Let's get that one thing out of the way right out of the gate: The teenage engineering computer-1 is not meant to be a mass-market product. As such, it is not meant to cater to everyone's needs or wants in regards to hardware capabilities, ease of use or price. Instead, the teenage engineering computer-1 is a love letter to the emotions and functions a personal computer should provide.

That whole process doesn't take effect with the final product, but starts the minute you have the retail package in front of you. Everything from the gentle green hue of the flat box to the labels and the way everything is neatly packaged and sorted within already sets the stage. It makes you slow down and take notice of the small intricacies teenage engineering has provides alongside the entire experience. Beyond the outer packaging, those are things like the branded flat-band cable you are meant to separate yourself and branded bags and tiny tool to work with. All of it is part of this almost artistic experience.

Combine that with how the computer-1 is assembled by practically fusing hardware with the enclosure in a way that makes you perceive the final result not as a bundle of components, but a single device with a purpose. The exposed fan, or limited compatibility, would make no sense in a traditional case, but for the computer-1, it feels so normal that it would feel wrong to have something larger, or a simple air vent instead. teenage engineering communicates "no big deal. We have made a Mini-ITX PC chassis we call the computer–1," but that statement with "the" deliberately in front of "computer-1" is deliberate naming that feels so cohesive that one really does not end up looking at the final result as something that should ever be taken apart again; rather, it is a holistic product that provides form and function.