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Linux Based Webpad
nordicfrost pointed us to a Web site that has announced a Linux based Webpad. It's got
lots of nifty features (although I really want an 802.11 wireless ethernet as an option) including changable color plates, cable TV Viewer and other stuff. I still want to see one of these things that isn't vapor.
Surely for a webpad, which you can't update or change, you'd want to use Internet Explorer instead? Since it's currently the best and most standards-complient web browser around at the moment it'd make a lot more sense to use that...
Well, my friends and I at college were talking about building one of these things around 5 months ago. We never executed on it. Now, you've got this thing, Diamond's making one, and Transmeta is showcasing them..
Oh well. I was also talking about this with a friend of mine at work. He was worried that these things would go the way of the minicomputer. Laptops would become cheaper and more powerful, while PDAs would get a little bit larger and more powerful (probably cost a bit more too), and the product would be squeezed out of the market. While these devices probably have selling potential now, they most likely won't in 2 years' time. It's not something to create a successful startup around (at least that's not my opinion anymore).
There's a company that already has one of these things called ePods. Theirs is $200 plus a 36 month dialup Internet plan. They don't seem to be doing *too* well... But hey, we'll see..
You should never take life too seriously - You'll never get out of it alive.
You'll get haemorrhoids doing that.
Consciousness is not what it thinks it is
Thought exists only as an abstraction
Rob, according to the "Wireless" section on their site the DECT DMAP protocol supports connection to Ethernet LAN so it seems to me that you should be able to surf via your home gateway/firewall. No idea about the bandwidth though. What does DECT support?
Consciousness is not what it thinks it is
Thought exists only as an abstraction
Actually, not just web browsing, but writing, coding, etc. from the Throne is great. I mean, shit (pardon the pun), where else can you get such inspirational moments?
And for those of us who like to modify our own computing hardware, regardless of someone elses intended use, it certainly matters a great deal.
If it's linux based, I can hack the crap out of it.
Palm's original customer base may have been nerds, but no longer. It's gone mainstream in a big way - to the point that you're uncool if you don't have one. Besides that, webpads and PDAs compete in somewhat different spaces. It's not an either/or situation. I see webpads as somewhere between a laptop and a PDA. I know I carry my Visor around with me everywhere, but I don't think I'd want to have a webpad with me at all times. Having said that, web browsing from 'The Throne' is the BOMB! :)
Admit nothing, deny everything and make counter-accusations.
Surely this spells trouble for Palm. Not just from the increased competition, but the Nerd factor is definitely in favor of Linux now.
Part of the Palm's success was its appeal to nerds; and when one nerd brought his to a LUG, suddenly everyone else had to have one too.
I doubt that this means trouble for Palm, the web page doesn't look nearly as portable as a Palm.
I have a Palm III, 486 subnotebook, and a Pentium laptop from work. Unless I have a very specific need for a laptop, I bring my Palm. I like having something I can hang off my belt and forget about, if I wanted to schlep a pad sized thing around all day, I'd become a Sherpa.
Different market niches, different uses, different levels of convenience.
George
Open Blender, crate a plane... e-key, e-key, e-key
Create textures (including screenshot of C|Net), lighting (spot), marble surface
Open emacs, type HTML tags, upload site
Submit story to slashdot.
-pos
The truth is more important than the facts.
The truth is more important than the facts.
-Frank Lloyd Wright
...it's designed to run Win98, but I don't see any reason why it can't run Linux...
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http://www.casio.com/mobileinformation/index.cfm?
Some Specs:
200MHz Geode CPU
800 x 600 dots high resolution in a 6.7" diagonal display
6 gig hard drive
PCMCIA and USB built in
1.88lbs in a small 8.2" x 5.1" x 1.3" package
Amusingly, I have an old-school GRiDPad 1910. It's an XT-class system with a 640x400 monochrome CGA (How you call something that barely resembles CGA CGA, I don't know) display and a tethered pen. I installed GEOS and Graffiti (From the Tandy/Casio Z-PDA 7000 Zoomer) on it, and it's pretty functional. Now I just need to get my hands on another Zoomer (mine died) and transfer the 4mb of apps like the translator to my GRiD.
Those who are wishing to duplicate this experiment can see my notes on the subject here.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Just out of curiosity, how is using Opera a positive point? Note, this is not a troll: I've used Opera, IE, and Netscape, not in that order. My favorite browser is IE, which is of course not available on linux or any other open source unix, though I'm hoping it will be someday. Of course, Mozilla is getting much better...
I'm kind of hoping they have some method for running mozilla on this thing, because as it gets more stable it will become my second choice behind Aieeeee, and my first choice on non-M$ platforms. Right now, however, my first choice on non-M$ platforms is netscape (Even though it's crashy as can be) and I really admire IE's speed (even though its network performance trails badly behind mozilla in my experience.)
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
It doesn't much matter how much CPU usage there is if the CPU doesn't have speedstep or transmeta's power-saving features, and the CPU is run at some fairly high clock rate, requiring more power.
If you don't have speed-adaptive power consumption, then in order to get quick response time, you need the CPU running at a higher speed, and thus a higher power consumption, all the time.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Ok I found some info... this does look cool... GRiD Pad, Medical uses, and an interview with some folks who worked on GRiD Pad.
"If voting could really change things, it would be illegal. " - Revolution Books, NY
YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES
It shouldn't cost a fortune to make a remote display. Kill the local disk (along with overkill power hungry processors) and battery life skyrockets.
This is the 'KILLER-APP' that Linux needs to rule the SOHO market. The OS is already multi-user, but that is only a minor advantage to most people in a home with only one computer. (I find it a major advantage, in that I can give my 6yr old his own account and not worry about him deleting system.dll or config.sys)
A cheap remote display will make the multi-user features of Linux a must-have. Now you only have to buy and maintain one PC in the house. That PC can be hidden in a closet. And for only a small price, everyone can access and use the computer at the same time.
Just run NIS/NFS on the server and the remote display should be trivial. But I don't seeing it happening anytime soon. The rest of the world is locked on MS mindset (1 user==1 computer). The advantage of having 5 people logged on with remote pads will take some advertising, a paradigm shift, if you will.
Aah, change is good. -- Rafiki
Yeah, but it ain't easy. -- Simba
If it's linux based, I can hack the crap out of it.
That's completely wrong. Linux is a kernel. The Palm could be running Linux, for all most people know (it isn't, but bear with me). All we see is the supplied interface.
When many Slashdotters hear "Linux," they immediately think about distributions and command line access and hacking up configuration files. In the case of a webpad, game console, or other similar application, Linux exists simply to provide services for the software sitting on top of it. A webpad running Linux is not some sort of portable hacker toy with Perl and gcc right there in front of you, unless the designers specifically decide to create that kind of access.
Who really cares what's under the hood? "Operating System" is an irrelevant concept for web pads, PDAs, etc. When you're administering systems, doing software development, etc., then you care. But you just don't care otherwise.
Stability? It's not like a Palm crashes all the time...
At PC Expo this past June, Transmeta had web pads running Linux. And they used 802.11 for wireless networking. No cords. They expected something like 8 to 10 hours of running time (with a color LCD screen, no less).
However, the case had a industrial prototype feel to it - no logo or insignia of any sort visible anywhere. I asked the Transmeta booth-babe (who talked quite knowledgably about the pad and what was in it - she sounded like a real geek employee, not your typical "Hi I want to be an actress!" show floor model) about it, and she explained that the product hadn't been announced yet, but that the expectation was that pricing would be very low, because it would come with a ISP or service contract of some sort.
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Klactovedestene!
One positive point- they plan to use the Opera browser engine.
I do not deploy Linux. Ever.
I think Palm has nothing to worry about. Why? The Palm VII fits in your hand. As does the RIM Blackberry. THIS monstrosity is freaking HUGE! It's not a webpad - it's more like a beach blanket!
Once you get into a device that size, why bother to make it wireless? Just so you have have the pleasure of lugging it around in its own suitcase so you can browse for gaspacho recipes from the park? I don't think so. I'd be more inclined to just leave it at home, in which case a short-range wireless connection to my home Internet port would be much better. A lot cheaper, too, I'm betting - I didn't find any mention of a service price on the site.
Mr. Ska
original post at
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http://slashdot.org/articles/99/11/10/1235226.s
Go and get a gridpad pen based computer, Install Linux on it. Tweak and Fix the mouse driver to support the touch screen (if it isnt already) and Voila! you have a pen based Linux pad! (Wireless? add a wireless modem into the pcmcia slot)
This is simple, I have a linux pad made from a Gridpad (386, B&W screen 640/480) that I paid $100.00 for at the Dayton hamfest.. I just wish that gridpads that are pentuim class are easier to get ahold of (Or that the Dauphin Orasis didnt cost $4000.00)
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.