This is a term for “not really a laptop”. And I suggest that it is not really (a current concept of) a laptop that we desire. Consider mobile computing for a moment. It needs more than anything to be lightweight if one is walking about with it. To slide easily into everyday compact bags with other everyday “stuff” and remain light enough to carry about, all day.
It has threfore to be inherently robust with few moving/breaking parts. It needs a reasonably sized visual interface easily manipulated (like the iPhone touch sceen), and ubiquitous data capture i.e some form of keypad but not necessarily permanently attached to the screen, perhaps part of the (rubber) cover? Wifi and usual wired connectivity to go, together with add-on options for data storage - USB sticks, firewire hard drives. Oh, and a docking option for home or office base use with additional drive capacity and ability to run other more demanding applications.
I really want to take all my communications with me on the road, some of my applications, those that allow note capture, visual presentation and contact and task management, but leave all my heavy-lifting high-memory-overhead applications at my home base or office. And yet why would I want two machines with all that syncing and potential for data mismanagement? When I get back to my base I just want more oompphh less compromised ergonimics and a wider (read “giant”) monitor with instant backup for all that external effort.
1 comment:
Hey, that Macbook Air was pretty close. I think they must have made it for me. I can count on one hand the times I have used the optical drive on my macbook pro over more than a year. Shame about the dock though, what about a wireless sync to a desktop mother machine? OK so address book and safari can by synched via .Mac, but POP email synching is a little more tricky.
Post a Comment