"Bookshelf" Computer Wins Design Contest

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."

Comments

the B&O of computers and computer design

[yagu]

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.

From my experience

[Anonymous Coward]

A lot of these are merely for show, and most people have never actually read their computers.

No genious but not terrible

[hey]

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

[ciroknight]

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.

DRM and security don't mix

[openfrog]

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.

aka

[doofusclam]

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.

Anyone Remember the IBM PCjr ?

[ccandreva]

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

Sounds like the same thing with a new paint job.

Portable Computer?

[jbreckman]

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

[fwitness]

You know what we be cool to put on that bookshelf? An Encyclomedia PC! 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

[hey]

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!!!

Amiga Walker

[YorgleLlama]

It looks like a horizontal version of the vertical "Amiga Walker" http://www.blachford.info/computer/walker/walker.h tml 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...

Re:'Stacking Comptuers'

[LiquidCoooled]

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.

Re:'Stacking Comptuers'

[kilikili]

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 it comes to replacing a part. Even the graphics card was a separate piece.

"Probably won an award"

[Council]

The book The Design of Everyday Things 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.

Apple Design

[hotsauce]

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; 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.

What drives what??

[johnlcallaway]

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.

This goes back to the dawn of computing

[Flying pig]

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)