Clever Modder Fuses Keyboard and Trackpad

[Michael Essany]

Modders will appreciate a very cool story that comes to us by way of MacStories. What we have is an especially creative modder who successfully acted on his mixed tastes in technology - that is, his fondness for the EEE keyboard but also his Mac and accompanying trackpad. The end result is a sweet fusion of sorts that is on display in these intriguing pics.

This work of art comes from Bart Reardon of The MacBook Air Project. According to the MacStories piece, Bart endeavored to fit a MacBook Air right under an Apple keyboard and make everything a single piece. In other words - a 1.6Ghz Core 2 Duo, 2GB RAM and 80GB hard drive computer inside a standard keyboard. After that, he sought to add on a Magic Trackpad next to the keyboard. According to the modder, the device “will be used much beyond internet/email….maybe as an AppleTV replacement.”

Why a Mac Book Air, you ask?

“As a component they are more expensive to get at but more importantly it’s about space. The nice thing about the macbook Air’s motherboard is how narrow it is. The other MacBooks have small motherboards too but they spread out at the connector end. This still makes them narrow enough to fit under a standard keyboard but that loses favor as it means you can’t get the keyboard (a desktop keyboard that is) low enough to be ergonomically comfortable.”

This monstrosity has already been dubbed the “iKeyboard” and still requires "some adjustments and tweaks." For instance, the Trackpad antenna "interferes with the Bluetooth antenna," although a resolution to such small issues is imminent. To stay on top of The MacBook Air Project, connect with Bart on Twitter @bartreardon.

MacStories

[05VIIII]

Zommgg tottaly cool dude

[LuisAKANewt]

wonder why apple just can't make a keyboard that comes with the *** **** trackpad...

[05VIIII]

Jk..I don't give a ****

[Poseidon79]

Cool idea... although what space are you really saving? You still have to have a monitor in which case you can get an iMac which is a space saver all in one to begin with. A MacMini will run a lot smoother than this thing too.

[macsoldier]

very creative

[kadinh]

wow. thats pretty cool. i wish i was that 1337

[sh33436]

thats cool. so now put it on youtube

[rhekt]

He's circuit bending functional electronics. That's freaking awesome

[mikerlx]

Awesome but costly just get a used iMac of eBay

[Eagleye]

Cool idea... although what space are you really saving? You still have to have a monitor in which case you can get an iMac which is a space saver all in one to begin with. A MacMini will run a lot smoother than this thing too.

Agreed... cool mod as far as the complexity of it, but not efficient. You dont need to have the computer as part of the keyboard, makes more sense to save space by using the space in the monitor (iMac) so you keep the low profile of the keyboard. The only thing that makes sense is to fuse the keyboard and trackpad together and add a monitor.... oh wait, Macbook? This is just dumb reverse mutated engineering.

[reanimationxp]

Is the damn battery still in there somewhere? If not, screw it. Who wants a monitor connected to their keyboard

And since when does the MBA have 4 usb ports on it? I call bullsh***.

Bet that thing gets warm too. I can see the news headlines now.. "Genius Modder fuses Mac to keyboard, burns hands, actually kind of a dumba**"

[whereswaldo]

This is sick, Apple should start making it

[stfudvs]

so legit

[lacrossplayereht]

Cool idea... although what space are you really saving? You still have to have a monitor in which case you can get an iMac which is a space saver all in one to begin with. A MacMini will run a lot smoother than this thing too.

True your not saving space but you are gaining portability. I'd much rather move a keyboard than a whole monitor around.

[Mazzle]

The title of the article leaves out the fact that he fused a computer in there too, which is the most interesting part of the story.

[one1]

America was created from it's imagination. If everyone would have shot down our forefathers we'd be sitting in the dark on dirt eating whatever we just caught in a hole.

I'm sure plenty of people looked out their window to see Benjamin flying a kite in a thunderstorm.

[JayEmTee]

That's actually pretty cool. It's like having a laptop without the screen...wait, when would i use this?

[MetallicaFan1991]

The title of this thread is lame, it should be that he built a computer right into the keyboard as fusing a keyboard and trackpad is just lame and not as interesting as a computer keyboard.

What's the point...

[ufcsean]

Utterly pointless imo.