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Wooden Computer Accessories

polyp2000 writes "It's always interesting to read about case-mods, but this company has a novel twist, for nature loving geeks. Maybe even the perfect accessory for a wooden case mod. Swedx do a nice line in wooden monitors, keyboards, and some sweet looking wooden mice in a selection of different woods."

39 of 467 comments (clear)

  1. Finally! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Computers for the Ahmish.

  2. Finally by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    After years of your computer giving you wood, you can finally give back.

  3. Wooden you just know it! by Phidoux · · Score: 4, Funny

    Now my pc will burn with the rest off my house! Aggggg!

    1. Re:Wooden you just know it! by mesach · · Score: 4, Funny

      Just imagine thier server room RIGHT NOW...

      I bet the Halon can't keep up with that tinderbox!

      --
      moo.
  4. Still... by detritus` · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Definitely not the case and/or setup for those overclockers out there :) especially with heat output getting real close to 100W...

    1. Re:Still... by sjlumme · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Over here, we had the "silverware computer" running a webserver for a while. It was a standard AMD box assembled out of mostly dumpster-dived components, except instead of giving it a proper case, they stuck it in a wooden kitchen drawer. It served webpages just fine as long as nobody closed the drawer all the way, which would cause the AMD to overheat.

    2. Re:Still... by LarsWestergren · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Definitely not the case and/or setup for those overclockers out there :) especially with heat output getting real close to 100W...

      That does not really matter. As others have pointed out, the heat disappation of your metal case is close to zero compared to how much is dissappated by the air circulated by your case fans, so switching to wood won't make any difference.

      There are lots of predicatble jokes here about it catching fire, but most traditional Finnish saunas are made from wood. You can actually have wood panelling right next to metal that is so hot it's glowing red without the wood smoldering. Though just like with saunas, it would probably be best not to use wood that is impregnated or treated with anything for the cases, as that might give off not very healthy gasses if warmed up.

      With regards to being heavy - it might be a bit bulky, but I think I read wood is actually one of the strongest materials compared to its weight in the world. Hey, here is an idea, how about spider silk cases?

      Finally, the environmental question: wood is about as renewable resource as there is, and we have lots of it in Sweden. As long as the wood doesn't come from protected forests ("ur-skog") or rainforests, you can't really get more environmentally friendly.

      --

      Being bitter is drinking poison and hoping someone else will die

  5. Plenty of wood already .... by pararox · · Score: 4, Funny

    As if most Slashdot readers truly need more wood when sitting before a computer ;)

  6. nice theme... by Whitecloud · · Score: 3, Funny

    wooden cases huh? wouldnt want an Athlon in there, the heat might cause an office fire. Whats next, tablets made out of stone?

    I can see it now, the boss walks in with his shiny (heavy) new tablet, suddenly those power point presentations are elevated to commandment level. Plus if someone disagrees, it doubles as a pacifier.

    --

    Do you need a website upgrade?

  7. You love nature so much that you by pair-a-noyd · · Score: 3, Insightful

    cut down a tree in honor of it?

    Hmmmmm..... Anyone else see somehting wrong with this picture??

    1. Re:You love nature so much that you by Brandybuck · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Cut down a tree (renewable resource) versus mining bauxite (nonrenewable resource). The answer is trivial when you think about it. While it's a bad thing to cut down entire rainforests of hardwood just to make mice, it's even worse to mine entire mountains level just so you get a 1337 aluminum case.

      --
      Don't blame me, I didn't vote for either of them!
    2. Re:You love nature so much that you by timeOday · · Score: 5, Interesting
      Do you worry about breakfast cereal depleting our precious natural corn resources?

      The key of having enough of a renewable resource is getting people to value it in the first place. With the $15 I pay to cut down a Christmas tree, the forest service plants several more. (And that is in fact exactly what they do with the money).

    3. Re:You love nature so much that you by Brandybuck · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Pine, oak, ash, beech, maple, etc., are all "farmed" woods suitable for mice that don't require any rainforests to be stripped. Even apple and cherry wood from old orchards is suitable for small items like these, and would be very cool.

      If you want some exotic rainforest hardwoods instead, there's no need to "strip log" them. Selective cutting preserves the ecostructure quite nicely. Clearcutting is a sign of bad government management of resources. It's easy enough to brand "eco-friendly" lumber to make sure you aren't buying mouse made from clearcut timber.

      --
      Don't blame me, I didn't vote for either of them!
    4. Re:You love nature so much that you by zakezuke · · Score: 4, Funny

      The answer is trivial when you think about it. While it's a bad thing to cut down entire rainforests of hardwood just to make mice, it's even worse to mine entire mountains level just so you get a 1337 aluminum case.

      Empty soda can.... about 17 g
      Ennyah ATX case... 5 kg

      Knowing your case can be recycled into about 294 cans of jolt cola... priceless

      --
      There is no sanctuary. There is no sanctuary. SHUT UP! There is no shut up. There is no shut up.
    5. Re:You love nature so much that you by Penguinshit · · Score: 4, Insightful


      actually, if you cut the tree correctly, the stump will live and produce yet another tree. Only the part you cut away dies (and even that could be coaxed into becoming its own tree).

      I propagate roses all the time in this fashion. It's called "asexual reproduction" (something with which many slashdotters are invariably familiar...).

    6. Re:You love nature so much that you by Dark+Bard · · Score: 3, Interesting

      When's the last time you flew over Washington state? It looks like a big checkerboard. They're sneaky and leave a strip along the road to fool you into thinking there are trees. It's a myth that the trees are replanted. Until recently the lumber companies argued that clear cutting was good for a forest. Kind of like extinction is good for a species. Some trees are planted because they are forced to but most of the forest are lost and we'll never see them come back in our lifetimes. Most lumber companies operate as strip miners and will keep cutting trees until there aren't any. They'll simply move onto the next resource when they run out. It doesn't make sense but blind greed rarely does.

    7. Re:You love nature so much that you by NotClever · · Score: 3, Informative
      A myth? Wow, that must come as a surprise to the millions of trees that are planted yearly by lumber companies.

      The lumber companies know that more land isn't being created, and if they cut down all the trees, well, um, they're going out of business. Most lumber companies aren't stupid enough to do that to themselves.

      Perhaps what you are seeing are the farms. Fly over any farmland, and you'll see exactly what you're talking about.

      --
      Hell, there are no rules here. We're trying to accomplish something. - Thomas Edison
  8. About 6 years behind the time. by blair1q · · Score: 5, Funny

    Didn't Jack Gallo, publisher of Blush Magazine, have a wood-cased LCD flatpanel monitor on his desk?

    Why yes, he did.

    In like 1998.

    And there's always competition.

  9. For the "nature lovers"... by rasafras · · Score: 4, Funny

    Sure, they may like accessories from cut-down trees.
    Me, I'm still waiting for my authentic ivory mouse and tiger fur coated keyboard.


    yes, that was a joke

  10. I think... by Elpacoloco · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Wood is maybe not the best idea. I'd like my computer to be silent, dissipate it's heat properly, and otherwise be transparent.

    I just can't see wood fulfilling any of these requirements.

    1. Re:I think... by benchbri · · Score: 3, Funny

      I believe you're thinking of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, wherein Scottie gives a plexiglas manufacturer the atomic structure of transparent aluminum as payment for the whale-tank components. wow. I wonder if I can get modded down for nerdy?

    2. Re:I think... by Moraelin · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Well, here's what I don't understand. (And please don't take it as a flame or anything.) Why would anyone want an ugly transparent contraption?

      The innards of my computer are a twisty maze of cables, all alike. Between the hard drives, two CD drives, Audigy 2 Platinum front tray, case fans, etc, it's one big mess of cables.

      Not that it would be any better without the cables. It's a colour cacophony of red PCBs, blue PCBs, traditionalist green PCBs, aluminum heatsink on the CPU, copper heatsink on the graphics card, and whatever else.

      Now if I were to also add some lit fans or neon lights, as seems to be the custom, then it would only get an even uglier colour cacophony.

      What's that supposed to look like? A cheap circus tent? A bad acid trip? A sad clown on a really bad makup day? A terror attack on a paint warehouse?

      And the real question: why on Earth would I want to look at that every day? Also: why would I want the others to see that?

      Now I can see haow that would have a novelty factor in the beginning, and can appreciate at least the work of those who personally modded their own case. (Even if to a butt-ugly result.) But... you know... it's been some years already. The novelty ought to have worn off, and you can already buy that kind of cases mass-produced.

      --
      A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.
  11. oh please by ArchieBunker · · Score: 3, Informative

    Your computer would never get hot enough to catch wood on fire. You would be able to cook an egg on the metal case long before wood smolders. Even a capacitor popping in the power supply is no big deal. My only conern is RFI, but maybe they put a layer of conductive paint on the inside.

    --
    Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
    1. Re:oh please by jpmkm · · Score: 3, Informative

      Oh yes, and this is a definate problem since most of the heat is transferred through the case material. Heat loss due to conduction through the case material is nearly insignificant compared to the heat loss due to air circulation by fans. That's why we have fans in computers - to draw in cool air and force hot air out.

    2. Re:oh please by zakezuke · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Agreed... old fisher tube based amplifiers / radio receivers often had wooden cases. My current receiver is circa late 70s, it's PS is rated for well into the 300watt spectrum... it doesn't catch fire. Both are passively cooled with linier power supplies if i'm not mistaken. Your PC with it's switching power supply shouldn't be much of a problem. It has a fuse, your house has a breaker. Not a problem.

      I'll submit that wood is more of an insolater then steel or aluminium... and is less likely to be good at passive cooling... lets say in the event that your fan fails.

      --
      There is no sanctuary. There is no sanctuary. SHUT UP! There is no shut up. There is no shut up.
  12. Fashion & the Beige Box by spun · · Score: 5, Interesting

    For the longest time, the beige box was the height of fashion in the computer world. Everything was the same shade of beige, too. Printers, monitors, cases, keyboards, mice, EVERYTHING. And everything was boxy, too. Rounding the corners on your box was considered daring. Then some bright boy came up with the idea of white boxes. Then the natural corollary, the black box. Then Apple came out with the iMac and suddenly we had six new colors. And we had blobs as well as boxes.

    Of course, we have had case-modders from the get go, and some innovative 'concept' designs have been displayed at trade shows, but in the mainstream, the physical design of computers and accessories has been boring.

    I would love to be able to choose from a wide style of cases for my computer. Computer case design has been unobtrusive and homogenous up till now to please the major buyers, corporations. Now, with many smaller form-factor motherboards, and more people with some kind of fashion sense buying computers for the home, there will probably be an explosion in case and accessory design.

    I'd love to see some nice retro stuff. Cases and accessories that looked like a 1950s wooden stereo, or a brushed aluminum AirStream trailer, or made to look like a sculpture would probably sell well. How about a tiny computer with only USB and FireWire (or maybe BlueTooth or something like it but faster, to do away with cords.) for expansion that comes with matching 'collectable' accessories. Companies could manufacture snap on covers: Star Wars or LoTR for us geeks, sports memorablia for the average joe, unicorns and big eyed ragamuffins for the ladies, and so forth.

    The day of the beige box is hopefully done. I for one welcome our new, more stylish computers & accessories.

    --
    - None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
    1. Re:Fashion & the Beige Box by prockcore · · Score: 4, Informative

      Then some bright boy came up with the idea of white boxes. Then the natural corollary, the black box. Then Apple came out with the iMac and suddenly we had six new colors.

      Actually, Sun and SGI were making purple machines long before Apple switched from beige.

    2. Re:Fashion & the Beige Box by Larsing · · Score: 3, Funny

      Or how about building your computer into a sofa, using the excess heat as a seat warmer? (Wait aminute, hasn't Cray already done that..?)
      Or turing your water cooled computer into a feng shuei water feature? (Wait another minute, hasn't Cray already done that, too..?)

      Ah, well, never mind then... ;-)

      --
      Ethics is what you say you do. Morals is what you actually do.
  13. The only true wooden computer by Advocadus+Diaboli · · Score: 5, Funny
    is called Abacus. True digital computing at an affordable price.

    And there are also analog wooden computers.

  14. Re:Yes, wood is "nature loving" by jesdynf · · Score: 5, Funny
    So come back when you're typing on keyboards assembled from windfall wood and bones of animals that died of natural causes.

    Picture: A post-apocalyptic world, now grown lush and green again.

    "Father, what kind of animal is that?"

    "That's a qwerty, my son. If you know how to skin and prepare one, you can use almost every part of it to make a keyboard."

    "Almost? What's left over?"

    "The scrowlock and the cisrek. Hell if I know what they're good for."

    --
    Yahoo! Pipes are awesome. How awesome? http://pipes.yahoo.com/jesdynf/slashdot
  15. Re:Nature-loving geeks? by fbjon · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Building something, anything, out of wood is a very natural way of doing it. There are a number of species on this planet that cut down trees to build structures, humans are not the only ones.

    Wood feels nice, sounds nice, and looks nice. It is renewable. And you're forgetting WHERE this tree is cut down, is it in an ancient forest with 300-year old trees, or in a homegrown backyard lot?

    "I'm nature-loving."

    Then why not do it the natural way?

    --
    True confidence comes not from realising you are as good as your peers, but that your peers are as bad as you are.
  16. Prices! by Coryoth · · Score: 3, Informative
    I managed to track down some pricing, at least for the monitors:

    15" TFT 458 Euros
    17" TFT 604 Euros
    19" TFT 1090 Euros

    Which is not all that bad considering how nice they look - here's a german shop selling them for those that are finding the site slashdotted.

    Jedidiah

  17. There was a little wooden PC once... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    It had a wooden case,
    a wooden mouse
    a wooden keyboard
    and a wooden cpu
    and it wooden go!

  18. Remind anyone of the Apple I in the Smithsonian by owlicks58 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    For some reason remembering seeing the Apple I in the Smithsonian was the first thing I thought of when i thought of a wooden computer case. Have a look Smithsonian Apple I

    --
    -Alex
  19. They just don't work very well by Ray+Radlein · · Score: 4, Funny

    I tried out a wooden monitor once, but the picture was just too grainy.

  20. Fire hazard... by bsbenalber · · Score: 3, Funny

    Nice! No more putting cigarettes close to the keyboard. Mind you, even over clocking now becomes a fire hazard! ;-)

  21. I have to ask: by renjipanicker · · Score: 3, Funny

    Where do I store my logs?

  22. Is cardboard "wood"? by tverbeek · · Score: 4, Funny

    Because I mounted a small power supply, motherboard, and a hard drive in a FedEx box, as an easier-to-carry alternative to a 1U case (nice and flat, but way too wide and deep) or a typical desktop/tower case (too, well... box-like). As an added bonus, it's less likely to get stolen because it doesn't exactly look like a computer. Though I do have to be careful any time FedEx comes to pick up a package. {grin}

    --
    http://alternatives.rzero.com/
  23. Beware of the termites! by IroNick · · Score: 3, Funny

    Luckily, there are no wild termites in Sweden, but there are some variant of carpenter ants.

    So who do you call when your mouse got bugs?