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Apple Businesses

The Mac Made of Lego 189

Posted by michael from the no-user-serviceable-parts-inside dept.
Anonymous writes "We've had lots of PC based case mods, but I've hardly hear of any Mac ones! I guess Mac owners like their boxes how they are. Until they break; the BBC are running a story about a Mac owner who converted an old Apple by modding the machine with lego."
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The Mac Made of Lego More

The Mac Made of Lego

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  • first lego post (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 18, 2003 @01:40AM (#5984407)
    and remember, its LEGO no matter how many! Not "legos" GRR!!

  • But... (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 18, 2003 @01:40AM (#5984409)
    does it run linux?

    • Re:But... (Score:2, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      I can't be certain whether it will run Linux. Probably, with some effort. I haven't tried. There'll no doubt be plenty of trouble^wfun to be had with ethernet drivers.

      Daniele
    • Yes, but I don't know if you really would want to bother. I've tried getting it running on a 1400 (which came after the 5300 and it was somewhat painful to install, and the media bays wouldn't work. Perhaps the 5300 is better supported. I don't know)

      The kernel needed can be found here [sourceforge.net]
    • I installed mkLinux on a 5300 many years ago. It was a pain. I wound up using SCSI disk mode and basically using the powerbook as a target hard drive. But then fstab gets confused thinking that the internal drive is SCSI, so you have to mount it after the install and fix fstab. It ran dog-slow, and I could never get a driver for the PCMCIA ethernet card I had. That was years ago. It looks like there is a project here: http://nubus-pmac.sourceforge.net/ that would be better suited to get a more modern

  • Modular (Score:5, Funny)

    by digicosm2 ( 672998 ) on Sunday May 18, 2003 @01:42AM (#5984416)
    I've heard of modularity being good, but this is ridiculous.

  • auction... (Score:5, Informative)

    by klip04 ( 522737 ) on Sunday May 18, 2003 @01:45AM (#5984418) Homepage
    The owner is auctioning this off on eBay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item =2729209921&category=171 [ebay.com]
  • tacky 'add-ons' such as case mods.

    Enough care and thought goes into the design of macintoshes that things such as non-usb peripherials and case mods are about as desireable as tennis shoes for a goldfish!

    We all know the various arguments surrounding the macintosh and when they get what they get for software, compared to the x86 platform, but ones thing is clear

    On hardware, with regards to clockspeed as well as esthetically pleaseing cases, apple is second to NONE.

    And this is even counting the one button

  • BBC case mod news? (Score:5, Funny)

    by carpe_noctem ( 457178 ) on Sunday May 18, 2003 @01:53AM (#5984433) Homepage Journal
    A case mod on a site that wasn't slashdotted in 10 minutes? Whatever is this world coming to?

  • see also (Score:5, Informative)

    by SweetAndSourJesus ( 555410 ) <JesusAndTheRobot@ y a h o o . c om> on Sunday May 18, 2003 @01:59AM (#5984442)
    The Compubrick 160 [applefritter.com], SE [applefritter.com], and 6100 [applefritter.com].

    Freakin cool Macs.

  • Let's Melt These Legos... (Score:5, Informative)

    by jcbnetwork ( 652946 ) on Sunday May 18, 2003 @02:05AM (#5984457)
    Apparently this little mac is currently working as a web server, right there:

    http://lego.apple-juice.co.uk/index.html [apple-juice.co.uk]

    Let all go visit it and see how the winning bidder [ebay.com] reacts when he receives a melted pile of legos.

  • Oxford English Dictionary 2005 entry (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 18, 2003 @02:07AM (#5984462)
    GEEK (n) A person that owns Apple(tm) products and fixates upon Lego(tm) products. UBERGEEK (n) A GEEK that Attempts to combine products already steeped in Geekiness: Especially a person that renders Lego(tm) JPEGS on an Apple using 3rd party software.

  • Creative (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 18, 2003 @02:09AM (#5984464)
    "We've had lots of PC based case mods, but I've hardly hear of any Mac ones!" I guess it's because those mac users aren't very creative, no matter what those turtleneck wearing beatniks tell you.

    • Re:Creative (Score:2, Informative)

      by edmo ( 619449 )
      I guess it's because those mac users aren't very creative

      there are 2 reasons for case mods;

      First, to add more drives, fans, motherboards, or what have you to your case(and yes I've seen a multi motherboard PC). Mac users want computers that work reliebly and well, not computers that will take up large amounts of our free time getting it to work right(and I call myself a geek) Playing w/ computers this way can be fun, but a functional computer is better...

      Second, to make the computer look better, Ha
  • From his page:

    "A surprising number of people have asked about the doctoral thesis my partner wrote on this machine. Just to clarify, it was written using it, not about it (i.e. it was about feminist philosophy, and not what nerds do in their spare time)."

    Her site [yasmine.org.uk]is VERY interesting.

    • Just to clarify, it was written using it, not about it (i.e. it was about feminist philosophy, and not what nerds do in their spare time)."

      Too bad, a whole thesis about a single case mod would be quite an achievement. Instead we get this:

      About half of you have vaginas, and about half of you don't. So what kind of difference is that? And about half of you will be called Ms or Miss or Mrs, and about half of you won't. And so what kind of difference is that? And what kind of difference is there between

      • There is nothing interesting here. No reasearch. No unique ideas.

        The trick in appreciating works such as this in understanding what subject they claim to be in. This lady, who, incidentally, seems to have done sterling work on herself in reducing the difference between men and women, at least in terms of her intro pic [yasmine.org.uk][1], is actually working on a PhD dissertation on feminist metaphysics.

        Now, do you what that means? I don't. A google search returned some might find interesting [24.86.132.253], but for mere mortal CS maj

      • Oi! Dipshit! If it's all so fucking obvious to you, how comes you can't even tell the difference between her views and other people's views?
        This:
        "And that is why men and women live out different gender roles; not because it is in their nature to do so, but because something in the society is causing it. In an ideal society, these gender-neutral rational capacities and so on would mean that men and women would"
        set out the liberal feminist position. Previously, she had set out the biological determinist
        • Yikes. Easy killer.

          Look, of course gender differences can be an interesting field of study, but that's when it's studied. You know, research?

          She never said that that was what she believed.

          You clearly misunderstood what I wrote. It would have been much more interesting if she had taken a postion.

          Save your comments for when you can understand these ideas, have worked out why he called himself Johannes de silentio, and have worked out what he would have to say about your self-confidence.

          What a
          • Matey, if you think that the only worthwhile study is research, there are some theoretical physicists, mathematicians and philosophers who'd like to have a chat. Gender differences aren't merely an interesting field of study, they are an important field of intellectual inquiry.

            As for the rest of your reply: did you even read the end of her lecture? She finished by saying "I haven't done much more here than give you a potted account of four main positions on the question of sex and gender. They all contain
        • Oi! Dip----! If it's all so ----ing obvious to you, how comes you can't even tell the difference between her views and other people's views? [remainder of rant snipped]

          Obviously I didn't set my threshold high enough ..
    • "A surprising number of people have asked about the doctoral thesis my partner wrote on this machine. Just to clarify, it was written using it, not about it (i.e. it was about feminist philosophy, and not what nerds do in their spare time)."

      I think it is next to impossible to come up with two subjects with less common ground...

      And anyway, by sticking to Lego and computers, nerds at least get something out of their spare time. In contrast, non-nerds who try to figure out female philosophy are simply wasti
  • But I'd need to weld it to a bolt through a bone so as not to lose it.

  • Gobs of Mac Mods (Score:5, Informative)

    by green pizza ( 159161 ) on Sunday May 18, 2003 @03:20AM (#5984569) Homepage
    There are plent of Mac case mods...
    http://www.applefritter.com/hacks/index.html [applefritter.com]

  • Brought back from the dead with LEGO? (Score:3, Funny)

    by The Moving Shadow ( 603653 ) on Sunday May 18, 2003 @03:25AM (#5984577)
    Building a case from LEGO for a working PC / MAC is something I can believe. But bringing back a dead Powerbook solely with LEGO? Somewhere the article must lack an explanation... Otherwise i am going to revive my dead ultraTNT2 gfx card with LEGO! Overclocking with LEGO anybody?

  • yeah yeah (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    >I guess Mac owners like their boxes how they are.

    At this price, its understandable :)

  • LEGO? Hah! (Score:5, Funny)

    by lxs ( 131946 ) on Sunday May 18, 2003 @04:13AM (#5984688)
    Fear the power of the K'nexintosh [applefritter.com]!

  • ...the twins, both six years old...- well, duh (Score:1, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Yeh, OK, so it is possible for twins to have the birthdays on different days, but what are the chances of that happening AND the article being written inbetween the two days?
  • for this obvious left-leaner. What did you do
    with the notebook's case? I think it is great
    that he saved a computer from being dumped, and
    someone will get some use out of it, but since it
    now resides in a Lego case, he did SOMETHING with
    the original case... And no, this is not flamebait,
    I really want to know! The old case is somewhere.

  • The whoop-de-do-o-meter is bottoming out!! (Score:4, Insightful)

    by MadChicken ( 36468 ) on Sunday May 18, 2003 @05:53AM (#5984848) Homepage Journal
    So he made a Lego BOX. I have some very young friends that could do the same. I'd help them out with the little person and the flower...

    Seriously, what's the big deal? Why did it take "a long time" to come up with this, and "over a month" to build it?

    And how can you use Lego bricks to fix a broken video connector?

    • The video connector that broke was the connection to the internal LCD screen - a terminal failure requiring replacement of the entire logic board.

      However, the external Apple video connector used to connect to a CRT/LCD monitor is still working.

      • The video connector that broke was the connection to the internal LCD screen [...] However, the external Apple video connector used to connect to a CRT/LCD monitor is still working.
        So why didn't he just remove the built-in screen (Or fold it and add an external keyboard), making it effectively a slim desktop model?

  • Four more lego cases... (Score:5, Informative)

    by henele ( 574362 ) on Sunday May 18, 2003 @07:07AM (#5984968) Homepage
    A mini-itx project [mini-itx.com] and [cox.net] three [directron.com] atx [one.net].

  • lego bricks binary? (Score:4, Funny)

    by Black_Logic ( 79637 ) <wintermute AT gmail DOT com> on Sunday May 18, 2003 @07:54AM (#5985047) Homepage Journal
    "Lego has great computer-like qualities - it is a binary toy; everything is either connected to something or it's not.

    That's stretching it a bit, isn't it? I'm binary too, I'm on the toilet or I'm not. My car is dirty or it isn't. My binary armpits stink or not... :)

    What was his point with that remark?

    • Re:lego bricks binary? (Score:1, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      "That's stretching it a bit, isn't it? I'm binary too, I'm on the toilet or I'm not. My car is dirty or it isn't. My binary armpits stink or not... "

      I thought I'd posted a reply to this earlier, but evidently something went awry. Anyway, at I have put up a hastily-assembled set of pages about the Lego Mac, including one which says a bit more about this. Unfortunately it doesn't discuss the question of being half on and half off the toilet, which can be a problem (e.g. after having too much to drink) but w

    • Lego has great computer-like qualities - it is a binary toy; everything is either connected to something or it's not

      My old roommate was a math major. Awesome at just about everything in math except for statistics. This guy could do things that I couldn't even comprehend -- except for statistics.

      Me: Hey, Eric, what are the odds that I'll pull a ten of clubs out of this deck of cards?

      E: There are two possibilites. Either it will happen, or it won't. Therefore, 50/50.

      Me: Hey, Eric, what are the odd

  • i think this is a good argument that LEGO should not cost money, but you should have to pay someone to pull them apart when you want to use them for another project (it can be quite painful, don't you think ?)

    there could be netLEGO, openLEGO......

    oh wait....this just in.....LEGO is dead!
  • Many people have bought small cases back when they picked up their first computer. I think you know the type... two 5.25 inch drive bays, 2 3.5 inch bays, a couple internal.

    Lego building blocks actually have a level of modularability that I can see being of great benifit to case design. If you need extra drive bays, just buy more building blocks. Need removable storage, just do it in building blocks.

    While I wouldn't nessicarly trust Lego blocks to create anything industrual, little memories of taking m

  • The 5300 was the worst PowerBook ever.

    The fabled battery fires weren't the real problem with these things - the flaming batteries never actually made it into the hands of customers. However, the problems were endless - screen bezel plastics separating, crappy screen hinges. Poorly designed power adapter port (which, when it broke, necessitated a logic board replacement). No level 2 cache (which, speed-wise, crippled the 603 processor). No built-in ethernet or modem even though the previous models of PowerB

    • Amen. That sucker was by far the crappiest laptop I have ever had the misfortune of using. A friend of mine bought one off of e-bay. He couldn't get it to work, so he gave it to me.

      The thing barely worked. The internal bracing was brittle, so it cracked, leaving the thing feeling not solid at all. The eject buttons for the PCMICA slots were on a tiny circuit board, perpendicular to the mobo. It was secured by only the leads that soldered it to the mobo. Broke off pretty quickly.

      Not to mention that the scr

  • Ummm... (Score:2, Informative)

    by XnetZERO ( 560391 )
    There are plenty of people that mod their Mac cases... One of the major trends is to take them apart and paint them new colors, etc... I've seen one with a lcd built into the front of the case, neon lit interiors, etc... No, I don't collect the URLs to these things so rather than "guessing" that Mac users don't mod their cases, why don't you rather look and find out?

    Perhaps the most bizarre mac case I've seen was one that was modified to double as beer tap.

  • Eccentricity? (Score:2, Insightful)

    by SparkyTWP ( 556246 )
    "Many computer enthusiasts design their own base units, but a complete re-build from a different material is a rarity, underlining typical Mac eccentricity."

    Uh, this has been done on the PC mod scene years ago. How is this an example of mac eccentricity?
  • I went to the the ebay page [ebay.com] where the Lego Mac is currently for sale and the owner recently posted that he's now using the Lego Mac to host a web page! [apple-juice.co.uk]
  • Once I finally had it built, my girlfriend used it to write her doctoral thesis on feminist metaphysics."

    I can't even decide what to say about this.

    You know, I just cut up a mac IIci motherboard which was working perfectly because I am putting a mini-itx system in the case. I wonder if this guy is going to come for my blood now :/

  • Gameboy Advance SP Feminine Hygiene Case (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I'm planning on making a new case for my gameboy advance SP outa a tampon box. I wounder how much I could sell it on EBay for.

  • hardly anyone mods macs? (Score:1, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I beg to differ :) check out www.modyourmac.com. Its nowhere near complete but its a start! And, while I dont tend to work in lego, I have to admit that the powerbook piece was a good design. A non-standard application of a household object in regard to a computing element. We need more things like this! Mod your mac! void your warranty! Earn your Band-Aids! ....but thats just my opinion.

    www.modyourmac.com
  • He's going to totally get sued by Steve Jobs for selling an original Apple computer on E-Bay.
  • Most Apple users do not have the skills necessary to mod. They get really irate if you change anything, or even suggest that perfection is not already theirs.

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