For the first 20 years or so of my career, mine was. The Apple II, the TRS-80 model 3 (even had an internal screen!) were super chunky blocks of computing.
Nice design, but the website is vague. What about the actual tech specs (not simply GB of ram and SSD space) or a picture of the "user-replaceable" internals? How about a picture of the port layout? About the workbench operating system, the information is also surprisingly light.
Am I missing context here that others have that make this website sufficient?
I have one of the units from the first run where 96GB of RAM was offered.
Personally speaking I was buying it primarily for the design aesthetic (an industrial design partner from Pentagram was involved), but I've come to enjoy the Workbench OS UI features and associated shortcuts; I use it as a secondary work machine for various data science applications.
I can attest to the general build quality which so far seems high to me.
How's the guts look? There's a lot of flash and pizzaz about aesthetics, but I work with files in the 400-800GB range on a regular basis, so I tend to prefer dumping gigantic SSDs into my work machines (I recently liquidated fortune 5 stock to get an 8tb disk[1]).
There's some words about "oh yeah you can upgrade this" but not many details. The only thing I've seen so far has been a single shot from the Pentagram splash where it looks like a fairly standard off-the-shelf mini PC that's been gutted and put on life support like a Raspberry Pi Cyberdeck.
> why does it come with attached storage unit for my calipers?
You could store the primary tools you use there as to declutter your desk. In my case though the storage box would end up probably covered with clutter over time.
I don't dislike it though, this is not for a person like me.
Not sure on the first. Apparently almost all alumninum is recycled, and reused, as its melting point is super low compared to most metals, so its not quite as wasteful as it seems at the first glance.
iPhones are iPads have a milled CNC “unibody” as well… Being able to dictate where to have more thickness helps a ton on the luxury feel. Most of the chips are recycled anyway into new billets.
Other thick boxes like this are not made from a single block, for that specific reason. That's a manufacturing method most suitable for something relatively thin, like a phone/tablet/laptop chassis. This thing is a hulking monster compared to those.
For a second, I thought that top part was like a tmux screen where I could run a multiplexer with agents and ... geez I'm tired, so much AI ugh. (Worst part is that I think I'd have fun with something like that)
So a toolbox attached with a keyboard that has opposite layout, some new shortcuts and an OS that can be reproduced easily. So what's the point? One can go for design and hardware but is this really something that stands it out in 2026? I was wondering what I would put in the toolbox, maybe earphones, mobile stand, stationary?
I found the UI really interesting. Nice to see a group really trying something new. This really feels a lot like the raw experimentation of computer types and styles in the 80s.
I think they are going for the super premium polished user experience, yet they waste space with adding foreign window decorators to apps that are supposed to integrate them (Chrome, Zed). And not sure why having a single smallish window and tons of empty space is good practice, when tiling wms have shown how to manage lots of windows and large screen estate efficiently..
It felt like they are targeting EE labs, because that's what they personally are using them for. It felt out of sync with the video of Workbench.. doing web development work. I don't know. I think it's a cool idea and maybe for $500 I'd buy one. For $2000? No thanks.
I'm an EE by training and tinker on the side, but I wouldn't want a huge conductive metal slab on my desk, plus that tool compartment has no pockets, and would get scratched by my tools.
After seeing the price and the build quality, there's no more excuses for developers to suggest that they can't afford a Mac or Windows computer after buying this.
Good look. What are the advantages over MAC or cloud VMs? If it is $500~$1000 it could be a good gift. And is the current size a little big? Could it be put into a bag?
I got an unsolicited LinkedIn connection request from a Sales Rep at Caligra (who wrote in the note) offering to 'send one over' to me essentially as a "trial" of this workstation. Says a lot that this is a serious part of their sales strategy.
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[ 0.13 ms ] story [ 16.9 ms ] threadAm I missing context here that others have that make this website sufficient?
This hardware runs an operating system that requires a subscription? https://caligra.com/workbench/#pricing
Does checking work email count? Or buying something from Amazon?
Site looks good but it might mean c100 have no substance, thus at least had to make the site and their gadget pretty.
The esthetic and form factor is the appeal
its a computer. it does computer things, and you can use it for whatever computer things you want.
You can put things in this box, which is an unusual accessory for a computer.
They also made an OS which will cost a lot of money per seat per year.
Then they took many clean smooth fingerprint-free photos and made a web site to try to sell it.
The web site makes the box look nice but does a poor job explaining the rest.
It sounds similar to System76, where they make pretty PC and OS (like Pop! OS) that goes with it
Oh yes, no matter how good a product is, if marketing sucks, it might not roll.
Personally speaking I was buying it primarily for the design aesthetic (an industrial design partner from Pentagram was involved), but I've come to enjoy the Workbench OS UI features and associated shortcuts; I use it as a secondary work machine for various data science applications.
I can attest to the general build quality which so far seems high to me.
Very rare these days.
There's some words about "oh yeah you can upgrade this" but not many details. The only thing I've seen so far has been a single shot from the Pentagram splash where it looks like a fairly standard off-the-shelf mini PC that's been gutted and put on life support like a Raspberry Pi Cyberdeck.
[1] https://sabrent.com/products/sb-rkt4p-8tb
I'm left handed and don't think that's a good idea
You could store the primary tools you use there as to declutter your desk. In my case though the storage box would end up probably covered with clutter over time.
I don't dislike it though, this is not for a person like me.
https://www.pentagram.com/work/caligra-c100-developer-termin...
What a waste of material and machining time!
https://customer-i8ks9tgi5lkllj0i.cloudflarestream.com/c60aa...