Concept Discussion: What should a modular design accomplish?

[msystems]

Greetings to all! I'd like to hear your opinions on the concept of modular design, as it applies to SFF and PC case design. If you aren't familiar with modular designs, just take a quick look at these google images to get an idea of some existing modular cases.

Companies such as Antec and Thermaltake have tried, but it seems that their modular cases are just a fraction of their sales. Razer created a concept in 2014 which still has yet to be produced. These are companies with resources -- they should be capable of making this work, but it hasn't. So, I'd like to get opinions on why modular cases haven't taken off, and what is missing.

-(Poll) In general, what should the main goals of a modular design be? Is it ease of use, greater customization, or something else?

-What features would a modular design need to make it more valuable to you personally, over a traditional design?

-If it was possible to go beyond the simple idea of modular components, and to produce a case with no predefined component selection at all, variable geometry (shape, length, width, height), and scalable volume to match the exact component specs you have in mind, would you be interested in this?

Your opinions will help shape a possible SFF project!

 

[cmyk78]

Project Christine was sick.

 

[K888D]

Modularity is about getting the features you want without needing to take the features you don't want, so the end product is more efficient and tailored to your own requirements. Instead of 1 product which caters to multiple different usage scenarios that ends up being bigger, more complex and more expensive than it needs to be for a specific use case.

Making a product modular in itself adds complexity to the design, so you have to make sure the added complexity you introduce does not overshadow the benefits you are trying to achieve.

 

[AleksandarK]

I would like to see the following:
Well built frame that has enough head room for up to 2U coolers.

A modular case panels that would be attached with those ball locks that are present on NCASE M1, Cerberus and Cerberus X.

Place to mount DC power supply.

So in the end my point is modular side panels. They can change the look of the whole case,without replacing the main frame.