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Summer project - Luxury Wooden Macbook Case

Maybe turn it into a power pack of a sort. Still have a compartment in it so that it carries the laptop obviously, and some spares, but have it filled with batteries so that it stays closed (cos it looks amazing closed) and just have a lead running through a whole in it from pack to laptop.

Probably useless though and no-one would need a 30 hour + battery pack I guess :D
 
LERsince1991 said:
I was thinking about something to do with wood and laptops...

I also want to look into the possibilities of customizing my macbook or building some sort of case for it.

Curvy plywood macbook case
http://www.engadget.com/2008/10/17/diyer-gets-crafty-with-plywood-laptop-case/

I have a 5 year old Acer laptop lying on my floor ... I have 2 large blocks of very attractive and dense walnut left over from when my house’s kitchen was redone a year ago. I’d like to use these ... (the rest of the left over is my current desk)
I have some resources available such as; (white) plastic, the finest Italian leather used on £5000 furniture, vacuum forming, CNC machinery and possibly laser cutting/etching.
Click to expand...

There needs to be a few curved edges. The Curvy plywood Macbook case is most attractive even if not so functional. Walnut is not a hardwood. The other materials and laser etching are effects that can enhance something that is well designed but you need to first analyze the purpose of the case from a consumer perspective. What type of people would buy this? How would they use it? When and where would they do so? What are their needs? Cutting into wood before obtaining a full picture seems premature.

In looking at your designs, it seems you are making a case for your own personal needs and no other. If that's the situation, then anyone else's opinion doesn't matter as much. However, if this is supposed to demonstrate your pinnacle of design expertise, put down the buzz saw and please listen to some of the comments from others (or forge ahead and at some future point, look back and smile).

The mouse pad is too small for practical use. If you use the area where the paper is for a mouse, how do you access the Macbook? If space is cramped and you have a portable why is a mouse even necessary? Use the trackpad. You added another flap on the left side for coffee(???)! Next to a laptop? Without even anything to secure it? On a commuter train? I take it you've never actually spilled anything on a laptop and taken it in for service.

If the Macbook is placed where the paper is, the compartments are blocked. And the compartments appear to be primarily for pencils. How many others need such a large pencil case? Most laptop slip cases have space for a few pencils. You've made a place for the iPod but what if someone has a different model -- an iPhone or a nano? Most people would want to play music while working or even while carrying the case. Under what circumstances would they want a shelf to hold it? As others have said, if this is actually a sketch surface, the lips need to go since they restrict arm movement. Why not place paper on top of the closed case to write? Better still, why not just put sheets of paper directly on top of the laptop if there's a need for a hard surface? Is this supposed to combine a method of writing while using the laptop? It so far has not been visually communicated.

You may impress everyone when you get to the final iteration but your prototypes so far appear to offer little value and have not achieved the coveted visual elegance.
 
A couple thoughts. (Disclaimer: I'm a programmer, not a designer, so take these for what you will.)

Material:
1) instead of wood, maybe a bamboo laminate. It's a good 'green' material, and it's relatively cheap.
2) If you use bamboo for a veneer, it will look quite nice, since bamboo doesn't have a pronounced grain like most hardwoods.
3) Don't use leather for the padded compartment's lining. It looks nice, but the heat of the laptop will dry it out pretty quickly, and in humid weather it'll want to 'stick' to the laptop. Fabrics are a better bet there.

Structural:
1) A proper dovetailed join will be just about the strongest thing you'll be able to get, and it'll be cheaper than trying to mill out the inside of a block of wood.
2) Slot-mount the desk/divider. It'll stand up to anything the case can handle, and won't require any visible connectors.
3) Don't forget to leave room for cables to plug into the laptop while it's on the 'desk'.
4) Where are those side platforms (the 'wings') coming from, and how do they stay on with no visible connectors?

Accessories:
1) Mount the accessory holder bits on an integrated rail, so they can be moved/swapped as needed? Modular designs add a level of flexibility you'll never quite achieve with an all-purpose layout.
2) A simple drawer compartment to hold the power supply/mouse would keep them out of the way, but still accessible when needed. Not only that, but it will be usable even if the user doesn't have a wireless Apple Mighty Mouse. (That's a pretty specific assumption to make.)

Size:
1) Don't be afraid to make the case larger than the laptop. For example, if you set the padded compartment up properly, you could use the same basic design for all 3 sizes.

Gimmicky Ideas:
1) Integrated laptop dock?
2) Pass through connector in the bottom of the iPod compartment?
 
Ok so I've started to get more time now, I'm going to start developing this a bit more hopefully. I will be reading and replying to the feed back - as well as using it for development of the product.

I've just started to make the design much more fluid and ergonomic whilst maintaining the sharp, crisp and clean design!

Heres the first change I've made, just thought I'd post it here and explain my thinking at the moment.

Luke.
 

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Not too sure about this one...

Why? I don't see the use or how this implementation takes into consideration how it will be used. :eek:

If someone is using this thing, he is probably sitting at a table. I don't see how there's a need for him to put it on anything else than on the table. First off, having that thing on the table would be constraining because it takes space on the table. Second, when using the laptop on the apparatus, it would be higher, not ergonomic at all. Having a higher keyboard is hard to type on and straining on the wrist, same thing for the wrist. Just try switching back and forth between using an apple keyboard to the keyboard on your macbook...

Next up, how do you keep those papers you have on there from flying everywhere when you close the thing. Also, it's kind of an odd place to put and iPod : where your laptop is :confused: a card holder that can fit an iPod would probably be better. The pencil seem to be dropped from the top, kind of hard with the handle on top of it.

Maybe I just don't get it, anyways, I'd go with something like this :

3651925805_465bc864e9_o.jpg


sorry for the really crappy sketch, also had to take it with my iSight...
 
Looks like another promising project!

Obviously there are a load of things to work on, as outlined, but I look forward to seeing where this is going :)

I think my main concern (assuming all the others were addressed) is that the handle is on the lid rather than the laptop compartment. I don't think I could buy something that would send my laptop to certain death if it did happen to accidentally open. And anything can accidentally open, even if its my own fault :)

Promising concept though - Mobile workstation...
 
Luke, that design is completely different from yours! The only similarity is that it may have had a similar brief, and seeing that the site that the design is originally hosted on also has one of the wooden cases you've posted earlier its not hard to think atleast a few other people would come up with a similar brief.

I'd also say that design has taken longer than a fortnight to be designed as its a damn site more complicated than the approach you've taken.
 
LERsince1991 said:
For F*** sake! someone has gone and completely copied the concept!
I have a patent pending for the idea of a mobile workstation though!
Can I do anything about this?

http://www.thedesignblog.org/entry/openaire-laptop-case-turns-into-an-ergonomic-workstation-on-the-go/

GRRR!!!

I'm never sharing my work till it is complete and fully copy protected from now on... Stupid world!
Click to expand...

Are you sure? The Openaire seems more fleshed out and complete than yours. Plus, you only started this thread on June 9. It seems a stretch to think your idea was stolen, a prototype was made, a photo shoot was done and it was distributed to multiple websites all in just eight days.
 
I'm not sure there was a photoshoot, some of the imagery looks a little cg to me but I still stand by the view its probably been done longer.
 
LERsince1991 said:
For F*** sake! someone has gone and completely copied the concept!
I have a patent pending for the idea of a mobile workstation though!
Can I do anything about this?

http://www.thedesignblog.org/entry/openaire-laptop-case-turns-into-an-ergonomic-workstation-on-the-go/

GRRR!!!

I'm never sharing my work till it is complete and fully copy protected from now on... Stupid world!
Click to expand...

Well, at least their "product" is not useful in the real life. A mouse would slide off at the incline.

It's the web. Lots of people might have similar ideas or steal ideas. But the thing is, a portable laptop desk is an idea anyone can have so they can't steal that "idea". However the implementation can be protected, but they are doing it differently.

However I use my laptop as a laptop. I have a mouse pad if I need to use a mouse.

IgnatiusTheKing said:
Are you sure? The Openaire seems more fleshed out and complete than yours. Plus, you only started this thread on June 9. It seems a stretch to think your idea was stolen, a prototype was made, a photo shoot was done and it was distributed to multiple websites all in just eight days.
Click to expand...

The photos of people are real, but the product is inserted with photoshop.

Also photoshop fail, as the first photo showed a wired mouse with the wire removed, but they forgot to remove the usb connector for the mouse.

In addition, their product proportions are wrong. For the case to turn into a chair, the case has to be really big.
 
You can't actually patent an idea, only the implementation of an idea... which is the reason laptop sleeves and iPod cases are made by more than one company, often in similar materials. So while you may have a patent pending for the "concept" I'd be shocked if it was granted, "mobile workstation" is a pretty big category of things.
Just as an example, googling "neoprene laptop sleeves" gives multiple examples of products that are incredibly similar. Much more similar than your workstation and the Openaire. So if I were you, I'd consider the Openaire a validation of your original concept, as you're not the only one interested in something similar.

Also, you might want to delete your comment on the site you linked, it's awful close to an accusation of intellectual property theft. And I don't know about in the UK, but in the US, that can be considered slander. Not fun. The comment is also making you look incredibly unprofessional (especially the "how dare you" and the "GRRR". Public blog comments are definitely not the forum to bring up concerns about design similarity in such a confrontation, accusatory way.
 
Well I've never done anything like this before... just incredibly annoying.

I came up with the concept of a mobile workstation on the 4th January 2009, looked for existing products then and there were non and have only recently been able to start developing it. I may have some sketches and I found some computer files that were created on the 5th January.

This will be the last time I put anything on the internet though from now on until it is completely done AND copy protected. I am going to try and get a patent, try ringing their office or something and speak to a copyright lawyer tomorrow or friday.

I am looking to deleting the erm... 'aggravated' comments now but I see no delete although I have sent them an email now.

It's just really annoying you know? If I was full time in a design studio instead of doing like 5 hours work on it, it would definitely be more developed but as it is its still an incredibly early stage. Unlike other design where they could work solid on them.

There are no prototypes I saw that they were super imposed images from cad renderings, thanks for the justification.

:rolleyes:
Luke.

P.S. thanks for all the help - I was just incredibly annoyed this morning after a long night and not much sleep you know? I'd say my feelings are justified though. I will apologize though...

Oh and I have no knowledge of patenting ideas and things...
 
This might be really useful to you then, it's the UK Intellectual Property Office.
If I were you, I'd look around there first before calling a lawyer, because if lawyer fees in the UK are anything like they are in the US, even talking to one could be expensive.
 
Luke, you should know by now that designs can come out at roughly the same time with very similar looks albeit from different design houses, just look back to the iphone and prada etc which were all accused of copying each other just because they came out within a few weeks of each other.

On my course at uni, we could all have the same brief and there would be 30 people working on it, atleast a quarter of the class had a design that was similar to someone elses at some stage. In the final year, a final project was very similar to a concept that I rejected on an earlier project, was it stealing, no, did my original idea have an impact on the later design, probably, most designers look at things and think how can we improve that or how can we fix a problem (that doesn't exist :)) etc, was I bothered, not particuarly as my concept was a better approach in my view even though I rejected it :eek:
 
Well you live and learn. Never mind I guess it will just proper bug me if someone goes and makes a popular product from it as the need for a mobile workstation develops...

Well if anyones interested heres the first concept I had way back in january... Only a couple of nights work there though after I dreamt the idea late at night (tend to do that a lot).

thread

Anyway I seem to be getting less and less time with more work popping up and stuff but I will develop the design more hopefully.
 
Hi, Luke.

I went back to the beginning of this thread and noted that your original research included two links to wood computer cases. You even posted pics of them and they are obviously starting points for your design. It is extremely difficult to invent the wheel with every design. There always seems to be someone else in the world who has thought of it too. The main difference today is the extent to which we are all connected to these ideas. Looking for a product used to mean walking from store to store. Now a Google run will bring up tens of thousands of things to look at. You are young and feeling defensive about this. Take it as a lesson and move foreword. Clamming up about your design ideas will not go over well in University where you will be expected to share your ideas and work collaboratively. The best you can do is to keep good documentation of your ideas and include a watermark on your images.

Keep all the good work up.

Dale
 
Luke. that case is ugly and out of proportion, yours looks real business like,
and i would totally buy one if you get around to getting them produced, continue
with your concept just the way you have it, fixing a few things along the way :D

one idea is that where the pencils go, there would be designated pencil size slots
so that the pencils dont fall out everywhere

also for the ipod holder...maybe make it so the middle is open
so if people are using their speakers they can change the song without removing the ipod from the slot

other than that wonderful idea, id totally buy
 
wooden mouse pad

hey luke!

This design is pretty awesome! I have just one consideration.

I always avoid using an optical mouse on wooden surfaces because the grain seems to mess up the accuracy.

I'm surprised no one else has mentioned this? Or maybe my mouse just sucks.

I'm envisioning a nice built-in solid-color surface for the mouse pad. I've also noticed that graphic mouse pads mess up the laser as well because of the color changes and lines.
 
futureswitcher said:
I've also noticed that graphic mouse pads mess up the laser as well because of the color changes and lines.
Click to expand...

I've never had a problem with that.

Consultant said:
The photos of people are real, but the product is inserted with photoshop.

Also photoshop fail, as the first photo showed a wired mouse with the wire removed, but they forgot to remove the usb connector for the mouse.

In addition, their product proportions are wrong. For the case to turn into a chair, the case has to be really big.
Click to expand...

You're right. I didn't look very closely at the pictures the first time, thus I didn't notice they were Photoshopped (rather poorly).

Color me ashamed.
 
Designer Dale said:
Hi, Luke.

I went back to the beginning of this thread and noted that your original research included two links to wood computer cases. You even posted pics of them and they are obviously starting points for your design. It is extremely difficult to invent the wheel with every design. There always seems to be someone else in the world who has thought of it too. .....ll be expected to share your ideas and work collaboratively. The best you can do is to keep good documentation of your ideas and include a watermark on your images.

Keep all the good work up.

Dale
Click to expand...

Sir SpemzR said:
Luke. that case is ugly and out of proportion, yours looks real business like,
and i would totally buy one if you get around to getting them produced, continue
with your concept just the way you h....
....other than that wonderful idea, id totally buy
Click to expand...

futureswitcher said:
hey luke!

This design is pretty awesome! I have just one consideration.

I always avoid using an optical mouse on wooden surfaces because the grain seems to mess up the accuracy.....
.....
Click to expand...

Thanks for all the support and comments! :D :D

I will certainly continue my work on this product further... just a matter of getting time! :( need to work to save for uni atm

I will definitely look into the comments made on this thread, I've had problems with my mouse on my desk I designed (glossy?) but I checked on the wood samples I have and it worked on them, maybe its the mouse but I will look into it more otherwise it would just be really annoying.

Luke. x

Back soon with more :) (got some free days lined up for design ;) :p )
 
LERsince1991 said:
I will definitely look into the comments made on this thread, I've had problems with my mouse on my desk I designed (glossy?)
Click to expand...

Wow I'd have never thought that might be an issue with a glossy surface :rolleyes: :p
No optical mouse will work on a surface that does not have some sort of pattern/texture to it.
 
What program do you use to draw your designs on? Is it on os x or windows? Finally can you export a stl file and use it on the cnc directly?
Thanks
 
Olivier81 said:
What program do you use to draw your designs on? Is it on os x or windows? Finally can you export a stl file and use it on the cnc directly?
Thanks
Click to expand...

Hey, just basic stuff really. Google sketchup for the 3D model and bunkspeed hypershot for the rendering. I use a Macbook but both available on windows too. I'm not sure if Google Sketchup pro can export stl files or not, google it :)
Luke.
 
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