__/ [ Ian Hilliard ] on Saturday 25 February 2006 12:12 \__
> On Fri, 24 Feb 2006 09:12:38 +0000, Roy Schestowitz wrote:
>
>> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4292854.stm
>>
>> "Professor Negroponte predicts there could be 100 million to 150 million
>> shipped every year by 2007."
>>
>> Could this be realistic?
>
> If this things works at all well and has or can have WLAN, I can see a big
> use for these things in the west, where people working out in the field
> are currently always having problems with their notebooks failing or
> running out of power.
The cost of the laptop, as well as its durability, could bring laptops (or
more broadly -- computers) to as-yet inconceivable places. I wonder what
Microsoft's brand-new, yet-unannounced Origami is intending to do on that
matter...
> Running out of power is my biggest problem, because I do a lot of long
> flights. The company is too tight to send me business class, so I have no
> power supply. My two batteries are never enough to make it LON/SIN. Being
> able to recharge with a crank handle would be brilliant.
I gave up on my laptop and I now use the PDA in flights and airports (among
other places). Get a decent foldable keyboard and you are good to go within
10 seconds. Boarding requires you to put away electronics? No problem. Just
set the keyboard and PDA aside. A PDA can be pulled out of the pocket and be
ready to digest data within milliseconds.
> People out in the field are always dropping their laptops. If they are as
> tough as hoped, this will be a whole new world of computing.
I have seen some tough laptops that are intended to absorb merely any hit,
fall, and temperature. These were extremely expensive though and were
difficult to handle.
Best wishes,b
Roy
--
Roy S. Schestowitz | Data lacking semantics is currency in an island
http://Schestowitz.com | SuSE Linux | PGP-Key: 0x74572E8E
3:10pm up 8 days 3:29, 9 users, load average: 0.80, 0.78, 0.51
http://iuron.com - next generation of search paradigms
|
|