Mac Modding
From Mod Mania
Mac Modding
The Apple brand has something of a cult following with many mac owners being “converts” from pc’s, they completely swear by the Apple brand, with brand loyalty that many other company’s could only dream of. This mass following of users has created many online communities with people discussing Apple products often with forum users showing off the apple products they own in their forum signature. The galleries often have user-uploaded images of there workspace showing there complete devotion to Apple by having an Apple pc, laptop, phone, music player and all associated peripherals.
This following is often linked to Apples very clean style of design used in products, with the computers themselves often being associated with design practises. However there are Apple fanatics who are either unhappy with the way there Mac looks or just feel the need to make it look like something else. On the other hand there are also communities of people who love the Apple brand that they make non Apple products look as if they were, sometimes products completely outside the field of computers.
Although computer modding is a somewhat commonplace practise it does seem to have differentiation between PC and Macs, due to nature in which Apple produces its Computers the internal componentry is not very easily customizable as all the parts are manufactured by apple themselves, unlike a PC where each manufacturer complies to certain standards so that all the parts are interchangeable giving a huge scope to what an individual can put inside there computer, tailoring it to there individual needs.
The majority of modding seen in the Mac community is mainly cosmetic and none is as evident as the Mac Mini.
Mac Mini
The Mac Mini was introduced in 2005 as a low end uncommonly small, affordable Mac, making the apple brand accessible to those who could previously not afford to buy into the Mac way of life. At release Steve Jobs described it as “the most affordable Mac ever” a tag line which has stuck with the product since.
This low price tag and small size, has made it the perfect choice for users who don’t want to keep it in its original state. The Mac mini doesn’t have any obvious way of opening but is easy enough with a putty knife, once opened many modders do very little to the interior with notable mods being simple ram upgrades and others overclocking the internal components. Once opened many modders either repaint or completely remake the case, there are several examples of users making mini versions of the Mac pro, Apples high end computer while others take a novelty take on there casing with examples such as Star Wars’ R2D2 and also the millennium Falcon. On websites such as macmod.com and 123macmini.com users submit images of there completed mods or concepts for future projects and open them up to critique from the community. The feedback in these forums is generally quite positive and constructive with hints and tips for future mods.
The small size of the Mac mini has also led it to be used in applications outside the home computer environment, the small size has made it the perfect choice for manufacturers to create interactive equipment, for instance many of the self service recharge kiosks found in telecommunications retailers such as Optus and Vodafone are powered by Mac minis. A good example of a Mac mod where users have mad a non computer item look like a Mac is the Macquarium, the term originally coined by Andy Ihnatko refers to the use of an old generally obsolete Mac that has been taken apart gutted and reassembled without any of the circuitry, instead the interior has been replaced with a small aquarium mimicking the popular 90’s fish tank screensaver. Although any mac can be used Ihnatko originally designed the MacQuarium around the Compact Macintosh-style shell. In the early 1990s several examples of this form factor (the Macintosh 128K, Macintosh 512K and Macintosh Plus) were completely outdated and thus turning one into an aquarium was considered "the final upgrade" — as well as most affordable way to get and/or have a colour Compact Mac. Since Ihnatko’s design one of the more popular choice has been the G3 iMac, available in a wide range of colours. Another notable choice is the G4 cube the predecessor to the Mac mini which had an Acrylic outer casing, this makes for a relatively simple yet very effective mod. Due to the size limitations of the casing the choice of fish Is often limited with common choices being goldfish due to their lack of need for heating, Siamese fighting fish and tetras.
During the late 90’s several websites sprung up with people own tutorials in varying detail of how to make a macquarium, these often referenced each other with each stating how they had done theirs slightly differently with the pros and cons. This is often followed by other users who have followed these instructions and then post their own images. Although there doesn’t yet seem to be many physical groups and communities following the Mac modding trend, there is however a great abundance of online presence through blogs and forums of people with a shared love of a consumer item with a great interest in sharing their modifications and looking at others.
