diy ceramic mini Mac 128K
(powered by Raspberry Pi)
behold the diy mini mac 128k experience it’s first (and very cool!) glitch
The Story…
This summer, I determined it was finally time to combine my two favorite hobbies - ceramics and electronics!
I’ve made ceramic art for ~7 years (primarily on the wheel) and started working on larger hand-built pieces this summer. I decided to make a DIY Macintosh 128K (because…it’s ICONIC) from ceramic slabs (you roll clay through a hand-cranked rolling machine and voila!).
As I sculpted the piece, using the original Mac 128K specs, I started considering how fun it would be to add a Raspberry Pi and touchscreen to the piece to make it interactive! ⚡️⚡️
My inspiration - the original 128K. As I mentioned - ICONIC.
I was determined to use Processing to make a fake old-school OS GUI, but before I got too far on that (fun yet tedious) task, I came across @Jaromaz’s MacintoshPi Gitup Repo. His repo steps you through installing Mac OS 7, 8, and 9 emulators on a Pi. You can even go online, and there’s a modem emulation feature.
Thanks to sites like Macintosh Garden and Macintosh Repository you can download a variety of software (think Doom II, Carmen Sandiego, SIM CITY!!!) that will run on Mac 7, 8, and 9 operating systems. Again, refer to Jaromaz’s repo tutorial for advice about unzipping your downloads to run in the emulators. The process has been a little hit or miss for me, but I’m getting over the learning curve.
Running a text game called ‘Fred Rogers Neighborhood Terrorist’ on the mini mac. Disclaimer: I do not agree with the statements made in this game; it was however, very easy to download and run on Mac OS 8.
A little behind the scenes on bringing programs into the Mac OS emulators using Unix.
Next up for DIY Mac 128K…
One of my visions for this project was to have it display my partner’s and my schedules (we’re busy with our hobbies!). I’ll probably tackle that goal next. However, I’ve been more excited than I realized to be able to download games that were fundamental to my childhood. I’m setting up a display for the Mini Mac so friends and guests can play around with the system. It’s really a trip to see the operating system icons on-screen (the memories start to flood in!).
Let me know on Twitter if you’d like me to make a tutorial about the hand-building or programming aspect of the project. I felt like Jaromaz’s tutorial was really good, but if you’re a true beginner, there are some aspects that might be hard to figure out. I’d be happy to break that down, if there’s interest.
Twitter: @gucci_bagel
Ceramics Etsy Shop: Studio TerraMoto
Ceramics IG: @terramoto_ceramics