About this project
The Marc One is the future of personal computing, a future where performance will not cost you an arm and a leg. After I realized that almost 60% of the world still doesn't have access to basic computers, I was set on bringing a basic neccessity to the forgotten parts of the world, that is almost 4,440,000,000 people, a little more than half of the world! Computers have the power of educate and literate places in the world that are still to develop, in the long run, this could help with the creation of the next generation, people that will have power to change the world. Join us, and help us bring a revolution into the world!
The Marc One is an affordable, reliable, and well built computer without any compromises. It's as fast as a computer triple its price point, and has a build never before seen. Overall, the Marc One provides one of the best price to performance ratio's in the market.
We really wanted something different, something that hasn't been seen in technology before, not something basic like aluminum or plastic. So we discovered Alumide, a blend of plastic and aluminum, which creates an amazing look, coming in all sorts of colors such as black, white, and dark blue. Alumide is a 3D Printable material which helps create a sturdy and perfect overall body for the product, without any imperfections.
Made of a material never used in any other product, The Marc One is made of Alumide, which is a 3D Printable material made up of both plastic and aluminum. This creates an extremely durable chassis, that looks outstanding and feels almost like sandstone.
Due the small nature of the Marc One, it can be taken wherever you desire. For example, you just finished a presentation on the One, and take it to work and present by simply connecting it to the projector or television.
The Marc One's entire outer shell is made up of Alumide, which is a 3D printable material. The reason we chose 3D printing over other processes is because of the level of precision. It's incomparable when you look at it against competition such as CNC Milling. This is also results in a sturdier design, since there are no physical holes drilled into the shell, instead the entire shell is made around the holes.
3D Printed in Sand
3D Printing in sand is a fairly common practice when it comes to more complex prints such as the Marc One. The One requires a lot of precision to meet the holes, so no other process is better than that. In short, the entire shell is printed in sand and afterwards all of it is cleaned off and the outer shell is ready to go.
Assembled in the USA
To Ensure optimal quality the Marc One's main assembly happens in the USA. While parts are brought in from all around the world, for example, the out shell being from Belgium, and some inner components from China.
Version 1: The original plans for the Marc One, a circular and rounded off design, however this design did not come out as desired because of its size, coming out at almost 8 inches in diameter.
Version 2: A squared off but rounded design, we did not use this design because we wanted an aggressive squared off design, which this simply did not present.
This is the Marc One, the final version, with sleek beveled edges and an engraved logo, creating an aggressive yet beautiful design.
The Marc One comes with multiple applications for coding preinstalled to stay with the origin of the Raspberry Pi. Perfect for educating and doing individual work.
The Marc One comes out at just about 3 inches in width, 2.5 inches in length, and 1 inch in height. Making it smaller than an apple and most fruits, making it ideal for many situations.
The Marc One has basic connectivity to ensure simplicity, it comes with 2 USB ports, 1 micro USB port(for power), 1 HDMI port, as well as one AUX output. This allows for simplicity, yet optimal connections to any desired devices.
The Marc One comes with both WiFi and Bluetooth right from opening the box, no need for separate adapters, this is feature not even seen computers almost double The Marc One's price point.
When it comes to the operating system, we needed something that would maintain speed and reliability, yet still have a modern ui. We came to the decision that Ubuntu Mate would be the best overall O.S. The Marc One will come with an internet application, file manager, and terminal in the task bar by default. The Marc One’s menu has a basic settings interface, and accessories such as a calculator and management applications. When it came to entertainment we didn’t want to skip, so the Marc One comes with Minecraft pi, which is a lightweight version of Minecraft, that runs smoothly on the Marc One. Now for work related applications, the entire Libreoffice suit is included from writer for word processing to impress for presentation making. We also did not want to leave the nature of the raspberry pi, so some programming apps are included as well.
Browse the Internet to your heart's content
Create Word Documents using LibreOffice Writer
Create Presentations using LibreOffice Impress
Software Demo
Desktop
Explore the System
Our ultimate goal is to bring the Marc One into places in this world that don't yet have access to computers, a recent poll shows that almost 60% of the world still does not have access to the internet. We want to lower that number by taking a giant leap forward by providing devices to do work on. This won't just help with areas that do not have access to computers, but can possibly educate and literate people that take full advantage of this product. As Steve Jobs once said,"What a computer is to me is the most remarkable tool that we have ever come up with. It's the equivalent of a bicycle for our minds".
- CPU: 1.2 Ghz 64-bit quad core ARM Cortex-A53
- GPU: Broadcom Videocore IV
- Memory: 1GB LPDDR2
- Storage: 16GB
- Ports: HDMI, AUX, 2 USB, Micro USB
Our Amazing Backers
Risks and challenges
We wanted to create a product that we would personally want to buy, something that has never been created before, is different, special, and unique. We believe its the first computer in the sub $150 range that can actually compete with higher end computers.
We are very proud of our final product, it turned out exactly as dreamed of and originally designed.
When it comes to the mass production of this product we are going to be capable to produce approximately 4,300 of the Marc One. The Marc One is assembled in the USA to insure optimal quality, while parts are brought from all around the world. such Belgium and China. We do plan on increasing how many we can produce as this Kickstarter goes on.
We will make sure not to let our backers down, since they gave their entire trust to us to deliver this product and the last thing we would want is to break someone's trust.
FAQ
Have a question? If the info above doesn't help, you can ask the project creator directly.