Wooden't You Like This?

I like elegantly crafted wood. When I left my old company, I chose as my parting gift a polished wooden box of engraved stationery notecards; I like the cards, though I rarely use them, but the gleaming box itself is situated on a shelf in the bedroom where I can easily see it. A second box, blond wood with inset frosted glass, sits on a shelf in the living room. It's not obvious -- you have to be looking in that direction to even notice it -- but when I do, I am always pleased. We have a polished wooden rolling pin, made of multiple woods, sits on the counter in the kitchen; on the dining room table, a small salt-and-pepper set of mutiple wood styles. And on the bureau in the bedroom, I have a small polished wooden box with felt interior to hold pocket junk -- and coincidentally to delight me when I see it. I like wood.

So its probably not too surprising that this article, on companies who will encase a computer and its individual peripherals in gleaming wood, caught my eye. I'd love a wooden mouse, and that Sangaku computer case (left) is wonderful.

Here's one article that describes the making of the case. Three hundred hours of effort -- and to my mind, well worth it. Some related material can be found here.