Glass?
I just got a flash of inspiration. What if they started using glass in manufacturing the cases for the iMac or eMac? They'll get a facelift sometime in the future most definitely, though I think it might make the eMac heavier than the beast already is. But is it practical at all? Would it somehow make heat a serious problem? Would it only scratch just as well if they, I don't know, use some strange type of glass? I would think of using this for only parts of the casing and wouldn't scratch or scuff up as much as plastic. granted, it might be a pain to clean greasy finger prints off it?
How about wood, then?
How about wood, then?
Comments
wood? no.
Wood? Expensive, inconsistent, impossible to mold, bulky, heavy, and opaque. If Apple feels like releasing the next iMac in the guise of a 1940s radio, maybe...
(That would be pretty sweet, actually, even if it was ridiculously impractical...)
Originally posted by rageous
wood? no.
No?
I've also seen cardboard computer cases around. This isn't that much crazier.
Originally posted by Amorph
What, exactly, is wrong with plastic? It scratches, but better scratching than shattering. Besides, glass is heavy and costly relative to plastic, especially if you did the triple-paning and coating necessary to keep the case from seriously injuring its owner in case it broke.
Wood? Expensive, inconsistent, impossible to mold, bulky, heavy, and opaque. If Apple feels like releasing the next iMac in the guise of a 1940s radio, maybe...
(That would be pretty sweet, actually, even if it was ridiculously impractical...)
Unless you have a habit of knocking your computer off your desk on a regular basis, I don't think it would be in any danger of shattering.
A wooden case woudn't be so impractical and in the hands of Ive, might look really classy. Like the radio you suggested?
I see a G5 in there. (:
http://www.applefritter.com/hacks/dlz3/index.html
Then there's this LC 475 in a custom-made wooden case:
http://www.applefritter.com/hacks/woody/index.html
Then there's a Quadra inside a really old radio:
http://www.applefritter.com/hacks/to...mac/index.html
Those are pretty cool. That website also has a number of mods where people put Macs into old metal cases for ancient electronic equipment. Fun stuff.
What, exactly, is wrong with plastic? It scratches, but better scratching than shattering. Besides, glass is heavy and costly relative to plastic, especially if you did the triple-paning and coating necessary to keep the case from seriously injuring its owner in case it broke.
Last I checked they still make most CRT screens out of glass ? I don't think it can be quite the vicious saftey hazard you're makiing it out to be.
Socrates
Originally posted by Socrates
Last I checked they still make most CRT screens out of glass ? I don't think it can be quite the vicious saftey hazard you're makiing it out to be.
Actually, any CRT is a safety hazard on many levels (implosion, massive amounts of electrical current). But, since you have to do something extreme or stupid for it to really endanger you, we all have them around anyway. We also keep Drano (pure lye) under our sinks.
Fortunately for my argument, it didn't rest on that one issue. That was just one more reason not to use glass instead of plastic.
Introducing the new granit powerbook
Clear plastic would be more realistic... but again the opaque plastic they use now does a much better job of hiding scratches and such.
glass - why?
to look through? and see what? ever heard of plexi? same function, less weight, more stabil.
glass is a very difficult to handle material, it's a "frozen liquid", therefore so breakable...-
no, the modders like to impress their friends ("look! two pentium VI!!"), but a company like Apple produces lifestyle products.
nobody is interest, how a computer works. it just has to ... work.
has anyone recognized the connection between metallic interface and G5 outside?!
8)
Originally posted by k_munic
glass is a very difficult to handle material, it's a "frozen liquid", therefore so breakable...-
Glasses are amorphous solids. There is a fundamental structural divide between amorphous solids (including glasses) and crystalline solids. Structurally, glasses are similar to liquids, but that doesn't mean they are liquid.
Originally posted by shanners
Glasses are amorphous solids. There is a fundamental structural divide between amorphous solids (including glasses) and crystalline solids. Structurally, glasses are similar to liquids, but that doesn't mean they are liquid.
thank you for your first post in this forum.
why do glasses in church windows "flow" to the ground within a few hundred years...? wh can you broke thick glasses, just by "hurting" the surface...?
maybe "liquid" as i wrote is wrong in a physicians way of thinking...
Originally posted by k_munic
thank you for your first post in this forum.
why do glasses in church windows "flow" to the ground within a few hundred years...? wh can you broke thick glasses, just by "hurting" the surface...?
maybe "liquid" as i wrote is wrong in a physicians way of thinking...
It is sometimes said that glass in very old churches is thicker at the bottom than at the top because glass is a liquid, and so over several centuries it has flowed towards the bottom. This is not true. In Medieval times panes of glass were often made by the Crown glass process. A lump of molten glass was rolled, blown, expanded, flattened and finally spun into a disc before being cut into panes. The sheets were thicker towards the edge of the disc and were usually installed with the heavier side at the bottom. Other techniques of forming glass panes have been used but it is only the relatively recent float glass processes which have produced good quality flat sheets of glass.
G6s should be made with loopins 8)
The trick is to use glass fibers instead of solid glass sheets. Glass fibers encased in a polymer matrix is known as a fiberglass composite. Fiberglass composites are typically around 50% glass fibers and 50% polymer matrix. If you make it thick enough it will stop a bullet or stand up to the fiercest storm. Not only is it tough but it can easily be molded into very intricate shapes.
There's plenty of upsides though: it would keep your can of Red Bull iceeee cold, and you're guaranteed full access to the innards by simply placing it in a sunny spot.
Originally posted by shanners
It is sometimes said that glass in very old churches is thicker at the bottom than at the top because glass is a liquid, and so over several centuries it has flowed towards the bottom. This is not true. In Medieval times panes of glass were often made by the Crown glass process. A lump of molten glass was rolled, blown, expanded, flattened and finally spun into a disc before being cut into panes. The sheets were thicker towards the edge of the disc and were usually installed with the heavier side at the bottom. Other techniques of forming glass panes have been used but it is only the relatively recent float glass processes which have produced good quality flat sheets of glass.
What you have said is true about glass being an amorphous solid and also about the windows .But glass will start to flow (veery slowly) at a rather low temp say 100c I have seen bottles in the desert that have slow ly collapsed on themselves from a constant heat below the annealing point. As far as glass flowing in window panes that has been, as you said, dispproven.
Originally posted by Tidris
What a bunch of erroneous comments about glass in this thread. Glass too fragile? Glass too heavy? Complete nonsense. Do you own a modern boat or light airplane? Chances are its hull is made of glass.
Fiberglass, while indeed light and strong, doesn't have the transparent or translucent properties that glass or plastic have, and it can also be difficult to finish. (Fiberglass drums often have wrinkles in the finish.)
It's great material for building a frame, although Apple splurges on carbon fiber for the PowerBooks...
Originally posted by Amorph
Fiberglass, while indeed light and strong, doesn't have the transparent or translucent properties that glass or plastic have, and it can also be difficult to finish. (Fiberglass drums often have wrinkles in the finish.)
It's great material for building a frame, although Apple splurges on carbon fiber for the PowerBooks...
I have never seen a fiberglass drum but I have seen plenty of flawless fiberglass boats and car skins.
Which PowerBook model uses carbon fiber? That stuff is extremely expensive.