1400 to Brain 'Book - the Whole Sordid Tale.

No one may remember this place--unless you are from the Boston area--but there was a place called Learningsmith--General Store For A Curious Mind. I worked there for a while, but then they folded and I have a chance now to pay homage to this great place. Sad? Maybe. Geeky? Yes, yes it is.

I had great experiences at this place, and have done my best to stay in touch with the people that I met there. What better way to pay my respects than through my first modest mod.

I started this with a Powerbook 1400cs, with 48 MB RAM, 775 MB HD, built-in ethernet, running System 7.6.1--changing soon to 8.6, along with a new 2 GB HD, but that is beside the point. Be forewarned, this is not yet done, and even when it is, it will not be a big extravagant hack, but I will be proud of it.

Start at the starting point--plain old 1400

Bookcover and other covers have to come off for painting.

The bookcover goes white with some Krylon Infusion--good stuff!! I the attached the brushed metal Learningsmith logo that I stole from the store (oops!) with an overlap so that it would cover the Apple logo--no offense Apple!

Now the 'Book goes a little purple--hidden homage to Prince, perhaps...or, not. It took a LOT of tape and saran wrap to paint this sucker without taking it apart. Time consuming, I agree, but based on previous experiences, a logical choice. And it turned out very nicely.

The Brain 'Book: phase I is complete! Not too shabby!

Well, again I know that it is not the most extravagant mod, but I am happy with the results so far. Other than the upgrades that I intend to make to the hardware/OS mentioned at the beginning, I also plan to paint the top case/palm rest, as well as add more to the outside--a ring of green around the logo. The colors being used are all the colors of the Learningsmith, may it rest in peace! Add a wireless card and it is a pretty respectable websurfer to boot!