back to article Pro who killed Apple's Power Mac found... masquerading as a coffee table

The Register has been shooting some video of late, and on a recent visit to Key Studio came across a coffee table we think is worthy of some attention. Apple G5 coffee table Yes, we should have picked up that bag to tidy up this shot The table's pedestal is a Mac Pro, sucking the juice from two dual core Intel Xeon 5150 …

  1. caffeine addict

    Much as I dislike Apple stuff, those were very pretty cases. They're cheap enough on ebay now that I'm almost tempted to buy one and mod it into a case for my next PC...

    1. phy445

      tougher than it looks

      IIRC the motherboard in the Mac Pro is a weird size and you struggle to get a PC in there (that lines up with the slots on the back etc). Also, in a move completely out of character for Apple, the PSU block in those beasts is nearly, but not quite, standard. So you will have to find a way round that as well.

      1. Bumpy Cat

        Re: tougher than it looks @phy445

        I rescued one of those cases from work, and after keeping it under my desk for a year, then taking it home (by bicycle!) and keeping it under the desk there for years, I'm too committed to it to throw it away. Also I can't let my wife win this argument.

        Anyway, here is someone a lot more dedicated than me who actually did the PC conversion:

        http://build-its.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/how-to-fit-your-pc-in-power-mac-g5-case.html

        And at some point I will do the same ...

      2. Francis Boyle Silver badge

        I'm sure

        A Raspberry Pi would fit in just fine. Hey, why not go for a cluster? Still cheaper than buying an actual Mac.

    2. This post has been deleted by its author

    3. Sgt_Oddball

      It'll work with a g5 case but a pita if it's a mac pro.

  2. lurker

    I had a sun IPX serving as a door stop for about a decade. Lovely solid and deceptively heavy little things those were.

    Sadly it was culled during a move, something I regret now.

    1. Bloakey1

      "I had a sun IPX serving as a door stop for about a decade."

      <snip>

      I had a Winchester hard drive that performed sterling service as a door stop for many many years.

      1. Chris King

        Never had a Winchester, but I used to use a 5.25" full-height Micropolis SCSI disk to prop doors open. Weighing in at nearly six pounds, that was one door stop nobody pinched !

        1. Francis Boyle Silver badge

          I have

          a full height drive somewhere. Not much good as a doorstop as I've long since removed the guts but It will make a damn impressive case for a project someday.

          1. picturethis
            Pint

            Re: I have

            The "guts" of those old 5-1/4 HDDs were chock-full of very strong (for their day) magnets. I have probably gutted 15-20 of them over the years. I don't think they are "rare-earth" types, but still very strong for their size.

            In fact there are 10 of those magnets on my refrig door as I write this. I still have one un-gutted drive. I just don't have the heart to gut a CDC WREN III SCSI 700MB drive that cost me $3300 back in late 90's.. At least not yet..

            1. Down not across

              Re: I have

              In fact there are 10 of those magnets on my refrig door as I write this. I still have one un-gutted drive. I just don't have the heart to gut a CDC WREN III SCSI 700MB drive that cost me $3300 back in late 90's.. At least not yet

              Ah I had some lovely full height Imprimis (as well as earlier CDC and later Seagate) WREN ESDI disks. Back then (early 90s) using voice coils as arm actuators were a new thing and I recall fondly the sound those made when seeking. They performed exceptionally well.

          2. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: I have

            Feh! I still use my punch cards as bookmarks.

            Now get off my lawn (unless you know what "punch cards" and "books" are).

            1. Chris King

              Re: I have

              My boss in a previous job kept a Hollerith punch around as a conversation piece, and yes, I used punch cards as bookmarks too. I think they even kept the little knives (for cleaning out chads and pulling out damaged cards) as letter-openers.

              I even threatened one bad user with the Hollerith, yelling "If I had my way, THIS would be the nearest you'd get to a computer for the rest of your course !"

            2. Jeffrey Nonken

              Re: I have

              I used to be really good at making drum cards, and I could touch-type 026 keypresses on an 029 keypunch. Hah, had to add "keypunch" to the local dictionary. Stupid phone. So yeah, camped out on your lawn. I brought the pizza, you bring the beer.

          3. jelabarre59

            Re: I have

            > I have a full height drive somewhere. Not much good as a doorstop as I've long since removed the guts but It will make a damn impressive case for a project someday.

            You could probably fit a Pico-ITX board inside the housing.

        2. Fatman

          Re-use of old hard drives

          Once, a long time ago, in a fit of anger brought on by the demonstrated incompetence of a PHB, I used a 5-1/4 inch full sized 140MB Micropolis hard drive as a PHB attitude adjustment tool.

          That uncontrolled display of aggression cost me that job.

          When the incompetence of the PHB in question could no longer be covered up, he lost his job also.

          Their HR department decided that I 'just succumbed to the stress of the job', and in a vain attempt to forestall any legal action on my part, offered me my old job back. I had already accepted a position elsewhere where those higher up in the organization did not suffer from "Terminal Stupidity" (aka "Shit For Brains Syndrome"); so I blew off their offers. Served them right, the former employer went titsup in 18 months.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Best doorstop ever.... ZX Spectrum

  3. fruitoftheloon
    Happy

    My recently departed MacPro

    My much loved MacPro had to go, due to being not terribly portable (recording music).

    Whilst clearly old, it was perfectly usuabke, my lad's primary school were pleasantly received to have it, FCP (including manuals & media) together with a humungous Wacom tablet.

    One of the munchkins genuinely recoiled in shock as I carried it along the corridor, then I suspect it is probably the biggest computer that most kids will have seen.

  4. Keith Oborn

    Older machines were far more versatile--

    http://toyvax.glendale.ca.us/~vance/vaxbar.html

    1. Peter Gathercole Silver badge

      Re: Older machines were far more versatile--

      That's ef'ing genius! I love it.

  5. Ivor
    Flame

    aaarrgggh they could have lined up those clear rubber feet, and/or spaced them more aesthetically.

    shocking.

    1. munkiepus

      I was thinking that as well, there's 6 on one side and seven on the other too, that bugs my ocd part....

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Rubber feet

        Probably on purpose. Well played.

        1. allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

          Re: Rubber feet

          "Probably on purpose."

          No way.

          I really like it, but it would be even better if done properly, i.e. paying proper attention to details. This looks like knocked together at the spur of the moment. (If it was, not bad, but still...)

  6. chivo243 Silver badge

    Mine is still alive

    and kicking! I maxed out the RAM and put in a couple of big disks, been chugging along for a few years.

  7. picturethis
    Coat

    iFurniture next?

    Maybe this is the next business direction for Apple?

    All of the signs are there:

    - Expensive for what it is

    - Relies on being "in style" (or designated as such by industry pundits)

    - Lots of other alternatives that fulfill the same function, but none with "i" designator

    Can the iCouch, iChair, iLuvSeat, iTable, iDiningSet, iSeat, iDavenport, iBed, iChest, iShelves be far behind?

    I"m sure if you buy an iChair, only iCushions will fit it (and the cushions will have rounded corners that are patented, at least at first)....

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: iFurniture next?

      iKea?

    2. Dave 126 Silver badge

      Re: iFurniture next?

      >iFurniture next? Maybe this is the next business direction for Apple?

      I know you're joking, but Apple now employ Marc Newson, whose Lockheed Lounge set the record for a 'design object' when sold at auction.

      http://www.dezeen.com/2015/04/29/marc-newson-lockheed-lounge-new-auction-record-design-object-phillips/

      >rounded corners that are patented,

      That was what in the UK we would call 'Trade Dress', like the shape of the grills on an Aston Martin for example, but confusingly called a 'Design Patent' in the USA. Whether or not Apple's implementation of the rounded corners is enough to qualify as a design patent is a valid question, but it was never a 'Utility Patent' (USA) or 'Patent' (UK).

    3. SImon Hobson Bronze badge

      Re: iFurniture next?

      I thought they already did - p**stake on Youtube

  8. moylan
    Alien

    using a hard drive as a door stop

    in my old job we used an old retired 5mb full height hard drive from a cpm computer as a door stop. till a customer had a failure and we could source no other drive. worked fine for a few years till the system was retired.

  9. TheManCalledStan
    Thumb Up

    Still life in em yet!!!

    I also rescued an old 2 intel processor one from the WEEE pile at work...

    it now acts as a media server with SERVIIO holding all my kids DVD movies available for them to watch with no danger of the DVD being turned into coasters!

    These workhorses still have plenty of life in them for the right application...

  10. jelabarre59

    Wang

    I used to have a Wang OIS-50 from an old job. The RMU board was shot, and I didn't have a terminal anyway.

    I had at one time entertained the thought of using it as a PC case, but then I thought "nah, that would be a lot of work to modify it". Seeing the sorts of "case mods" done since I got rid of it, I expect it would have been a cinch compared to what some folks have done.

  11. Kevin McMurtrie Silver badge

    Typing on one

    I occasionally try out a new Mac and expect it to be blazing fast compared to the old Mac Pro 1,1 running 10.6.8 and anchoring my computer desk to the floor. The new ones are faster, but not in a way satisfying for how much time has elapsed and how much money they cost.

  12. St3n

    iMac G4's make a great doorstop.. About the only thing it was ever good at.

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Recycled Cisco

    https://m.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/376pi0/a_colleague_found_a_use_for_an_old_cisco_5500/

    Anon because it's a customer of mine. Very useful piece of kit.

  14. razorfishsl

    There is a company in HK that uses a stack of IBM servers for the same purpose.

  15. AJ MacLeod

    From that brief period...

    ...where Apple seemed capable of genuinely excellent design and engineering, rather than simply fashion.

    I was asked to remove the hard drive from one of these just last week and was impressed once again at just how nicely thought out and manufactured these are.

  16. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Heh- we have an old 1U Poweredge 1650 sitting at the bottom of one of our cabinets. The mini for the company (an AS/400 570?) is resting on top of it, because IBM in their infinite wisdom made the rails for it a 1/2" too short to lock into the cabinet rails.

    anon to protect my paycheck.

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