Your points are valid; my point is that the mfrs and especially the people who hold the purse strings just aren't thinking in that mode.
----- Original Message ----- From: "Jonathan Morton" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, 2002-05-22 17:44 Subject: Re: Innovation (was DSL charges) > >Speaking of details like case design, no it's not your imagination > >-at least as far as mass market products go. > > > >The issue is that the hardware has cut-throat price-based > >competition right now. Since there is no "value" added by the case > >that gets used other than EMF shielding, the sole driving force for > >mass products is making the cheapest cases possible. > > I'm aware of this. My point is that even "premium" case designers > such as Lian Li and Vastec, which already depart noticeably from the > generic designs in some areas, have failed to make any significant > innovation in the area. > > Even considering server chassis, the only personal-computer case > designer doing any kind of real innovation is Apple Computer. Look > at the iMac, the Cube, and the minitower case that has served the > professional models for 4 years. > > >(1) Cheapest machining processes and materials > > I've sketched out a design which requires nothing beyond current > techniques in this area, yet has significant advantages. I'm sure a > competent industrial-design expert could do better still, inside of a > week. > > >(2) If all else is equal, *don't* retool for a new design > > This one doesn't hold water. Even looking beyond the plastic and > paint, there are already lots of minor variations between cases - > starting off with a decent design should be no different. > > Even the "supercooling case" people are essentially retrofitting > standard ATX cases with exotic add-ons. Most of these cost big money. > > >(3) Make all of the external customizations simple ones that involve plastic > >wedges and paint. > > "Translucent is sexy", right? OK, that makes sense from the point of > view of a "Joe Average" end-user, but you'd think there was a > thriving tech-savvy market to cater for. The kind that will pay $$$ > for extra cooling fans, the latest video card, and CL2-grade RAM. > The kind, moreover, that might prefer black and silver to blue and > green, especially if it works out more robust. > > >On top of that, the standard form factor for systems has changed > >only minimally since the 1980's - even the ATX and NLX type systems > >were basic knockoffs on the AT for some changes in power supply and > >motherboard standard components. This means there has been minimal > >motivation for a change. > > The ATX format change was very important, as it moved the CPU and RAM > slots into much more favourable positions, among other things. > Intel, among others, likes to point out how the CPU can now be cooled > by exhausting hot air through the PSU. That's innovation, in a small > way. > > Case designers have completely failed to take full advantage of this > trend towards better airflow efficiency. Full-tower ATX cases have > the PSU half-way up, so hot air spills around it rather than being > exhausted efficiently. Drive bays are arrayed inflexibly down the > front, meaning that cables are necessarily jammed together in the > middle of the case, restricting lengthwise airflow and thus further > increasing the temperature of the CPU. > > Worse, the 3.5" bays pay no consideration to HD cooling, meaning that > my newish 7200 and 10000rpm IBM drives live in the 5.25" bays > instead, and have "baycoolers" fitted to keep them from overheating > in the already-warmed air (from the spill around the PSU). With over > a dozen fans fitted, this machine is easily the loudest object in the > room. > > With 5 ribbon cables across the middle of my full-tower case, I have > real trouble keeping my 1GHz T'bird cool enough - and I live in damp, > cool Britain. I don't want to even consider the troubles experienced > by users in warmer climates. > > >I'm just happy that (some) designs have changed to easily removable covers. > > In my experience, most ATX cases now have the sliding doors that case > manufacturers (mostly Vastec) occasionally experimented with in the > Pentium era. I'd consider it more of a "your case won't sell unless > it has..." tick-list feature. > > I bet if one guy comes up with a truly innovative case design for x86 > PCs, the hardware-review sites will absolutely love it to death, and > that might just give the industry as a whole a bit of a shake. > > To be honest, I don't much care if the "standard PC case" remains - > it's a good and cheap design for a PC with modest hardware > requirements, up to about minitower size. I do care if there is no > alternative, as at present. > > -- > -------------------------------------------------------------- > from: Jonathan "Chromatix" Morton > mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (not for attachments) > website: http://www.chromatix.uklinux.net/ > geekcode: GCS$/E dpu(!) s:- a21 C+++ UL++ P L+++ E W+ N- o? K? w--- O-- M++$ > V? PS PE- Y+ PGP++ t- 5- X- R !tv b++ DI+++ D G e+ h+ r++ y+(*) > tagline: The key to knowledge is not to rely on people to teach you it. > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the line: > 'unsubscribe vnc-list' in the message BODY > See also: http://www.uk.research.att.com/vnc/intouch.html > --------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the line: 'unsubscribe vnc-list' in the message BODY See also: http://www.uk.research.att.com/vnc/intouch.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------
