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PC in a.... Sphere?
clemens writes "A Japanese manufacturer has come up with this spherical PC." I love the concept of your PC accidentally rolling off your desk. Doesn't that lime green one remind anyone else of Gundam?
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It almost looks like the Death Star. It even has an equitorial axis. They should al least put a webcam where the laser should go.
I don't know...the green one looks "mostly harmless"
A couple of arms and a red tongue...
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fit in your pants it would be even more Japanese.
It's Christmas everyday with BitTorrent.
First square watermelons, now spherical computers? Whatever they're smoking, it must be good.
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"Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
Humor. Bring back the old bowling jokes.
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"Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
I wonder where they got that idea. The resemblance is striking.
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There's a very short description of this at theinquirer.net found through mini-itx.com where this is old news.
You can throw it at your boss when you're having one of the those days.
See here for lots of other plasticky 1960's round designs. Here is the sphere radio with 8-track.
and hang them on your Christmas tree?
I posted to
Just glue together two iMacs together at the base and you have the same thing, plus dual CPUs and two screens (or would they be "legs"?).
While Japan is very space conscious, they also dish out a lot of cash for "cute". While they are also being a very gadget oriented society. I dont think you'll see this in every home (many of the "home" pcs you see there are not much bigger than a the phone on the average "business" persons desk in the US), I'm sure it will lead way to other innovate "cute" ways to package a PC.
Allright, I was impressed by the whole sphere thing. I've been thinking about buying myself aocuple of those mini-itx mobos to play with, see where I can stick 'em. But then I started clicking around on links, and I found this. It leaves that ball mod in the dust. A full PC inside a shiny chrome GE toaster from the 60's. It's even got a cold cathode light, and an LCD screen! I particularly love how the CD tray pops up out of the toaster's slot. :D
"Two things are infinite: the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the first one." - Albert Einstein
...courtesy of the fish...
"...with spatula drawing formation..."
hey that's a great idea put a couple of high powered magnets on the bottom and built into the desk and it would hov... oh... nevermind...
"Do not be swept up in the momentum of mediocrity." - anon
If a site is being hosted from one of these and it gets posted here, could it be said that we're busting their balls?
Where does the school board find them and why do they keep sending them to ME?
Quick translation of the link...
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It looks just like a soccerball? Display of spherical PC sample has begun.
Sculpting technology used to form aluminium into sphere; utilizes Mini-ITX motherboard
It seems that a shocking new type of PC is about to be released, the first for a while. This time, it's a spherical PC, named the "Sphere PC (ZxL Artemis series)".
Leading up to its release, it is on display at PC-Shop Wakamatsu (Translator's note: A shop in Akihabara that often deals in slightly unusual items) from the 20th to the 22nd.
- Formed using sculpting technology
The "Sphere PC" is a product developed jointly by Rupo, a company selling PC cases and parts, and Jion, a company specializing in planning, designing and creating peripherals. The shop is displaying two types, a green model and a silver model. The silver model, in particular, bears a striking resemblance to the mysterious sphere in the movie "Sphere". If you didn't know what it is, you'd almost certainly never guess that it's a PC.
By the way, Jion is a company formed by several members of Technobird's development staff, responsible for the TB-2000 early aluminium case. They have been in charge of development and design of Lupo's other custom cases.
The sphere is made entirely of aluminium. As it is an unusual shape, it was handmade by craftsmen using "spatula squeezing" (Translator's note: Really!), a traditional Japanese method of crafting metal. The unusual shape stands out, but on top of that, the textured surface resulting from it being handmade is also unique.
- It splits into an upper and lower half
Its main specifications are: an EPIA Mini-ITX mother board made by VIA, a 40GB hard drive, and an external 200W power supply. However, these made be subject to change. It also includes a slim optical drive. Pressing a button on the side of the case causes the upper half to rise, allowing access to the drive tray.
The case contains the motherboard and hard drive in the lower half, with the optical drive located in the middle. The upper half is empty.
The price is yet to be decided, but the shop says that, as a barebone kit, it is likely to be priced at around 50,000 yen (Translator: ~$US400). It is scheduled to be shipped in January 2003.
- Gullwing PC also in development
Rupo is planning on releaseing a range of other unique products after this. An announced item is a gullwing PC containing a 400W power supply, also planned to be released in january 2003.
No way. Not from a country with cubic watermelons.
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First, they put Pacman into a computer...now they put a computer into Pacman!
(No, this is not an "In Soviet Russia" joke!)
Ed Wedig
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Brilliant! You showed us that a spherical computer is not efficient use of space. I feel so silly now.
sic transit gloria mundi
Some [in]equalities:
Cute != Aesthetically pleasing.
Bauhaus == Aesthetically pleasing.
Hello Kitty == Ugly and annoying as hell.
STOP . AMERICA . NOW