On Sun, Oct 5, 2008 at 9:17 AM, Mark Stanton <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Now it's terribly convenient for the big corporations to take the > real computing power back behind closed doors, as far as I can tell > largely for the benefit of their own income streams. Of course we > trust them to be nice, don't we boys and girls... >
Wow! What brought that on? I was raised to Question Authority, too. These machines, while physically small, contain far more computing power than you could afford just a few years ago. With HDDs nearing 100 GIGABYTES, (or the cooler solid-state drive), and memory just limited to a half- or a quarter gigabyte, these are not the X-Windows terminals of days past. These are the logical extensions of the 40 pound Kaypro portable or the Compaq luggable, but in a smaller form factor. The limitation, the trick, if you will, to getting this killer form of sub-ten-inches and just a pound or two, is smaller screen resolution. This may or may not be a good tradeoff, and it will be interesting to see if they catch on, like web browsers on phones or tablet form factors. They're not for me. I'll lug around a bigger laptop with gigs of RAM and tens of gigs of hdd space, and the processing power to run my business. But for a lot of other people: writers, students, salespeople, mobile workers, these _could_ be the next killer form factor. But these are not the return to the mainframe era. The web has already tilted the balance of power back from independent to interdependent models. Standalone machines are a PITA to synch with a master database. Client-server required too expensive a connection. The stateless model of http fits a lot better with the occasional connection of mobile workers. But we're not done yet. The exciting thing about the computer industry is that it has never stopped evolving (slowed down a bit, sometimes, but...). This may or may not be the Next Big Thing. Stay tuned... -- Ted Roche Ted Roche & Associates, LLC http://www.tedroche.com _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: [email protected] Subscription Maintenance: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox OT-free version of this list: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech Searchable Archive: http://leafe.com/archives/search/profox This message: http://leafe.com/archives/byMID/profox/[EMAIL PROTECTED] ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious.
