
Electronics That Last: How I Built an Heirloom Laptop - chei0aiV
http://makezine.com/2016/01/15/electronics-that-last-how-i-built-an-heirloom-laptop/
======
ville
Most comments here focus on the name and its perceived conflict with the fact
that electronics inside will get outdated at a much faster pace than the
"heirlooms" of the past.

However what I truly enjoyed when reading this article was the detailed story
of the design process for a project like this. Each detail found in the final
design went through numerous experiments and iterations, while balancing the
requirements for aesthetics, functionality, manufacturing process and sourcing
the materials and components. A fascinating read.

~~~
sandworm101
I'd go the opposite way. I reads to me like yet another article about the joys
of building a wooden boat. Far to much effort is put into style than design.
The choice of wood isn't anything to do with design. This was always going to
be wood no matter what. That decision had been made long before anything else,
probably even before the idea of a laptop. Whatever this project was to be, it
was to be out of wood. Just like the boats in the sheds.

Imho anything that wants to stand the tests of time should start with an
examination of which material is best suited to the task. Is that wood? Is
that composites? I don't know. I'd like to read about the same effort and
creativity focused on building the best case possible.

~~~
jordanb
Wood is a joy to work. Metal is brutal and composites are toxic and require
building molds. Plus wood rewards careful craftsmanship and a bright finish
with unparalleled beauty. I don't think it's an affectation to choose wood for
a hobbyist project: it's the best material for the job.

PS: Since this guy encapsulated his wood in fiberglass it technically is a
composite.

~~~
sandworm101
I agree. It is much more fun for the builder. But this is to be an "Heirloom"
object. Focus should therefore be on those who will actually have to live/work
with the finished product. The desires of the craftsman are irrelevant. If
they matter, then this is an article about a hobby more than product design.

------
nickpsecurity
Beautiful construction and all but heirloom's last generations. Not sure you
can do that with modern, process nodes given how inherently unstable and
broken they are. Computers on the old nodes lasted forever because the physics
were more sane and the chips simpler. I could see a heirloom Apple II or
something because they're still functional.

Seems only the shell of this one is heirloom. Should be the key portion if
true to the concept.

~~~
creshal
Even with an Apple ][ I doubt they could become true heirlooms. Most of them
already broke down, and there's no way the survivors will survive 50 years or
longer without having all internals refurbished.

Although that's not nearly as bad as this one. SSD, fan, LCD, RAM, battery are
all wear parts that won't survive a decade on average, and the rest is only
marginally better.

~~~
ido
I thought the heirloom part is that a lot of that stuff is user-replaceable on
this design, unlike most (all?) other laptops. I assume this is a standard
Mini-ITX motherboard?

So you could keep it working with some maintenance over the years.

~~~
hookshot
Its actually an open source hardware design built around a Freescale quad core
arm CPU. It is definitely designed to be user replaceable; you can print your
own boards if you want.

Info here: [https://www.crowdsupply.com/sutajio-
kosagi/novena](https://www.crowdsupply.com/sutajio-kosagi/novena)

~~~
joosters
I'm surprised it turns out to have an ARM processor - I wouldn't have guessed
that it would need active cooling. When you consider that many phones would
use this same CPU, in a smaller package with less airflow and smaller
heatsinks, it seems even more surprising that a fan is required here.

~~~
Narishma
The reason phones can do that is because they throttle heavily after a couple
minutes of heavy CPU usage. That wouldn't be very good for a laptop.

~~~
falcolas
The success of the Macbook seems to be arguing the opposite. Most tasks we
perform don't require sustained CPU usage.

~~~
8note
macbooks are giant passive heat sinks though; a wooden laptop doesn't conduct
all that well

------
chc4
Unfortunately, it looks like I've been corrupted by current design trends. I
can only look at this and think of the fake wood paneling on station
wagons[0], or other faux-antiques. It just screams "kitschy" to me, because I
don't have any nostalgia for that era.

Also, attempting to replicate past eras through skeuomorphism is /so/ out
right now, come back with flat minimalism.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodie_%28car_body_style%29](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodie_%28car_body_style%29)

~~~
philtar
The point is that this is timeless. What's 'in' or 'out' right now doesn't
matter. Jeez.

~~~
chc4
Does being made of wood make it inherently more timeless than if it was made
of aluminium? How about if it was chiseled out of stone? You associate a
certain style with timelessness, whether you like it or not, while someone
else might not.

The "/so/ out right now" bit was intended as a joke, btw.

~~~
TheOtherHobbes
I look at it and think "That must be really heavy."

I don't care about heirloom technology. But I would _love_ to see very much
better recyclability.

I suppose at some point we'll have waste-free nano-replication, and the idea
that things are built and stay built will seem as quaint as comparing a wattle
and daub hut to modern architecture.

------
jacquesm
That's an absolutely beautiful piece of work. So many different materials used
in a very well thought out way. I'm sure this will inspire a lot of people to
make imitation laptop enclosures for 'ordinary' guts.

------
nitin_flanker
This is beautiful. Beside the fact of being thick and heavy (maybe), I think
the classical feel of this laptop makes it look antique.

I was expecting a steam-punk design before I clicked the link but, I wasn't
disappointing at all.

------
LeifCarrotson
If you want to read more, the author has a blog off of Makezine:
[http://mottweilerstudio.com/novena-heirloom-achieving-
proper...](http://mottweilerstudio.com/novena-heirloom-achieving-proper-fit/)

------
firebones
What's the age of the oldest physical artifact that is simultaneously
personal, inheritable, and usable?

Most are things that have a larger scale, gross appeal, aren't personal. A
water wheel, a stone bridge, a building. Perhaps a gun, or a watch, comes
closest.

Start with that and what would an heirloom computer look like?

Somewhere on the continuum of abacus, slide rule. What's the computational
era's equivalent? An HP-11, HP-12 series calculator?

Sometimes I think: we're all making expendable shit.

~~~
keithpeter
Brooches and rings. In UK in some families these will be passed down to
couples marrying as a gesture of continuity. In Birmingham, we have a
'quarter' that has many small workshops that make and repair/alter jewellery.
Some of the older companies have design patterns/dies going back to the
Victorian era.

I agree with your basic point: we all buy so much that is basically landfill.

~~~
Symbiote
I think we can go a fair bit older than that.

The Imperial Regalia of Japan, if it still exists, is... really old. I can't
find a date.

The anointing spoon of the British crown jewels dates from the 12th century,
and is still used [2].

If we don't need something to be in continual use, then bronze age jewellery,
or stone age flint knives.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_Regalia_of_Japan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_Regalia_of_Japan)

[2] [https://www.royalcollection.org.uk/collection/31733/the-
coro...](https://www.royalcollection.org.uk/collection/31733/the-coronation-
spoon)

------
elcapitan
Unfortunately the part of modern laptops that breaks first is rarely a case,
be it wooden or metal, even plastic, but usually the battery, keyboard,
screen, or just some random small part of the mainboard.

~~~
zeckalpha
And all of those are replaceable on this system. George Washington's Axe is
still an heirloom.

------
throwaway7767
Off-topic, but from the article:

> Huang has a cool thermal imaging device for his phone that he used to make
> this photo of the Heirloom showing the heat distribution

I'd be really interested if this is an affordable solution. A FLIR camera
would be nice to have, but they're really expensive. Does anyone know what
model he's talking about?

EDIT: Thanks everyone, looks like they've come down in price significantly.
Almost cheap enough to buy one just for kicks.

~~~
pmjordan
FLIR do an entry level smartphone attachment, "Flir One". It's not
particularly precise or high-resolution, but it's a lot cheaper. (Still not
cheap-cheap.)

~~~
Mahn
Very cool. File this under the list of "things I don't need but want anyway".

------
jfoutz
i'm not sure if this is it, but i'm enthusiastic about the dawn of sandbenders
[1].

[1][https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuromancer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuromancer)

~~~
jfb
I think you meant to link to _Idoru_.

~~~
jfoutz
You're right!

~~~
jfb
They're both great books, though, and I encourage everyone to read all of
Gibson.

------
schoeto
Really, how naive can one be? Who is still using phones with dial disc? Who
uses VHS recorders? CRT monitors? Would anyone like to stick to them because
of a wooden case? In 50 years we surely won't be using laptop style devices
but rather something with much more intuitive input...

------
beeboop
Is the bottom being wavy just an aesthetic design or is there a reason? Seems
like needless bulk on an already very bulky laptop.

------
DanBC
The laptop form factor is an odd choice, but the equivalent for a media centre
(or similar) would be popular in some niches.

------
digi_owl
I dunno about the whole wood thing, but if i could get it either as a kit or
fully assembled i would be all over it.

------
lugus35
My Amiga is an Heirloom.

------
peteretep
So does "heirloom" mean "made of wood"?

~~~
ps4fanboy
"Gee thanks grandpa... does this run VR? whats a Gigahert, oh its a fraction
of a terrahert... hmm thanks.."

~~~
pingswept
"Hertz, son, it's hertz. Named after the old guy, Heinrich Hertz. Used to hang
out at my hackerspace when I was a kid. Well, it was just a garage, but you
know what I mean."

------
__david__
That is (a) a _beautiful_ laptop, and (b) a shame that it can't be made as
thin as a MacBook (or even as thin as 2 MacBooks).

------
foobar1962
It's a waste of beautiful wood.

Looks like something the Apple I could have gone into. Nothing beautiful about
it.

