Our obsession with Steampunk will not run out of fuel anytime soon. So this time around, we decided to compile a home oriented Steampunk list that includes daily used items with a dash of technology. In this regard, what can be more convenient than a charging and audio enhancing apparatus of your smartphone? We are of course talking about the glorious iPhones and their ever evolving docking systems. So, without further delay, let us go through this brief list of classy iPhone docking systems with their intrinsic Steampunk essence.
1) Woodguy32’s Oak iPhone dock
Antiquity meets contemporary technology – this in a nutshell defines the ‘uncluttered’ iPhone dock created by Steampunk specialist Woodguy32. Handcrafted and custom finished from oak hardwood, the vacuum tubes and the brass handles are highly reminiscent of the very first radio sets. As for its features, the dock has USB connectivity and a separate TV/video ‘plug and play’ version.
2) Gramophone iPhone dock
Flared brass horn, early 20th century Gramophone and an antediluvian box mount for your phone – what can be more ‘Victorian’ than this? Now, the Steampunk essence comes from the iPhone itself. The smartphone poses as that device of advanced technology that is housed along all the antique paraphernalia of horn and maple veneered gramophone.
3) Steampunk iRetrofone
A magnificent piece of Steampunk art by designer Scott Freeland – that is all we can say about the iRetrofone, a USB connected iPhone dock made of heavy-duty, half-inch thick urethane resin. The visual/symbolic sense is quite witty in its scope with an old telephone cradling a modern iPhone. Moreover, the opaquely black body of the docking station goes well with the gorgeously engraved brass wheels and borders.
4) The ‘Bells and Whistles’ Steampunk iPhone dock
Supposedly a DIY construction, the above pictured docking system incorporates authentic mechanical components like valves, pipes, gauges, whistles tanks and even governors. However, what we like the most about the conception is its unadorned, almost ‘austere’ nature which alludes to the gritty machinery and mechanisms of our previous centuries.
5) Solid Wood Steampunk iPhone Dock
Finally, a Steampunk iPhone dock for the purists! Crafted from solid maple, the dock doesn’t used any kind of artificial means like USB and electric speakers to amplify your smartphone’s sound. Then how does it work? Well. according to the designer (Macabre151 from Deviant Art), the key was the shape of the box, which allows amplification via its natural spatial arrangement.
6) Steampunk iPhone dock made from recycled wood
A contraption that reminds us of the swinging sixties, this iPhone/iPod dock has been crafted from wood salvaged from a section of a very old beam, fused along with recycled copper fittings and a vintage Edison bulb. As for its ‘modern’ features, the dock integrates a generic USB wall charger that allows you to charge your device in any 110 volt wall socket (thus totally eschewing your computers).
