Skip to content
Thoughtful, detailed coverage of everything Apple for 33 years
and the TidBITS Content Network for Apple professionals

Cooling Factor and Cool Factor in One Package

What?! Does something about this article seem odd, not as you remember, or too good to be true? Check the date it was published!

The Plasticsmith has done it again. The company that brought the newly minted Mac mini its own “mini skirt,” a plastic riser with an optional glow, have added a new stand to their line-up: the mini hover skirt.

<http://www.plasticsmith.com/miniskirt>

As fans of science fiction and unusual watercraft know, a hover skirt is set of air jets ringing the bottom of a craft; the downward-pointing jets provide air pressure to raise the craft enough off the ground to avoid friction, allowing less-expensive propulsion over both liquid and solid surfaces.

The mini hover skirt is a combination of goof and practical: the unit which snaps onto the bottom includes a quiet but high-powered air blower which cools the often toasty Mac mini while producing a space-age sound effect.

For those who invested in the Bluetooth and AirPort Extreme options for their Mac minis, the mini hover skirt can be equipped with an optional battery to remove all wires. Unfortunately, the battery option does raise the sound pitch from ocean waves to vacuum cleaner.

But if you enable follow-along mode and install Salling Clicker, you can have the Mac mini follow you around the room. For instance, using a Bluetooth Jabra headset, you could use the Mac mini in headless mode to read Web pages to you that it retrieves over a Wi-Fi network and relays to you via Bluetooth.

<http://homepage.mac.com/jonassalling/Shareware/ Clicker/>
<http://www.jabra.com/JabraCMS/NA/EN/MainMenu/ Products/WirelessHeadsets/JabraBT800/ JabraBT800.htm>

The mini hover skirt’s price is expected to float between $800 and $1,000 depending on options. A tracking device for Mac minis that manage to get away is an extra $50.

<http://www.plasticsmith.com/minihoverskirt>

Subscribe today so you don’t miss any TidBITS articles!

Every week you’ll get tech tips, in-depth reviews, and insightful news analysis for discerning Apple users. For over 33 years, we’ve published professional, member-supported tech journalism that makes you smarter.

Registration confirmation will be emailed to you.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA. The Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.