Many of you will have heard of Axiotron — a company that for $1,299 will take your lovely MacBook, pull it apart, and use most of it’s parts to build you a Mac tablet. Axiotron calls this the “Modbook.” They are the only company that does this, and therefore the only company to offer a tablet Mac. Apple themselves are still yet to release a product that meets this need, although rumor has it they will announce one at the MacWorld Expo in January.

Axiotron have recently welcomed Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak to its board of advisors, making him the eighth member of the board which already consists of the CEOs of Other World Computing and Gravis AG, and the Vice President of Business Development at Cicor Technologies.

A press announcement on Axiotrom’s website starts:

Modbook® manufacturer Axiotron® today announced that Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple® Computer and designer of the pioneering Apple I and Apple II personal computers, has joined Axiotron’s Board of Advisors.

Read the rest of the announcement here.

Back in May Ars Technica reviewed a Modbook and found that it seemed to meet a very specific need — the need of graphics artists to have a device on which they can draw directly, and that runs the Mac OS. For any other need, the Modbook proves a difficult solution. Ars Technica said that the lack of keyboard and inability to swivel the screen like most tablet computers makes the Modbook a disappointment to those wishing to use it on a daily basis for a range of different tasks.

In 2007 Axitron’s Modbook won the MacWorld Best of Show award, and the relatively new company have certainly made a success out of their modding talents. However how much of a hit would the company take if Apple were indeed to unviel a tablet computer early next year? Surely purchasing directly from Apple and the bonus of at least a 12-month warranty rules out any question of purchasing a Mac tablet elsewhere, especially considering the total cost of a MacBook, plus Axiotrom’s modding service proves very expensive — it’s not even as though buying from a third-party would provide a cheaper alternative. I’m sure Axiotron will be a nervous bunch come January’s MacWorld Expo.

It is believed Wozniak’s contribution to Axiotron will be his industry contacts, and his “insight into market trends and Axiotron’s product initiatives,” not to mention the publicity they will receive for simply taking Woz on-board. Ars Technica contacted Woz for comment and claim he replied; “the founder approached me and told me about it. I admired his passion and entrepreneurship.”

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