14 DAY TRIAL // Back in January, Lian Li revealed a desktop case prototype that doubled as an actual desk, and now the company has offered an update about it, although it's not really what anyone might have been hoping for.
After all, the company didn't reveal the price of the product, or even the ETA (estimated time of arrival). Not even in vague terms.
No, what Lian Li did was say that the DK01 desk-shaped enclosure would be put on display at the upcoming electronics trade show, CeBIT.
CeBIT will take place in Hannover, Germany from March 10 to 14, 2014. That's about three weeks from now.
Lian Li could have already released the thing by now, but it wanted, instead, to ask the community and all potential buyers what they wanted from or expected to see in a creation like this.
After all, the DK01 is, as we said, a desk. An actual desk, a tabletop, which they will use instead of an actual piece of furniture.
A fairly ambitious and unusual project, all told, so Lian Li didn't feel comfortable just releasing it and hoping for the best.
Besides, the feedback campaign served to actually let the world know about the existence, or impending existence, of the invention.
Lian Li has received feedback through social media and tech media, like it did for various other products like the PC-A51 mid-tower chassis.
The DK01 is made of aluminum, with the exception of the tabletop that is made of transparent glass, through which you can look at the hardware inside.
The PC-B16, PC-A61 and PC-A51 mid-towers will be at the show as well, there for visitors to say what works and what doesn't.
Lian Li intends to fully update them all after the show if the suggestions and surveys of opinions settle on any common ground.
All in all, Lian Li is doing what it's been doing ever since its inception. The company was always going to deal in standard cases in addition to the weird, but it began with the weird in order to make an impression.
The very first case it ever revealed was shaped like a spider and was colored bright red. After that came other odd things, like a case shaped like a locomotive.
The DK01 desk case is a bit more potentially useful than those, and will have space for all the best hardware, but it's just as big a marketing risk since Lian Li isn't just making a publicity stunt here.