Modding: History. The difficult way from the case to the USB flash drive

This is something that should be interesting to those who spend most of their free time at the computer. The same tuning, but not car, but computer.

Man is characterized by the desire to transform, at least at the household level, reality. For example, motorists cherish and decorate their cars, do some bells and whistles on them, bikers try to stand out with a painted helmet, and sometimes a whole suit.

Changing the appearance of computers was called PC-modding, or simply modding (from the English word modify - to modify, transform), and the people who do this are called modders.

Have you ever wanted to do something with your own hands, something beautiful and incredible in your own way? Then modding is exactly what you were looking for. Modding is changing the standard parts of your computer (mouse, keyboard, DVD-Rom, etc.).

Modding is inextricably linked with Overclocking, and owes its birth to him.

Warning: PHOTO indecent a lot .

Cycle:
Part 1: Overclocking: The Evolution of Acceleration .

Start

Most of the pictures are photos. Therefore, there can be no single format for everyone.



The main rule of modding: do not start doing anything if you can not finish it without surgery.
Errors can cost a lot of money, you can screw up the monitor, or even the entire computer. The simplest mods are replacing the LEDs on the keyboard, mouse, system unit, etc. You can also add your own, well, in general, whatever you want, it will be. The drawing on the case is also modding.
These modders do not stop there, a successfully completed project is an occasion to start a new project.


sad fate of the monitor

Short story

No one knows when it all started. No one also knows where this happened, and who did it for the first time. We only know that it was a very, very long time ago, when the cases were small and nondescript, and additional fans, and even more so regular places for these fans, could be found only in the most expensive “semi-server” cases, the processors were still building up frequencies, and their dissipated thermal power increased accordingly, coolers drove the same hot air through radiators, and since no one has yet canceled the laws of heat transfer, the processors decidedly did not want to cool with such air. It was necessary to do something. In those days, many were engaged in overclocking, and I did not want to leave the PC covers aside.

And someone came up with the idea to cut a hole in some part of the case, and equip this hole with a fan, so that the air in the case was updated faster. The moment when this unknown person picked up a hacksaw, and can be considered the moment of the birth of modding. Further, the person’s craving for the beautiful worked out and the desire to do better than others.



In 98-99, the first modder sites appeared. In addition to modding guides, they often housed galleries of converted buildings (case gallery), which raised the desire to make it cooler than that of a neighbor to a completely new, international level. The "global competition" of modders has begun ... Since that time, modding abroad began to develop very quickly.

Now he is overly popular there, many professionals and amateurs are still doing this. And also many contests are organized.



The history of modding in the CIS is much shorter. In October 2001, the PC.Pervertz website was created, the first modder website in Russian (later this name was replaced by the more serious ModLabs.net) and then other modding sites appeared, including MODDing COMmunity. Only after a few months of the existence of the site, people stopped coming there just to look at the wonders, and began to really engage in modding. The peak hit 2004, after this moment modding began to become popular.

How many modding sites are on the Web right now - counting is very difficult, there are hundreds of them. In large "case gallery" the number of cases reaches up to a thousand. Modders even formed their own slang, extensive enough for such a narrow area of ​​activity. Open online stores selling accessories for modding, primarily the so-called kits, that is, various sets of "Do it yourself, but according to the scheme."

Of course, there are exclusive offers, but the set of basic modifications does not change. This is a kit for cutting a window (acrylic / plexiglass window, a stencil for cutting, a rubber molding-seal), a neon lamp for illumination inside the case, various cooler speed controllers, monitoring systems, transparent fans (including with built-in LEDs), grills (fan grills - fan grilles), superbright LEDs, text LCD displays, round loops.

Unfortunately or fortunately, the chronology ends here.



What is modding? I think that if you catch a dozen different and unfamiliar people engaged in this type of activity in the open spaces of the network, then each of them will give his own definition of his occupation. By modding, you can even include the installation of case fans in their native places. But still, most modders believe that the main task of modding is to give your computer and its periphery a unique, unique look by ... yes by anything - from simple painting and drawing faces on the wall of the case and ending with crossing the system unit with a food processor.
Well, about the harvester, I may have bent, but the hybrid PC and coffee maker, created by a craftsman from some developed capital country, is a rather well-known thing on the open spaces of the network.



Non-standard cooling systems, in general, can also be called modding. That is, modding is an activity whose goal is to make the case, monitor and various peripherals as non-standard and beautiful as possible, different from the standard ATX Miditower white box or the same white brick, for example, a printer, as well as actions aimed at improving functionality of all of the above devices.



But modding is by no means an exotic hobby for single enthusiasts who are ready to cut or paint something day and night. Now there are entire companies founded by modders that work only for modders and release only products for modding. About the online community of modders who periodically organize offline lan-parties, which demonstrate who modified something during the reporting period, I don’t even say - now this is the norm.



You can make your computer non-standard and beautiful without even imagining what a napkin looks like and how oil paint differs from gouache, and gouache from automobile. There would be money. But more on that later. Now let's take a closer look at the arsenal of modders, as well as the most typical tricks to give your PC a non-standard look.

Computer cases, as you know, are usually painted gray or white, black, orange and blue, they are much less common. I think that there is no serial case with coloring in the colors of your favorite football team, or it will take a very long time to find it. If you ask for a case in a regular computer store, painted, for example, under a zebra or a tiger, then at best you will be politely sent somewhere else (the worst case is a car with flashing lights and orderlies). But "does not exist" for a real modder is not an obstacle, but rather an order akin to "Attack!" Does not exist - that means, we will do it!

Now there are two branches - amateur and factory.

Directions in modding

First you need to figure out what genres and large fan groups now exist.

• post-apocalyptic - the creation of computers as if surviving a nuclear war or other global catastrophe. Styles for game universes STALKER and Fallout are very common:
  
  
  
  
• hi-tech and cyberpunk - the creation of ultra-modern buildings. In recent years, fashion models based on the Tron and Tron movies: Legacy have gained popularity.
  
  
  
  
• steampunk - stylization of electronic devices for the era of steam and Victorian England. It is carried out using wooden, leather and brass elements; This style is also characterized by numerous gears and copper tubes depicting the details of steam engines. This is probably the most popular modding.
  
  
  
  
• thematic modding - making a body based on the creativity of a musical group, a computer game, a book, etc.
  
  
  
  
• Advertising - creating a mod using components of a particular company, which, as a rule, acts as a sponsor. In this case, the company’s logo and its corporate colors are usually played out, an article recently appeared on the hub
  
  
  
  
• embedding - installation of computer components in an unusual case (household appliance, piece of furniture, toy or even a stuffed animal)
  
  
  
  
  
• HTPC (Home Theater Personal Computer) - creating a virtually silent computer for use as part of a home theater. In this case, passive cooling is often used.
  
  
  
  
• ghetto - intentionally sloppy production of a mod using various trash. However, sometimes they simply call it a crudely worked-out and ugly casemod, even if its creator did not plan exactly the style of "ghetto-modding"
  
  
  
  

What happens?

If the first were PC cases, now modding is almost everything.

About the PC. What do they do with them?

Saw windows:



Repaint:



Airbrush:



Engrave



Paste on film:



Install water cooling systems (CBO) (Yes, this is modding):



Add ventilation holes (“blind holes”, English blowhole):



Braid (“round”) power supply cables:



Illumination:



Installation of handles for carrying:



Adding indicators and controls, Fanbus and reobus ("fanbass" and "reobas"):




Artificial aging:



Pyrography:



Change the shape of the body panels:




These are only the main modes that make up the backbone. In fact, each modder chooses and invents something exclusive and original for himself. That is why modding is good, because it is simply impossible to meet two identical cases / components.



Modifications of power supplies are very popular. After the case, this is perhaps the second element in the number of various mods. What can be done with it? Well, firstly, this is the “round” of wires described above, cutting through windows of various shapes and highlighting them, replacing the fans inside the PSU with low-noise and beautiful ones, of course, painting. They look very beautiful, for example, completely made of transparent plastic.

Periphery

What about mice and keyboards? These are the things that are one of the most visible parts of a PC.



In this area, the number of modders is simply impossible to count. Countless variety of transformations. They change the appearance, shape, cut openings, change diodes at the keyboards, repaint, and style them in all possible ways.

It’s better to see once than to write a sea of ​​“water”.







But the periphery is not limited to this. There are modding flash drives, speakers, monitors, and much more. Mobile phones are also not an exception to the rule, laptops, game consoles, but tablet movement is a new trend of the time.



So the story went to the companies.

Firms, modding, gaming

At the same time, we are witnessing a constant increase in the quality of home-made mods and the arrival of serious companies on this market. Firms offer their services to those who do not want to remake themselves or want to get a truly professional quality. These are mainly gamers. The most modest solution is the case, modified by the manufacturer, i.e. almost serial. But there were giants in this area, although the companies but approached this with enthusiasm.

Thermaltake Level 10

This company approached the modding of everything manufactured with a rather interesting approach. Under this series, a huge number of heterogeneous PC devices. All magnificence has appeared since 2009.

Under this series, cases, mice, keyboards, various coolers are released. Modding of these boxes exist, but not so many.

New round: “Razer. For gamers. By gamers. "

Of course, you can recall the Fatal1ty, Republic of Gamers series, but only Razer is still really alive. This company has occupied its niche of factory modding. Whoever and how would not belong to it, but this is a new round of factory "beautiful glands." This is one of those companies that deserves a separate article. From 1998 to the present day they have not lost their gloss. Although not in cases, there are laptops.

Instead of an afterword

Modding is the same milestone in history as acceleration. They walked in parallel, developing and acquiring new “followers” ​​and enthusiasts.

Unlike Overclocking, Modding has a great chance of development - both among enthusiasts and in company circles. The current modders, without knowing it, buying mice from firms already fall into this world. It’s only a pity that there are not so many “purebred” modders themselves among gamers. And there are a lot of cases with a normal appearance. Only one thing is certain - the number of modders is huge, there are enough beautiful mods too, it's a pity only the modding scene goes by the side of the hub After all, the story of each modding is the life story of both the person making it and the piece of iron itself.

Modify everyone!