Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/05/30/ipad-looks-great-in-an-se-30-c.html
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Always said to see iconic artifacts turn into empty shells.
Also, I don’t like iPads, because they are victims of the war on general purpose computers.
A broken SE30 with parts still inside can be repaired or used as replacement parts for another broken SE30.
Which reminds me… I should finally install that replacement HD for my old SE…
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I tried to do this with my first iPad (3rd gen; actually it’s my only iPad and still gets daily use). Unfortunately, it coincided with people suddenly rediscovering Apple nostalgia and prices jumped from basically nothing to +$200 for a non-functioning shell. I haven’t looked recently, though. Someone around that time did this and made an Instructable, IIRC.
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Would be easier to 3D print one that fits whatever iPad someone has, would be cheaper and less fiddly. Main concern would be finishing and weathering it to look the part, though shouldn’t be terribly difficult.
…Wait. iOS now can handle mice? Android did that from Day 1. I’m somewhat surprised iOS hadn’t done the same.
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If you cannot get an SE30 perhaps this would be better (or not)
I am thinking analog mouse with scissor arm extension
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OMG Mods, please freeze this thread right here. It’s the canonical Retrocomputing Restomod post. Every comment is here, and no extras:
The “you shouldn’t destroy old computers” comment
The “I had that idea but it’s too expensive now” comment
The “You could have 3D-printed that” comment
The “This isn’t a new idea” comment
The “Brand X is better than that Brand Y” comment
Freeze this post, and the internet need never have this conversation again. Great work, everyone, that’s a wrap!
(All in good fun, everyone. I tease, I kid)
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Now, the iMac G4 (below) came with a 15" screen that a 12.7" iPad Pro might hack into without looking too small. Maybe you could even just remove the display entirely and magnet the iPad on the arm?
making requests now, are we?
Exactly what I came here to mention. Briefly considered doing it with my old se/30 back in 92 or 93…
But is there a reason for tye SE/30, or is it just because the guy had it?
Why not a Mac Plus, or a Mac Classic? Or even a Mac SE? They had about the same size cabinet. And nothing too nique.
The SE/30 was a big step forward at the time, and of the four, is the one still most useable. A better CPU, and it can take more RAM.
You might as well take an old radio, throw out the radio, and turn the cabinet into a liquor cabinet.
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I’d say that’s an admission of failure on the part of Google, not being able to make a decent operating system even after ripping it off wholesale from Apple. And who needs a mouse for a handheld device anyway? It’s only now that the iPad has grown in size to match a small laptop or desktop machine that it can operate on a stand with a keyboard that a mouse becomes a useful item.
Excuse me? How is Android allowing mice (and in fact, many other HID devices) a “failure”, exactly? I know several people who use Android devices (both tablets and powerful phones) for rather general computing, and it’s miserable using any video keyboard and touchscreen for any kind of real productivity.
Remember, YOUR use case defines no one else’s =).
Your “argument” is missing a lot of argument.
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As soon as you start working with text, where you want to navigate a cursor to insert or delete a character, the want of a mouse rears its head. It’s fine if you want to say that the iPad is only a consumption device but Apple has gone out of their way to refute that.
There’s numerous reasons that alternative input devices can be a necessity.
You can have a motor impairment that prevents precise touch control, you may have a condition that prevents touch sensors from working reliably, or you may not have hands at all.
When designing software or hardware, accessibility should always be considered to ensure what you’re working on can be used by as many people as possible.
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You invented cat gifs!
Those royalties are going to be sweet.
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Wow - that’s two wonderful things:
- You turned an iMac into a cat bed!
- Your cat uses something you explicitly made for it!
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