Modular Power Macintosh
It would be cool if Apple made a completely modular Power Mac G4/G5. For example, to install a PCI card you would just slide out a module, open it, slide in the card, close it, then slide the module back in without having to open the entire computer. And the motherboard could be a "backpack" module that you could swap for a new one later on. Hot-swappable firewire drive bay modules would also be kewl. And RAM modules that would not require disassembling the computer.
The result would be a modular Power Macintosh, with easy expandability and upgradability.
The result would be a modular Power Macintosh, with easy expandability and upgradability.
Comments
We could call it ... the iMod?
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E PLURIBUS UNIX
<strong>I have been thinking about this too...
We could call it ... the iMod?
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E PLURIBUS UNIX
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Hehe - nice!
iMod.
Think Modular.
The Powermac case is already easy to open if you need to install drives, PCI cards, RAM, or whatever. Making individual modules that pull out separately would only add more cost to the computer without any extra benefits.
How often do you add or remove PCI cards? Not often enough to warrant a modular design.
Apple needs to concentrate on improving the performance of their mobos before they dick around with some modular design that nobody needs.
<strong>This would be such a total waste of money.
The Powermac case is already easy to open if you need to install drives, PCI cards, RAM, or whatever. Making individual modules that pull out separately would only add more cost to the computer without any extra benefits.
How often do you add or remove PCI cards? Not often enough to warrant a modular design.
Apple needs to concentrate on improving the performance of their mobos before they dick around with some modular design that nobody needs.</strong><hr></blockquote>
I Totally agree with you JunKy, the powermac case is the most easy case to open in the personal computer market.
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I Totally agree with you JunKy, the powermac case is the most easy case to open in the personal computer market.</strong><hr></blockquote>
No - my K'NEX Cube is the easiest case to open. All you have to do is snap off a piece, and voila! The case is open! (you don't even have to do that unless it gets in the way...)
<img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laughing]" />
Is ther performance on DV editing on a high-speed IDE subsystem RAID 0 or 5 that different than that os such as Seagate Baracuda's or Cheetah 10k's? I know there is a definite price difference between SCSI and IDE systems.
This would have the advantage that each machine would be cheaper (you aren't forced into getting a Zip Drive), but it still has the capability of using such a drive without resorting to an external model - hence it would also save desktop pace.
<strong>It would be cool if Apple made a completely modular Power Mac G4/G5. For example, to install a PCI card you would just slide out a module, open it, slide in the card, close it, then slide the module back in without having to open the entire computer. And the motherboard could be a "backpack" module that you could swap for a new one later on. Hot-swappable firewire drive bay modules would also be kewl. And RAM modules that would not require disassembling the computer.
The result would be a modular Power Macintosh, with easy expandability and upgradability. </strong><hr></blockquote>
1. It's not a good business decision. Apple makes money on new computers, not upgrades.
2.\tIt would probably make the computer more expensive.
[ 02-18-2002: Message edited by: FERRO ]</p>
End response: Mod Mac won't make money. m m m m m !
I imagine something like a combination of SGI's <a href="http://www.sgi.com/origin/300/numaflex.html" target="_blank">NUMAflex</a> modular computer with Apple's Power Mac. which would allow you to indipendantly add and remove power supplies, drive bays, PCI slots, XIO slots and even CPU slots!
It works by having all of these slots in modular "bricks" that attach to one-another. thus forming a whole computer. this allows you to buy a slim little tower to start off with. and then scale it up to a raging deskside machine later on. and when a bunch of these become obsolete. you can scavenge them for parts. and build a monolithic frankenstein of a computer out of an old Mac lab or something. to compete with even newer machines.
Probably the greatest benefit. is that if the modules were small enough. they could build minitowers. and maybe even all-in-ones(The monitor would attach to the other modules). out of the things as well as the immense full tower and deskside Macs. thus saving massive amounts of money in component manufacture. as well as increasing lifetime customer value(Imagine if you could turn a lab of old iMacs into a moderately powerful server after their useful time as end user machines had ended).
Now THAT'S a modular computer.
Eric,