Creative Computers 1

I went back to Second Source today and spoke with Ken, the owner, and got permission to take pictures of some of the unusual computers I mentioned yesterday.

They are made by Ron Sanderson, of whom the Wilmington News-Journal wrote in 2004 (a link to the story is not available–it’s archived):

At 62, he’s a veteran of modifying all manner of machinery. In 1982, he completed a 15-year restoration of a 1953 Ford Crown Victoria. (It netted him first place in a national competition.) He’s renovated, cleaned and sold nearly 30 Harley-Davidsons, he says. In 1983, he disassembled all but the seat and frame of his Harley within two hours of its purchase and sent the parts out to be chromed. The bike, to which he attached a radar detector and a cigarette lighter, landed him a page in Easy Rider magazine.

His passion now is computer modifications, or “mods,” which are to PCs what hot rods are to cars. First intended to push the speeds of processor chips, mods often were the province of gamers. And as the companies that produce the powerful and expensive graphics cards essential to fluid play started designing cards with sharp colors, gamers intent on showing them off incorporated windows into their PC towers.

His work is also regularly featured at the Newegg.

All the computers shown below are for sale at Second Source:

This one greets you as you enter the store:

And this one’s over by the repair bench:

I’m not sure what the case of this one started as–it looks like something that might have been in a rack of a mainframe or a communications center:

Here’s another view of it:

This one came in with the morning milk:

Bringing new meaning to the term “micro-computer”:

And this one will always keep odors away:

And here’s a view inside the litter box:

Ken told me that Mr. Sanderson also will make computers to order, but that those cost more than the ones on the shelves (makes sense to me). Those that had price tags ran around approximately $499.99.

Disclaimer: My only relationship to Second Source is as an occasional–and satisfied–customer. It’s the place to which I refer any of my friends who need computer repairs, and it’s where we got my younger daughter her first system. Not to mention the motherboard I used for my first motherboardectomy, several keyboards, cables, and other digital miscellany.