Mac mini gets the steampunk treatment, matching keyboard and monitor
By Donald Melanson 
posted Mar 3rd 2008 5:41PM
posted Mar 3rd 2008 5:41PM
It takes quite a bit for a steampunk mod to get our attention these days, but this Mac mini created by steampunk enthusiast Dave Veloz certainly fits the bill, and the matching keyboard and monitor aren't too shabby either. As you can sort of see in the images above, the detail even extends as far as the cables connecting the mini to the keyboard and monitor, with a suitably Victorian-looking Apple logo rounding things out nicely. The monitor also one-ups similar projects with a genuine granite base, while the keyboard goes all out with leather in place of the felt used on other attempts. Be sure to hit up the read link below for a closer look at the whole package.
Im not a big Apple fan, but I dont care who you are, this thing looks sweet as hell.
I'm not a steampunk fan at all (my general attitude towards it could be summed up as "pointless"), but this is absolutely freaking awesome.
ha... pretty slick detailing. and hey, it doesn't seem to scare the girlies away as evidenced by his marriage pic at the bottom of the linked page
Nice
I think it's gaudy. -Bent Cardan
sure... those black and rust details sure are uh... bright and gaudy. yeah. But thanks Bent Cardan, I didn't know your name was Bent Cardan from looking at your screen name which says Bent Cardan ;p
guess i also coulda said "Get bent, Cardan" but that wouldn't be nice =)
lolololololololololol
Epic Win!
They should start selling those... I would totally buy that.
We + Digg broke his site :P
Don't we just love the simple things?
one day, kevin rose could be sued because his site is responsible for making Engaget and many other sites crash. Isn't it amazing.
Where's the mouse!?
This was before the mouse.
heh good point.. maybe it's the kerosene lamp?
btw, let's see them steam punk'd an optimus (prime) maximus keyboard~
Maybe it's a touch screen? Like a wacom tablet or something?
also before touchscreen friend
About the only thing I would say should be different -- and it's a nit -- is that it should say "The Apple Co." instead of spelling out "Company"; the abbreviation was generally the norm for the era being emulated.
Agreed; this is a nice mod. There should be a cottage industry for this; ColorwarePC, is ya listenin'?
Oh.. I never thought of suggesting that colorware do things like that. That'd be cool. Not as cool as people doing it themselves, but for anyone who wants to have the look but isn't much of DIYer.
(I'd be afraid I'd cut my thumbs off or something, if it involved any cutting power tools)
How did they get all the cables from the mac mini into that coil one? Or is that just for show...
I think it looks great and all but I'm afraid I'm going to have to be pedantic and point out that the Mac Mini itself hasn't actually been steampunked, it's just been painted.
It's the keyboard and monitor that have actually been steampunked.
Dammmit I want to see it... Anyone have a link to a mirror for it?
Great mod.
I'm nit-picking here, but he should have used the original Apple logo. The really original one which looked like a woodblock etching of Newton sitting under a tree. Much more appropriate.
This logo:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/fa/Apple_first_logo.png
wow.. cool... i guess terry gilliam's a fanboy?
Good call. that logo rocks
that is a true labour of love - even my wife, who's not impressed by technology, thought it was a remarkable achievement.
Not a huge steampunk fan but this guy has some insane attention to detail. Really did some amazing work there.
That is the only apple computer I would ever buy, and that is just to have it as a nice-looking toy. Actually, scratch that, it's not just nice, it's awesome. Props to this guy.
baller.
ha what a joke. this is horrible. this is what u get when u add mod + mac = manufactored and non DIY crap. is that supposed to look good yet they spend (waste) all this money on it and have it all professionally done. POSERS!
que? No habla ADHD.
Huh? Wha? You do it better then. I think the exact machine doesn't matter.
the machine definitely matters but really it just bothers me that he didnt do a lot of that by hand. not that i could do better (which i may be able to?) more that he didnt do that good. its just like oo a 800 dollar mod what an accomplishment.
Absolutely amazing work. I always liked this look ever since the (1984) Dune movie. What other movie had this look?
JR
Hayao Miyazaki's "Laputa," 1986.
The Thirteenth Floor, Steamboy, Dark City... Only Steamboy is actually steampunk, but Dune is not, so we're even.
You could also check comics like Spirit of Wonder (aka Miss China), The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen or Tom Strong.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steampunk#Recent_steampunk
I forgot! Recently, Christopher Nolan's The Prestige had a lot of this, too.
All this just so that the user can experience quicktime?