Good evening:
Mr. Barythrin, I see that you found my post on Craigslist for this computer (I don't normally post on Craigslist that was just an experiment for the last two months - I may stop posting there soon - contact me if you want to see my all my online shops):
Timekeeper PC
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/178314466469983979/
Don't worry, I can take criticism! I'm just flabbergasted that I found your forum when looking for my own computers online, and I decided to step in to say hello.
By the way, my name is John Dunn, from Austin, TX, and I make a bunch of stuff ranging from the computer above through to accessories for phones and tablets. By the way the guts of the computer are A8-5500 3.2GHz Quad Core APU (Radeon HD 7560D) / ASUS A55BM-A Socket FM2 / 8GB DDR3) for those curious, since someone mentioned the MoBo or lack thereof. It's not meant to be a gamer machine or anything like that.
I don't really sell too many of those PCs; only once in a blue moon. My main business is Steampunk cases for tablets and smartphones and I started this as a hobby and out of desperation when I found myself unemployed in 2010. I think it still qualifies as a hobby
and yes I exchanged some conversations with Datamancer at the Brassgoggles.co.uk forum (I'm "Wilhelm" there - no I don't put myself at the same level as Datamancer). He was a very special person. The only equivalent we have at that level is Jake Von Slatt, and I am a very lowly and humble follower.
iCog Hades for iPad (Bluetooth case):
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/178314466469983977/
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/178314466469983975/
and last, my bread and butter: the iCog Dione for iPhone
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/178314466469983969/
I realize this stuff is not for everyone. And yes it's real expensive - but I basically make it by hand- so it's an acquired taste depending on your level of geekiness. To be honest I like the fact that it's a bit "niche" and not for everyone. We Steampunk consider ourselves to be a movement. But really, Steampunk is not just gears pasted on to hardware. Steampunk is a literary format/genre, like saying "mystery novels." It's 19th. C. sci-fi roughly inspired from the works of Jules Verne, a little of mad science like Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Orson Wells - and Wild Wild West.
Since the 1980's it started moving from a purely literary genre into dressing (1990's) mostly by Goths who outgrew the whips and the chains (you can only do that at a certain age IMHO) and "discovered the color "brown, and then in the 2000's was joined by the Maker/DIY movement. So here we are.
It was a bit of a fad among the general public during the last decade, and it attracted the young for a while, but I think the fad is largely lost steam now - at least in English speaking countries (the exact opposite is true in other countries especially in Spanish speaking countries and Japan), and only the original/dedicated Steampunks still "follow it" so to speak.
I realize that this laptop is probably not the best Steampunk laptop that you will ever see (not even close to Datamancer's laptops - mine is more of a "laptop cover" - not a made-from-scratch laptop like his), and it has a lot of faults, but please bear with me, as this was made when Sony America commissioned the laptop from me in late 2011, simply because they saw my iPhone cases on Etsy. That is kind of how I decided this could be a real business- quite literally they gave me a little push the same week I got evicted from my apartment at a time when I was unemployed. So ugly or not, I love this laptop (and is the progenitor of the iCogHades for iPad).
eCog Mercury laptop cover. ( From
http://blog.sony.com/2012/01/sonys-vaio-f-series-laptop-goes-steampunk/)
The laptop just was a "one-off" because Sony was experimenting with "grabbing the attention" of the gaming crowd for their Sony VAIO Series F. Their idea was to take it to tradeshows ans so - an offbeat idea by a junior PR member from Sony America, Corporate offices in San Diego, Mr. Reena Leone. But that F-Series laptop as nice and expensive as it was, was better suited as a desktop replacement, and less attractive to gamers (i.e. not as cool/high performance as an Alienware laptop) - but it was a good stint for me - at least got flown to San Francisco to shoot for the video blog
Datamancer went a lot farther -and a lot more expensive ($5K per copy) for his laptops - built from scratch, and he complained to me about problems with suppliers and such, so it's no bed of roses trying to sell stuff like this.
But in any case, this is not a "real serious" business." It does beat food service /temp jobs, though and it's more of a hobby for me. I basically make everything in my apartment. And anyhow, I just wanted to say hello. Maybe this puts things into perspective.
I remain at your service,
John "Adm. J. Wilhelm" Dunn
Victorian Steam Calculation Engine Co.
City of Austin ~ Republic of Texas
(You're invited to come and say hi at Brassgoggles.co.uk to see more wackiness and REAL Steampunks).
PS - NO VINTAGE TYPEWRITERS WERE HARMED DURING THE MAKING OF ANY OF MY ARTEFACTS