Slashdot Mirror
Cool PC Cases
PaulB writes "Intel's new Easy PC standard has some prototype systems ready for it, which you can read about on Wired. Very cool looking stuff, finally no more iMac envy. "
You can see the photos of the machines
on intel's website but
they do all have those stupid looking jumpsuit dudes in the way. Update: 06/08 08:45 by H :SurplusBaggage wrote in with the Phillips 42" monitors. Price tag: $15k.
Ow! I looked specifically for a motherboard with ISA slots this time around (and didn't see one with 2) I've got an old Ethernet card and Soundard that work just fine, not matter what Intel says
Hey, this is built on my ISA soundcard, how exactly does Intel plan to kill it?
Intel must have a huge hard-on for USB to abandon the MILLIONS of keyboards/mice out there that already use this widely accepted standard
Hopefully I won't have my external modem still when they do this
Or my printer
Good riddance, as long as they replace it with SCSI, Firewire, or Fibre channel (mmmm Fibre Channel) and not USB or some other lame protocol
Why are they waiting so long on this one? Who uses floppies anymore? I guess they're just holding on to this to spite Apple
And replace it with what?
Somehow I doubt this will go over very well with the people who make peripherals. If Intel released some chipset that didn't support any sort of expansion slots, you can bet somebody (maybe IBM) will release one that does. The sever market (not to mention gamers/power users/other computer savvy people) simply won't stand for this.
I read the internet for the articles.
Because everybody knows how today's teens are into FISH!!
Those are some of the ugliest things I've seen in a while. And I don't just mean the bunnypeople.
The next Cmdr Taco duplicate will be ready soon, but subscribers can beat the rush and see it early!
As many have noted already, these new machines lack the expandability that we've come to get used to from PCs. As we all know, you'd end up having to upgrade the whole thing sooner when the hardware becomes obsolete, instead of incrementally (because the whole thing doesn't really become obsolete all at once). Of course, since Micro$oft is behind this, they all want to do to hardware what M$ has done to software: lock users in an inescapable (?) upgrade cycle, and drain your pockets of dosh in the process.
On an aside, one of the things that always bug me is the thoughtless use of IDE for device attachment. I'd have put SCSI or FireWire in there, instead, and that would instantly provide greater expansion capability, before you add PCI (or your expansion bus of choice).
In Soviet Russia, Jesus asks: "What Would You Do?"
> no slots of any kind whatsoever
This is a GoodThing(tm). Think about it for a second? Do you actually think that the way we do things now (open up the case and plug one circuit board into another) is the right way of doing things?!?!? Do you actually think "normal" people are comfortable with this paradigm.
> integrated monitors and computers were a bad
Again, I think you are wrong here. The future of computers insn't power or flexibility. It's simplicity. And let's face it, the simplest solution is an all in one box.
-Harry
Also, I am pretty sure that we all decided that integrated monitors and computers were a bad idea a long time ago (except for thos boneheads at Apple). I dunno about the average slashdotter, but my current monitor has lasted me through six different systems. Who (besides the display manufacturers) wants a montitor that has to be upgraded at the same pace as the CPU.
More examples of the manufacturers giving us what they want us to have, instead of what we want them to give us.
-jwb
Hahaaha.. *shrug* If it runs linux, I'll put it to some trivial task and shove it under my desk with the rest of em.. Think about it.. "This is my DNS bunny. This is my SETI@HOME fish. And, of course, my showpiece, the Squid flower."
--
blue
i browse at -1 because they're funnier than you are.
Lots of pooh-poohing of these designs going on. Gosh, they're not upgradable, the monitor's built in, et cetera. Seems there's a cultural divide here.
... well, when mom wants a car she gets a compact that will let her pick up her groceries. It has a reliable Japanese engine that will go 100,000 miles as long as you go to Jiffy Lube every other month. Mom never opens the hood; face it, Mom doesn't want to open the hood. Even if you're a mechanic, she'd rather not have to depend on your being around if it seizes up. She just wants to pick up the groceries.
Can we all agree that slashdotters want hot rods for themselves? All of us probably know what a standard PC looks like inside, at the very least. Most of us can upgrade one; maybe we can do it in the dark. Maybe we leave our case covers off so we can do it with less hassle. The latest graphics card; the most efficient EIDE controller. Overclocking. Ultracooling. One more operation per microsecond is worth an afternoon's twiddling.
But for mom
That's what these computers are.
lake effect weblog
{Network engineer in Chicago--looking for work!}
Their roadmap to remove "Legacy Technology":
I'll admit that some of these technologies are a little dated, but removing all user-accessible slots means that a whole lot of old but functional hardware is going to be useless. Doesn't Intel realize that the interchangeable nature of PC parts led to the commodity market for them in the first place? Intel wouldn't be half the size it is today if IBM had just made all PCs with no user-accessible slots.
Your right to not believe: Americans United for Separation of Church and
I would like to see a high end, accelerated video card with no analog technology anywhere in the loop - a digital interface to the motherboard, digital processing, and a digital signal to a digital (lcd flat panel) monitor.
For sound, how about a card that does exactly zero analog processing anywhere (for a really clean signal) and gives a 5+1 output like dolby digital, or some other digital output that can be fed into a home audio system for decoding and amplification.
What do y'all think?
Vidi, Vici, Veni
obviously, as a high school grad about to pay his own way through college, it will be a loooong time before I could actually buy something like that, but it's still fun talking about it. grin
Vidi, Vici, Veni
PC's are ugly. There's no working around this fact. Beyond the fact that they are ugly, they're also not very functional on the inside. Too often wires have to be run across things messing up ventillation and cluttering up the inside. A PC with all the I/O it will need built inside? Bring it on! Personally I think those things are terribly ugly, but I'm sure more reasonable cases will be forthcoming. Once motherboard manufacturers build in SCSI instead of IDE, I'll be the first in line.
-Rich
I think there's a place in the computing world for these "all-in-one" things. Although a Mac user, I dislike the iMac. However, I think it's perfectly fine for non-geek computer buyers who are 90% unlikely to upgrade anything ever. I think these PC's will do fine filling in that same market.
Just like Slashdot stories you're not interested in, all you gotta do is avoid them.
That one looks cool, but I'd be so scared of dust or other particles collecting in there. Heaven forbid you accidentally touched it.
All translucent macs come with on-board IDE now. The only new mac that still has on-board SCSI is the Powerbook. SCSI macs are still in such demand, however, that you'll still see beige (SCSI) macs on sale for the same prices as the new macs, even with slower busses and processors.
I've found many sweet looking cases on the 'net. The only thing is, I can never tell if they'll match up with my motherboard. I don't want the heartache of ordering a slick new case to find out my stuff won't fit. All the local computer fairs only seem to have the generic beige boxes...I'm a form-follows-function kind of guy, but hey, if I'm dropping a couple grand on a fast PC, I want it to look good too!
Blar.
http://www.sgi.com/o2/
:)
I really think that computing should be a fun
thing and those clunky old x86 boxes don't fit
in to a creative atmosphere unless you rack them
in something black and spray paint
"render up your XXX" on the side
=derek
Think about it. Same colorful if somewhat shapeless forms. Same prancing about meaninglessly. Same telescreens (although moved up from the tummy to the face area with the bunny people). Hmm, and 'Intel bunny', 'tele-tubby' (the 'n' and 'b' keys are right next to each other on the keyboard). Coincidence? I don't think so.
Although the Intelebunnies seem to have had their antennae amputated.
Don't step in the tubby custard!
-- Alastair
blow up picture atC N22399o.jpg
ftp://download.intel.com/pressroom/images/news/
2 ram slots. no pci..
I'm sure it uses intel video chips too.
I couldn't help but throw out a few "slashdot-esque" comments about these cases:
1) How long until we have kernel support for them?
2) Wow! Someone should build a beowulf cluster of systems with these cases! (And wouldn't THAT be the most butt-ugly pile of flourescent hardware ever....)
3) Who cares? I keep my overclocked Celeron motherboard in a shirt box I took from my dad's closet. I cool it with a desktop fan blowing through a modified coil from a Whirlpool refrigerator. It's hooked up to a T1 and serves over 50,000 web hits a day without breaking a sweat....
Save the whales. Feed the hungry. Free the mallocs.
Dammit, I'm bitter now.
--
I can't believe the comments I am reading: granted, the Bunnymen are creepy as hell, the cases arent the prettiest thing ever designed, but the idea is good: do away with old, obsolete standards, make PCs more attractive to John Q Public.
;-) More people -> bigger market for companies -> lower per unit costs (amortization anyone?) -> lower prices. Also, more Net-users means more bandwidth not less... when the other 70% of the USA (much less the world) gets online, then it would make more sense for telecomms to bring fiber to our doorsteps...
;-) but I'd like to see plans for Linux on FlexATX boxes ASAP...
Planned obsolescence is good; it cuts down on unit prices for IHVs and OEMs. Those savings are bound to trickle down to the consumer in this hyper-competitive industry of ours... And flexible systems will still be around for people like us --and business users. We may have to pay a premium for them, but the cost savings from the more high-performance hardware will more than make up for it.
More people on the Internet is also good (can't anybody around here remember the pre-1994 days? yeah, when 2400 baud rained supreme... not much on the Net back then, huh? unless you count wuarchive or fsp
But the real kicker is that this could be the best thing that ever happened to Linux: these idiot-proof boxes (that will probably boot straight into AOL) need rock-stable, maintenance free OSes... Now, that means win9x is out, so MS can load them with either CE or NT. Problem is neither of these does the second killer-ap (after Net access): games. On the other hand, Linux can be trimmed down to fit on those little playthings, and Linux game support is already taking off... I am not even a Linux user yet (I am working on it
Just my $.02
I don't believe I have seen anyone mention what I think is the ultimate danger in the commoditization of computing - the marginalization of the tech computer user vis-a-vis the loss of market share.
Some of you have said, "These designs suck. I'll still keep buying plain old beige towers and config them my way" or "I sure hate the loss of slots in these new machines. But I will still keep on using machines with them so I can upgrade". Assuming, of course, that add-on hardware like we are used-to today is still on the market, e.g., you can still buy an after-market motherboard, video card, modem or hard drive.
How much after market add-on, user-installable hardware do you think will be made once Intel has converted the industry over to Legacy-Free computing. Now, legacy-style computer sales are 100% ( - Imac sales ). If Intel has its way, in a few years there won't be any computers with slots or traditional ports being sold. And, everyone in the industry believes/hopes that the volume of systems shipped will greatly increase as these new computers finally attract the vast-majority of people that don't own a computer now. So systems assembled using legacy components will present an ever diminishing market share.
I am afraid that, then, our kind of expandable computer will vanish into economic insignificance. The marketing/business geniuses that run companies will say that, "While our $50 million/year legacy SCSI/IDE business was profitable and supported an active community of legacy users, we have decided to pursue the greater opportunities offered by the new Intel PC2005 NanoDrive standard. We see a potential for great growth and increased stock value in this $225 billion global market." Businesses are in business to make money. When there are 10 million users like us and a billion users of non-legacy hardware, whom do you think they will service?
I don't have an MBA, but I am sure I read this in some business text:
"You don't try to sell to all customers - just the right customers."
where "right" == the ones that produce the greatest revenues with the least marketing/support expenditure.
I don't imagine all manufactures will abandon the add-on market - you can still buy parts for classic automobiles. But, you don't get commodity prices once the mass market has moved on. If new add-on legacy hardware is still made, it will probably have premium prices.
One can only hope that when this day comes, the machines will truly be cheap enough to throw away when you want that new Voodoo12 4D VR chipset-based system. Or like one person said here - just have a shelf full of these machines each doing some one thing.
hws
This is my first post - so please be gentle.
I am so sick of marketroids trying to make computer hardware look stylish! My Cisco 675 looks like pregnant, mutated radar detector. The new HP tower cases are shaped like an ass cheek! What gives?
I want a *SEXY* computer. Sexy computers are black. They are big (2.5' by 2.5 by 3.0'). They have lots of blinking lights. They have *TOGGLE SWITCHES* on the front! The have a *COOLANT LEVEL* that needs to be monitored. They have more CPU's than my calculator has buttons! They have imposing names like UniDeath Model 6342-XMP. They have hardware specs full of acronyms like RAID, BSP, SCSI, SMP and SP. They sound like a jet engine when they power up! They consume more energy than your average clothes dryer! Most importantly they're so damn fast, they _disembowel_ fashionable desktop PC's!
Feel free to moderate this post to hell.
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May a falling S390 land on the dancing "Bunnies"
~Any apparent grammatical or typographic errors are caused by defects in your display device.
BunnyPeople? Neo-postmodern design cases with cards poking out? What were these people thinking?
It sounds as if they let loose a Versace-wannabe on a few computer cases. You know the kind. "Oh, what the hell is that mouse thingie for? Didn't computer geeks learn to accessorise? Off with the mouse thingie! And what about that TV? TV is sooo eighties, pumpkins!"
This seems as natural to me as a cross between Bill Gates and Pamela Anderson. The percentage of malleable plastic is about right.
"There is no surer way to ruin a good discussion than to contaminate it with the facts."
You know, the thing that has always set the computer industry apart was that it WASN'T mainstream. You don't see commercials with bikini babes fondling monitors; you don't see advertisements at baseball games for the latest video accelerators. Public advertising tends to target the lowest common denominator in American society, and the PC industry--until recently--has managed to escape that fate. Frankly, I liked it that way.
Then came the iMac.
Suddenly, people I know started getting iMacs because, in their exact words, "they looked cool." I think I shuddered each and every time I heard that. Girls look cool. Cars look cool. Art (occasionally) looks cool. The main selling point of a computer should NOT be that it looks cool. We've all heard the age-old adage, "Don't judge a book by it's cover."
Well, don't judge a computer by one either. Take a look at what's inside, and not the idiots in day-glow radiation suits dancing around it.
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