Well, as we all know, Apple invented and patented the cylinder, putting computer parts INSIDE a case, (rather than having them laying splayed out all over a dining room table, connected with a spaghetti-like jumble of wires, ribbon cables, and the like,) metallic chassis exteriors, (all other manufacturers were using wood, plastic, or just lumps of dirt formed into rectangles,) and strategically placed vents. Also, let's not forget, the idea that only Apple could come up with or field as part of a consumer product, putting all the jacks where wires and cords attach ON ONE SIDE! No one else could conceivably have come up with that.![]()
A new Kickstarter project, the "Dune Case," is offering up a PC case that looks awfully familiar, closely mimicking the well-known cylindrical design of Apple's Mac Pro.
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Available in black or gold and made of aluminum, the Dune Case promises "an innovative housing" that's a "sleek and stylish" alternative to standard PC cases. The page doesn't reference the Mac Pro, instead treating the design as a fresh idea.
![dunecaseblack.jpg]()
While the Dune Case is different than the Mac Pro internally, lacking the unified thermal core that is the Mac Pro's signature feature to absorb and disperse heat, the visual similarities are impossible to deny. One variance -- the Dune Case is much larger than the Mac Pro.
![dunecaseair.jpg]()
![dunecasegoldback.jpg]()
While a Mac Pro is priced at upwards of $2,000, the Dune Case PC case is being sold at an early bird price of $159. The Dune Case has thus far raised $38,000 out of $130,000 and there are 26 days to go on the campaign, but given the similarities to the Mac Pro, there's a chance Apple could make an effort to shut down the project before it's funded.
Article Link: 'Dune Case' for PCs Copies Mac Pro's Cylindrical Design
The fact is, all kidding and sarcasm aside, there's nothing really wrong with this idea, vís-à-vís producing something that looks like something Apple produced. You can't really patent or even trademark look-and-feel, or aesthetics, unless it's AN EXACT copy and this is not. Further, they're right, it's just a case, NOT a computer. I'm sure they weren't dumb enough to put an Apple logo on it, so they're probably safe, and if Apple were dumb enough to try to stop this, it would just add up to free press, the effort would fail, and honestly... I'm actually on Dune Case's side on this one.
The trouble for Dune is... WHY oh WHY would you choose to copy a TRASH CAN MAC of all things? It was an ugly, stupid, ludicrous design! Who in the HELL looks for a computer case, and says...
"What I really need, on my RECTANGULAR DESKTOP covered with mostly rectangular stuff, in my rectangular room in my rectangular house... is a CYLINDRICAL goddamned computer case, to have occupying a much bigger chunk of desktop real estate than it would need to fit what goes inside it IN.
HEY... that'd go GREAT with a ROUND computer monitor! Not one with a round base... but one with a CIRCULAR screen! OH! And also a PUCK-MOUSE, while I'm at it! Because THAT was... SUPER comfortable!"
Seriously though... they should make a puck-mouse-like mouse. Or better yet, a conical one, with a nice pointy spike at the middle so it's even more horrible to try to use than the one Apple made.
BTW... you can get more or less the same exact benefits from a vertical-cooling axis case from a regular case, just put it in a box with holes in the bottom and top, and if you really want to keep things cool, add a ventilation fan to it.
I think, in short, the company should be able to make and sell these if they want, whether Apple approves or not, to any buyers who should want them, though I cannot imagine why anyone WOULD want one of these things at this point.
There's a reason people called them trashcan-macs. It was because they'd foolishly made them look like little tiny trash cans.
It just seems like a bad idea, but who knows. Maybe there'll be a real, actual demand for it.
