is the main computer (CPU, boot drives, etc.), the upper unit is a media expansion (more drives of various types), and I believe there were other expansion units available as well (with a cover plate above it to make it look nice). You could stack up and up and up, taking up the same footprint as a base unit - unlike the design in the article, where it stacks out to th

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