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39 amazing Steampunk computer mods
PCs, Macs and peripherals for Victorian punks
Tom Porter, Mon 23 Mar 2009, 10:33 am UTC
21. The Paradox Mouse
There's a couple of Luger 9mm bullet shells at the back of this mouse by the very creative Mr Paradox. And yes, that does look very much like the actual vertebrae of a rodent.
20. Furnace Mouse
The designer Unklian was inspired by a Steampunk Motorcycle, apparently. The illuminating 'furnace' is made up from a bunch of microswitches coated with black silicone sealant for the 'coal' effect.
19. Furnace Mouse #2
Very similar to the first but Unklian had good reasons for the rebuild: "Mk1 mouse worked well but I hadn't translated 'measuring' into 'making' properly. The 2 buttons were slightly too far forward and ideally, should have been directly to each side of the scroll wheel." Extra points for the larger furnace area…
18. Russian 'Stimpank' mouse
We like John Brownlee's (BoingBoing) description of this mod: "crappy Genius brand mouse is converted to brassy steampunk objet d'art." Let's here it for Russian Stimpank…
17. The Bug
An amazing feat of Steampunk engineering, Jake Hildebrandt's 'Bug' features chunks of rotating solid brass, glowing LEDs and leaf switch buttons for "a more old-fashioned, mechanical feel.
16. The Nagy Magical-Movable-Type Pixello-Dynamotronic Computational Engine
Datamancer's longest-titled, and perhaps most gothic of all his creations. It's hooked up to an Underwood typewriter, there's a amazing centred porthole for the CD drive and there's even a flatbed scanner cleverly designed as a leather bound book.
15. The Communicator
This "antipodium PC" is a really creative example of the genre. It kind of looks like a ship's wheel… on a voyage to Steampunkville, of course.
14. Neo Victorian Keyboard / Monitor
A mini USB Keyboard and a 24" wide screen Samsung LCD monitor which can be rotated 90 degrees to be used as "a giant LCD picture frame!" For a goggle-wearing goat skull picture, obviously…
13. The Underwood No. 5
Take an original Underwood No. 5 typewriter, a Mini-ITX motherboard and a whole load of modding skill and you get a very powerful computer disguised as… well, an Underwood No. 5 typewriter. Steampunk by default…
12. The ElectriClerk
"[It's] inspired by the retro-futuristic machines in the movie Brazil by Terry Gilliam," says creator Andrew Leman. "Despite the fact that all its components are now exposed to the air, the 1988 Macintosh SE which forms the heart of this piece still works just fine."
