It was only a matter of time. A YouTuber has turned a classic palm-sized Mac-style clock into a functional computer. Here’s how he did it.
I’m sure almost everyone reading this is aware of the meme “Can it run Fate? — a meme that challenges tech-savvy DIYers Fate runs on almost anything. But maybe we should really be asking: “Can it Mac” associated with gaming Fate.
YouTube channel This Does Not Compute seems to have taken up the mantle and really taken the Mac-inspired clock from a cute tchotchke to a functional computer. The process is documented in a fifteen minute YouTube video that is well worth watching.
The reason the project exists in the first place is because the RayCue Maclock is a surprisingly faithful rendition of the exterior of the original Mac. He is too tinystands about four inches tall.
This project requires some basic soldering skills and confidence in prying out a small cube of plastic. While this might not be a beginner-friendly project, I’m pretty sure most tech-savvy people who know their way around a soldering iron could pull it off – the project is pretty well documented after all.
The necessary hardware includes a Zero 2W Raspberry Pi, a 2.8″ Waveshare LCD screen and a 32GB microSD card. There is also an additional step for a screen holder for 3D printing.
If you’re interested in doing the project yourself, the This Does Not Compute GitHub repository has all the software and steps available here.
So maybe it’s not a faithful “It can run Fate” style project. It mostly just uses the clock body and is otherwise a pretty standard Pi project.
That being said, for $100 in parts and a relatively small time investment, it’s still an impressive project. Plus, who could deny how cool it would be to have a working 4-inch Mac on your desk?
Colin, the voice and hands behind the project, acknowledges this he could get even further. He notes that it wouldn’t be too difficult to use a fake floppy disk to actually power up the Pi, or even turn it into an SD card reader.
It would be interesting to see how far the project will go. There isn’t much room inside the Maclock, but that certainly didn’t stop Colin.