0. Consider it open source hardware, running linux, which it would be... 1. You kind of have that device in the mac mini, and the $100 server that looks like a cigarette box.
2. I had in mind the Toshiba T1000 of the late 80's - it had a 80x25 mono LCD screen. 3. You are right that one is called a consumption device and the other a production device. My issue is that, while I have little use for a passive consumption device, I have several distinct uses for a PRODUCTION device, and they have conflicting hardware specs. For writing documents, editing blogs, administering machines, I would be better off with a high resolution monochrome device - eInk screen, something like the OLPC XO computer has/had. It can be very energy efficient, if I want to use it on the road. Reading documents can probably fit here - most reading is fine without color. For programming and browsing and consuming media, I would like a very good quality color screen, with high resolution and back lighting. For acquiring and editing GPS data, the screen is not important, but low resolution color is probably best, since some maps require the use of 4 colors. The thing about separating the screen is that you can push the cost component really down, I think, and most people could use it with an existing or inexpensive screen then upgrade to a better one if they have the need and the money. Z. On Thu, Feb 25, 2010 at 1:16 AM, Nadav Har'El <n...@math.technion.ac.il>wrote: > On Wed, Feb 24, 2010, Steven Benmosh wrote about "Anyone interested in > hardware?": > > Prefer to discuss it here, as most comments on my blog are from purveyors > of > > viagra or illegal downloads/trjoans. > > This topic doesn't have much to do with Hamakor, or even with free > software, > but I'll bite... > > > Essentially, I am voicing the opinion that the tablet - including it's > hyped > > up iApple version - is going in the wrong direction. The computer of the > > future should be a keyboard/CPU/RAM/SSD with a minimal screen and a port > to > > connect to any output device that fits the case - e-ink, LCD, > > pico-projector, TV, etc. > > This is giving me a sense of Deja-Vu. In essence you are describing the... > Comodore 64! The Commodore 64 (and its contemporaries) where computers > which > basically looked like one fat keyboard that contained the processor, memory > and i/o ports (no drive, though - this was also external), and you plugged > it into the output device that was popular then - the TV. > > When you think about it, having a device which resembles a keyboard is > mostly useful for people who type a lot - e.g., programmers, authors, and > so on. Having a device which is mostly a screen is useful for people who > *view* a lot - which is, you have to admit, the majority of the population > - > people who watch movies, read books, browse web sites, play games, and so > on. > > Anyway, I think both approaches (a keyboard-less-display machine and a > display-less-keyboard machine) have merit, to the point I have to ask > myself, > why not get the best of both worlds: have a machine with no keyboard and > no display! Actually, not really "no" keyboard and display, but rather have > something like an improved iPod Touch - a tiny display and a tiny on-screen > "keyboard" which will be useful in some situations (e.g., watching movies > in bed or on a train) but allow *both* an external keyboard and an external > display to be connected, e.g., via bluetooth (or at worst, a wire). > > The iPod Touch doesn't actually allow either, but I've seen similar devices > that do. E.g., some Nokia cellphones have a really cool external keyboard > which connects using bluetooth, and many personal media players have a > video-out port (I have yet to see a chordless one, though). > > > -- > Nadav Har'El | Thursday, Feb 25 2010, 11 Adar > 5770 > n...@math.technion.ac.il > |----------------------------------------- > Phone +972-523-790466, ICQ 13349191 |"How could we possibly use sex to get > http://nadav.harel.org.il |what we want? Sex IS what we want!" > Fraser > -- Check out my web site - www.words2u.net
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