Would You Buy Such a Thing?

I'm not one to reveal ideas. I often hint at upcoming projects with teasers, but it's very rare that I release an idea into the public before I have nearly completed development or production. This isn't one of those times. This is a full splurge of an idea I have had for weeks, but I don't have the proper means to create it. I want to put this idea on Kickstarter and make this a legitimate product, but I don't really know if there is even a market for it. I need your thoughts and opinions.

So what's the idea, and why am I telling you?

Desktop computers are going by the waysides as laptops become more and more powerful. Ever since the release of the early-2011 MacBook Pro, my primary machine has been a portable. I use it as a laptop. I use it as a desktop. And I'm not sacrificing. It works. Almost.

A lot of people are finding this form factor desirable and for good reasons—there is one problem though: I want to make my laptop a desktop, but hooking it up to a desktop setup is such a pain. Many users (myself included) want to hook their laptops up to a larger monitor, a mouse/keyboard, gigabit Ethernet, speakers, USB hubs, etc. That's the problem. There are so many things that need to be plugged into the laptop, it becomes a sea of discombobulated cables.

But Quinn, there are docking systems available. True. There are two. BookEndz is the superior docking solution, but they rewire all of the ports (many of which, like Thunderbolt need to be licensed), it's constructed of aluminum, and they're hand made. My point? They are very expensive—several hundred dollars in fact. A cheap alternative is HengeDocks. I was a big fan of the 13" model, and bought another when I got my 15" MBP. It was nothing short of a nightmare. The chassis on the MacBook Pro was simply too heavy for the cheap plastic construction of the HengeDocks, and it didn't connect well—it went in sideways, it created a lot of frustration; furthermore, one can only assume that the 17" model is worse. That's not the only problem though. There are many. HengeDocks have special cables that need to be used in order to fit in the plastic chassis (many of which are cheap garbage), the computer remains closed, thusly creating overheating problems. It isn't elegant, and it isn't very functional.

What's my solution?

Ditch the "dock." Create a small 1.5"x8" plastic box that allows you to snap your own cables in. You can run your own cables into the housing, and in essence, you create one, unified, gargantuan plug. When you come home, throw your MacBook onto your desk, and plug a singular cable in. No cable disasters. No rewiring. No consolidated dock. Just a single plug that goes into your MacBook Pro.

There are some technical details that need to be worked out, such as varying cable sizes, but I genuinely believe that a product like this could be developed, could be manufactured relatively cheap, ~$40-$50, and could finally solve the issues behind docking. Making a laptop your main machine becomes a lot more viable if it can be easily transformed from a laptop to a desktop in less than a second.

Would you buy one? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Updated: Included the world's worst sketch to further elaborate.

Comments

[Carlo]

immediately