What about an ibutton reader? … this must go out of the machine border, but for some security functionality could be interesting (the same for other types of protected security key storage devices).
Don’t think its possible to run Intel Optane over Thunderbolt 3. You would need a lower level PCIe connection like the M.2 for the SSD.
Jam a GPU in there – maybe an RTX 3090? 
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Sure you can, Thunderbolt is is just PCIe. It would require an adapter or two but yes you absolutely can. There are many Thunderbolt drive enclosures, you could stick an Optane drive in one of those and it would work fine.
I think I saw a blog post about how the usb c port supports down to a 15 watt charger for emergencys, what about an expansion card that has clamps to put bare wires in that offers step down/step up power conversion and filtering to USB c so in an emergency you can get power from almost any Dc power source.
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That doesn’t sound like a good idea. Those said DC power might be extremely dirty (e.g. portable two-stroke gas generator) and will basically destroy these delicate electronics without proper filtering (which take up space).
It already has an “emergency charging mode” that takes practically any “smart” power supply, which is way more than even I had asked for.
What I had thought of in the past is some kind of “power pins” on the motherboard that allow for “advanced users” to connect something like an industrial 12V supply to it, since the board is supposed to be able to run standalone.
E2000 Fiber NIC. An RJ-45 NIC would obviously not fit in the profile, but E2000 connectors are small and has the flap to prevent scratches in an FttD implementation.
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A Thunderbolt PCIe NVMe enclosure is almost as expensive as an eGPU enclosure (because it has the Thunderbolt controller). A USB to PCIe bridge exist (and is relatively inexpensive) and powers the vast majority of the NVMe enclosures.
A Optane is tailored for low latency, so using either bridge is quite silly unless you just want to use it as a glorified USB stick (as I am).
People are thinking about a RJ45 Drop-Jaw design. Although it’s still an hefty footprint.
One possibility is to have the card protrude from the housing and enlarge the shroud so to fit a RJ45 port.
Because anyone with even half a step into “tech world” will want one.
Ha. Now that I have Simens NX, I could draw a 3D model to impress you all (and convey my ideas). Let’s do that.
Oh, but I need to connect to activation server and stuff … I’ll do that later.
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Old school stereo LED audio output audioform, like cava but on the side of a expansion card for no reason. 
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A vibration motor to give the laptop the ability to vibrate when typing, clicking, receiving a notification …
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A little thermite charge to melt the laptop if stolen (so it is sure nothing can be retrieved from the laptop)
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Those sound like two cards that should never be in the same machine…! 
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Maybe just some DIP switches: https://mobile.twitter.com/bikerglen/status/1482516332432162820
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I could take that design and whack it in a expansion card, no problems.
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I’d like to see an internal USB hub that supports Ethernet, several USB-A’s, and a microSD card reader, which would leave only 3 expansion card slots.
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How about a mini car alarm? Or perhaps pepper spray that shoots out of the selfie cam area? I’d love to see your face when these malfunction when you’re sitting in the coffee shop. That would be a viral video opportunity.
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Completely agree on the logic analyzer. Would be super cool. On the Raspberry Pi… why not just toss a Raspberry Pi in there? Communicate with it over Ethernet (via USB-C, of course), and put a dense connector on the outside edge for the pinout…
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Framework actually have a mock up of a “microcontroller expansion card” with some important pins broke out (maybe some analog, SPI, I2C/TWI, Serial)
But to be completely fair, there is no way you can fit an Analog Discovery 2 inside something that small.
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Fair enough, but the Analog Discovery 2 is (quoting the linked website) an “Oscilloscope, Waveform Generator, Logic Analyzer, Protocol Analyzer, Spectrum Analyzer, Power Supplies”. Something like a Bus Pirate is totally doable, if you go with SMT components.
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Ah, like a CSR USB programming tool.
But that’s not a logical analyzer?
That would be the Digital Discovery
And, to be fair, there is not a lot of reason to include the observing circuitry inside the expansion card and requiring users to attach something to a high density connector, rather than just make a box and attach it via USB, since they are going to be attached via USB anyway.
If you do want a USB programming tool, my argument would be that there are 100 different microchip manufacturers each with their own proprietary programming protocol/interface. Atmel Studio, for example. CSR flash. ARM developer studio. Ti’s Code Composer Studio.
It will be very helpful if we have a generic … something, like a USB to RS232/COM or USB to LPT for monitoring actual digital signals.
Don’t think there’s enough space for it, but retractable cables are cool!
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