I'll never understand people.

February 7, 2001 5:08 PM

I'll never understand people. Some guy integrated a PowerBook with his Nissan Pathfinder in order to play mp3s and he calls it the "Pathintosh." This bad boy's got it all: touchscreen LCD panel for the console, steering wheel audio controls, IR remote for remote playing, wireless AirPort access to download songs from his home computer, and a convenient dock for the PowerBook. The only question is "why." Cool, but definitely overkill.
posted by bbrown (23 comments total)

Yes, the question is "why" ... why didn't this cat just buy an empeg car stereo? Then again, integrating a PowerBook one already owns is probably less expensive than the $1199 unit (that's the starting price, by the way). I'm just upset that the cheapest one has more disk space than my computer.
posted by Eamon at 5:56 PM on February 7, 2001

the answer to the question "why" is the same as it's always been, to impress girls. Geeky girls that is.
posted by ritualdevice at 6:10 PM on February 7, 2001

I for one think it is the coolest gizmo I've seen an awhile. It may hove cost a lot, but hey, if you've got the money why not?
posted by bytecode at 6:33 PM on February 7, 2001

oooooh. I'm mad impressed. Maybe even inspired.
geekgeekgeekgeekgeekgeek...
posted by JimmyTones at 7:16 PM on February 7, 2001

Are there any geeky girls...who'd be impressed by this?
Hell, I'm impressed...guess I better start on my ThunderIntosh...

posted by black8 at 7:20 PM on February 7, 2001

If you read the piece, you'll note that he can (and does) remove his PowerBook when he needs it to be a portable computer. That's the whole point of the dock in the custom enclosure. It's a lot of money to give your PowerBook a second purpose, but then, some people spend way too much money on their car stereos -- I'm sure there are people who spend more than this rig, including the PowerBook, just on audio.

But I'm a wee bit disappointed in this thread. I'd have thought people here at MetaFilter would be more concerned about his choice of vehicle than what he did with his computer. ;)
posted by kindall at 8:15 PM on February 7, 2001

i'm a geeky girl who's quite impressed. of course, i'm impressed when i can get out of the door marginally on time in the morning. so i wouldn't trust my judgment.
posted by sugarfish at 9:09 PM on February 7, 2001

I'm damn impressed. If the same set up could be used to facilitate in-car, Powerbook based, GPS (or even just Mapquest or some such) wayfinding (with a voice emulator to direct you!) and would keep track of gas mileage and maintenance history, I'd do it in a heartbeat. Macrango? Durantosh?
posted by Dreama at 9:31 PM on February 7, 2001

Nice ride, I suppose, but I'm saving my pennies for a MaxiMog.
posted by chino at 10:14 PM on February 7, 2001

hmm...looks like lots of "LADIES" find this guy's dick intriguing. The lot of you look "unintriguing" to me. You guys (POSTING WOMEN) are boring. GO AWAY.
posted by red cell at 11:41 PM on February 7, 2001

Wow... now that was a boring post. And unintelligble. Thanks for the laugh.

I saw this guy's site earier today, and I was impressed with his ingenuity. I'm a girl. Really.

Ok, so I'm boring. I'll GO AWAY.
posted by thetis at 11:50 PM on February 7, 2001

He's my hero.
posted by holloway at 4:12 AM on February 8, 2001

I think if you have to ask "why" you may have a hard time grokking the answer: "Because it can be done."

Sure, you can wonder out and buy a prebuilt system that does essentially the same thing, but where's the fun in that?
posted by cCranium at 7:01 AM on February 8, 2001

Jesus. Does anyone just drive a car anymore?

"Man, I can't wait to install this dashboard-mounted blender . . . "
posted by Skot at 8:37 AM on February 8, 2001

Don't knock it, Skot, that pitcher is awful handy for holding your gin & tonics.
posted by rodii at 9:01 AM on February 8, 2001

It's just a matter of time before Nissan sues the guy for f'ing with their intellectual property, or something...
posted by jpoulos at 9:10 AM on February 8, 2001

That PowerBook is worth more than my entire car.

chino: the maximog makes me want to laugh. Reminds me of some of the overbuilt Hummers and Defenders you see crawling around the city up here - every bolt-on accessory known to man, and the whole thing is completely spotless.

-Mars
posted by Mars Saxman at 10:49 AM on February 8, 2001

The guy did it to impress himself, not geeky chicks. He's got money to throw around so he's made up a toy for himself that he likes. It's nothing fantastic, but it is a pretty neat toy. I'd like to make an mp3 player out of Lego.
posted by Loudmax at 3:37 PM on February 8, 2001

Mars: It hasn't actually been driven anywhere yet, other than in a museum. I prefer my camping in a bivvy, but if we're looking at a vehicle for exploration, Maximog looks pretty good to me (though it also looks like you could knock it over with a long stick). The NY Times has an
interview with its creator...
posted by chino at 3:53 PM on February 8, 2001

Why doesn't he just burn MP3's to audio CDs like the rest of us. If he's not going to use the computer for anything else in the car.
posted by cburton at 4:21 PM on February 8, 2001

Why doesn't he just burn MP3's to audio CDs like the rest of us.

I've tried it both ways; I much prefer having an MP3 player in the car myself. There's something about 10+ hours of song on 'shuffle' mode that an array of mix discs simply can't recreate, no matter how vast.

'Course, OTOH, I got one of those cheapy MP3-discman-plus-car-kit set. So much for impressing myself/the ladies/fellow geeks/anybody of consequence.
posted by youhas at 4:42 PM on February 8, 2001

Why?

"All of this just to play MP3s?
No, of course not! Many are suggesting this is an "overkill" or a "waste". I never said it was practical, and it isn't. This is something I've been dreaming of doing for a very long time, it is a hobby - thats it. Its for fun, not practicality. So say what you like, yeah it can be done cheaper and in many other ways - but thats YOUR way... I've got mine. ;) I plan to add lots of stuff, like GPS and whatever else comes to mind. My nephews think I'm "THE MAN", since they can play games and watch DVDs on this thing... So its more than a glorified MP3 player."

Why not?
posted by jennyb at 8:24 AM on February 9, 2001

Hello, I'm the one who did this installation. This post is long overdue - being this thread is now a few weeks old.. but I felt compelled to add a note here. The "Why" question has already been answered, for the most part. Those suggesting a CD-R based system is the "reasonable alternative" to my system isn't considering the incredible convenience a HDD based system has over CD-R. I never have to bother with burning CD-Rs everytime I want new music, and playing in shuffle mode with 10,000 songs has truly opened my ears to my own CD collection. I'm hearing songs I never knew I owned! And if I hear one I like, I press a button and it is added to my "favorites" play list - complete with programmed volume levels and equalizer settings. It is SO much more than you think. As for impressing the ladies.. Hello... ;)
posted by Destin at 1:31 AM on February 24, 2001