Project Plan 1.5

So onto another stream, as I work in IT and particularly with Apple equipment I’ve noted that often we throw out computers, phones and tablets that are obsolete, but look like new. This often doesn’t apply to iPhones but certainly the Macs, open them up and with a quick clean out with the air duster and they’re like new inside. Being Macs they’re often very well made, the components are high quality and the cases often aluminium or brushed steel. They often have good quality screws and catches in too which seem a waste to throw away. There is an anecdote that Steve Jobs decreed early on that a Mac should be as beautiful on the inside as it is on the outside. This is an early anecdote and most likely referred to computers in their early days when they were a jumble of bits and wires, before the truly integrated printed circuit made them a lot simpler and concise. However this criteria still seems to apply at Apple and many of their designs are truly beautiful on the inside, a great deal of care has been applied to their construction which is often more more solid than the tin boxes other manufacturers ship. Also their motherboards can be quite striking either by their colour, they are often green or blue, or their shape with not every one being a simple square but often moulded to the inner shape and dimensions of the product

The idea for this stream was to take some of those thrown out but still very attractive components and to upcycle them into something better, that was saleable. There are a lot of Apple fanboys and fangirls out there that might appreciate such an item. As usual this started close to home, I was throwing out an Apple G5 tower and noticed the whole structure was metal, I’d previously thought it was steel as its so cold and solid. However the door, complete with Apple logo was a very nice square of brushed aluminium with the Apple logo bang in the middle. Fortunately this door, which I retrieved from the pile of junk was a well preserved example, the Apple logo was complete without any damage and there were very few if any scratches. I cleaned up the door, drilled an 8mm hole through the middle and put in a standard quartz clock movement from eBay through the hole. This along with the red 150mm hands and a wire hanging cable I attached to the rear made for a nice wall clock. As my pictures before had done this attracted the attention of friends and colleagues, many of them Apple fanboys being in IT or the creative arts. So as before I knew this was a potential seller, I then looked at other items I could salvage and store for when I had the time to create more clocks or other items by upcycling

I specifically looked for parts with the Apple logo if possible, many of the devices do, and often some of the internal parts too, obviously not all of the internal components are Apple, some are from 3rd party suppliers, but the main components like the motherboards are. Finding an Apple logo is key, people are going to be more attracted to these genuine Apple parts because of the logo. Other parts are kept too if they can be used as components for larger items, so catches, screws and the smaller PCB (printed circuit boards) are kept too, especially the screws. The screws can be an odd size in certain products depending on how customised they are, and obviously Apple customise more components probably than any other manufacturer, so I keep these in case there are needed to join other items together, of course they also use quality screws, nuts and bolts again often with a brushed or smooth shiny appearance which look good