Plasticsmith's Mac mini Shack
By Peter Rojas 
posted Apr 15th 2005 9:20AM
posted Apr 15th 2005 9:20AM
Plasticsmith did what everyone (at least everyone who cared) thought they should have done with their Mac mini Skirt in the first place and added a 7-port USB 2.0 hub (on the back, not the front). The mini Shack, as it's known, actually comes in three versions:
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The mini Shack: glo, which comes with a base that glows courtest of either a white or a blue LED.
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The mini Shack: clear, which is basically the mini Shack: glo without the LED.
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And the mini Shack: B.Y.O.H., which is simply the housing—you have to/get to include your own damn USB or Firewire hub.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this one, apparently a lot of you like these Mac mini accessories]
Why couldn't they have made it mini silver instead of white? Or at least offer a silver one?
When will the matching external hard drives appear? :-) Would remind me of my brother's Mac Plus sitting on top of its 20MB hard drive!
it is silver, only the top is white.
It sure looks white on this page: http://www.plasticsmith.com/minishack
If it is silver, then I amend my comments to be:
Gee, why couldn't they make the silver _match_ the mini?
Great idea, but why not make one with a FireWire hard drive inside? THAT I'd buy.
TK
I actually like the idea of the B.Y.O.H. model. That being a empty plastic shell which matches the mini's dimensions. That leaves the possibilities wide open for DIY'ers and hacking projects, etc. However, $70 for a empty plastic shell is rediculous, especially one that doesn't even match the color.
Someone copy the empty shell and sell it for $10-20 and it will sell like hotcakes...er, I mean like iPods.
Those guys are getting an ego. There's no doubt they make some nice looking products, but $70 for a piece of plastic? Come on, their glowing acrylic base is only $30.
And this is, by far, their ugliest offering. It doesn't quite match the lines of the mini and the color doesn't make sense.
bipto...
i think you might need to adjust your scrreen .. it doesn't look white to me ..
as for a empty shell that matches the mini color and have a variety of other colors ... yes i think it would sell like crazy ... i wish i could figure out how to manufacture stuff .. there is so much missed opportunity in the world ...
Since it very definitly says "White Acrylic House" for the BYOH and "White Stand" for the clear, I'm inclined to believe that it's, well... white.
If it was matching silver, I'd buy - otherwise, not so much.
Hmmm, not what I had in mind when I emailed them and DVForge about making something. First off it doesn't truly match the mini's lines and color scheme and more importantly why no Firewire....???
My offer stands, a fine bottle of Irish Whiskey to someone who does produce a worthy item.
Seems very little marketing research was done on this product. As was already stated, this thing needs ports on the front, one of the biggest wishes from Mac mini owners. It also needs a media card reader, on the front of course.
Don't any of these after market companies read the support forums on Apple's website?