A PC Rooted in the ’50s

Sometimes a design catches your eye. Some designs catch your eye, and a whole lot more.

Dave Schultze isn’t a retro kind of guy, and in fact his rendering of a 1950s-era Philco Predicta television into a Windows computer — all sparkling orange and chrome and black — might be too futuristic for some. To me, it’s the most stunning computer design since Apple introduced The Cube.

There is no physical model of the Philco PC, “and I designed it with no client, no deadline, no budget,” said Mr. Schultze, who runs the industrial-design firm SchultzeWorks, based in Pasadena, Calif. And while he said he’s received tons of response since a photo of the computer-generated image hit the Web, “there’s no calls yet from manufacturers, although I do have some leads.”

The computer “box” is actually two pieces, a cyclopsian screen and a rectangular deck. The keyboard smacks of an antique typewriter — one of the inspirations behind the design, Mr. Schultze says.