First step: Hardware

To make life a little easier, I'm splitting up the design to start things off. Today, hardware.

What are some of the initial ideas that we could incorporate in the macbook pro touch casing?

Idea one: cables. It never made sense to me why a plug (a laptop is intermittently dependant on to run) is detachable from a laptop. What if you lose it? You have to buy a new one. Plus, those plugs take up room in your laptop bag, annoying.

So why not make it part of the casing? Like a retractable plug you see on vacuum cleaners?

Of course a couple of things would have to be done: The plug might have to be smaller (not an impossible thing with North American plugs, but UK plugs? forget about it.

Secondly what if it breaks? You're stuck with a expensive laptop that cant be charged? Or worse, you want to quickly unplug the laptop to go somewhere?

Well I think plugs go through enough wear and tear, i am constantly wrenching a plug out from the wall by the cable, not by the head of the plug (and yes i don't garden).

But wouldn't it be cool to have a clip on the retractable part that allows you to quickly detach the entire cable/plug effort?

So all you need to do is flick out the plug, and pull it out of the casing to use it. A lever recognises when you want to retract the plug like a tape measure.

If it breaks, the entire unit can be removed and replaced.

The plug could have a sensitive maglock that immediately disconnects from the unit, when somebody, say, accidentally trips on it.

Or even better, why not put a maglock on the plug itself? That way it can stay secure on the wall, but can be quickly removed when someone, like me, decides to pull it out using the cable.

Neat!