If no tablet, can we build one?

nordstrodamusnordstrodamus
Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
I seem to remember some company that was taking the old toilet seat ibooks and modifying them for some application for the disabled. As I remember it they reversed the screen and cut a whole in the back so the screen showed on top when you closed it.



Anyone think it's feasible to simply strap a touch sensitive LCD to the top of an old powerbook, or maybe slip a wacom tablet behind the existing screen.



Any ideas, or is it a lost cause?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 3
    ipodandimacipodandimac Posts: 3,273member
    well, if you've got the bucks, go for it! i'm a broke college student...
  • Reply 2 of 3
    cryhavocqcryhavocq Posts: 18member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Nordstrodamus

    I seem to remember some company that was taking the old toilet seat ibooks and modifying them for some application for the disabled. As I remember it they reversed the screen and cut a whole in the back so the screen showed on top when you closed it.



    Anyone think it's feasible to simply strap a touch sensitive LCD to the top of an old powerbook, or maybe slip a wacom tablet behind the existing screen.



    Any ideas, or is it a lost cause?



    That sounds like the machine sold by Assistive Tech. They also made one based on the 5300 called a "Freestyle."



    Anyway, this post would be well received at AppleFritter's Hacks forum. While you are there, take a look around at the mods.
  • Reply 3 of 3
    randgleatherrandgleather Posts: 1member
    I think your idea is possible, but instead of modding an existing laptop I would recomend using another method.



    I was considering a similar project at one point. I want to build a Macintosh wearable computer. I figured it would probably require using a non-apple motherboard. After googling around a bit I found:



    - PMC cards (74mm x 149mm)- that are PPC based. example



    - PC-104 board (90mm X 96mm)- There was one G3 based board made by a company called Cowboy Industries (now out of business).



    - Mini ITX (170mm x 170mm)- Roughly the same as the Cube mobo - Now in pre production, but capable of using "750CXe@433 to (possibly) a 1.3GHz G4" More details,photo



    Now, of coarse I wanted this to run OSX, so I contacted the developer of Mac-on-Linux After a few emails explaining the project he basically said that as long as the processor is one that has been used by Apple it should work, otherwise there may be memory management issues.



    Unfortunatly I am too broke right now to even consider starting this project, but it looks very possible to me.
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