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Webpads, Anyone?
crons writes: "Just found this on the LinuxDevices.com website. FIC is releasing a webpad called the AquaPAD that runs Midori Linux and has a Tranmeta 500MHZ Crusoe cpu. Here's the story from LinuxDevices.com, and here are a few specs. An 802.11b wireless LAN card is supported in the PCMCIA slot, as are modules for GSM, GPRS, and Bluetooth." For around $600, this looks like it might make a great living room terminal.
This looks sweet, and it's cheaper than one of those LCD touch screen remote controls I was thinking of getting... Does it have an IR port that can be reprogrammed to work like a universal remote control for my entertainment system???
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Programming is like sex... Make one mistake and support it the rest of your life.
For giving users a choice of OS. That way, it can appear to the 'ease-of-use' folks and to the people who want to put Linux on thier TI-83.
Could this be a replacement for PDAs? Just pull one of these babies out of your portfolio. They seem a bit bulky for that, but with a platform like this, wireless web might gain popularity.
If municipal wireless (or unsecured corporate wireless) networks gain ground, then these could really take off, especially with the wide flexibility it offers.
Rambling furthur, if you stick one of those quarter-sized IBM harddrives in this thing, and it puts my computer to shame. Maybe all laptops will head this way, using Crusoe to lengthen battery life.
Just a thought.
yes, i own one of the hitachi's and it is great. it ran a little more than 600 bucks though, and the configuration wasnt as easy as I had hoped.. maybe this one will be better?
I didn't think it was physically possible, but this both sucks and blows - Bart Simpson
With the wireless connections, these will fit in great for our logistics personnel who wander around the warehouse taking inventory. Being able to utilize a decent sized, common web interface will be great as we already have that infrastructure in place...unfortunately it is only accessed at fixed terminals currently.
There have been other solutions, but they were either too bulky, poor battery management, but mostly only interfacable through proprietory inventory management software.
- AC
I hate to be negative here, especially because this looks so cool and is running Linux on a Transmeta cpu, but how useful could this ever really be to the average geek?
I understand that this might be great for those unable to get around or confined to bed, as it would be small and unobtrusive and allow easy access to the net, but at a pricetag of $600, could this ever be justified for someone perfectly capable of getting up and walking 15 feet to their machine?
For around $600, this looks like it might make a great living room terminal.
A great living room terminal? Do you really feel the need for a living room terminal? I spend about 10 hours a day in front of my machine, seriously, and that'd be more if I was working instead of attending class. When factoring in sleep (which is becoming less and less) and eating and simple things like transportation, I have very little time for anything else, and I very rarely find myself sitting around *itching* for the Internet, because normally I'm right there in front of it. I can't really imagine myself sitting in a recliner and thinking, "damn I wish I could get on the Internet but that'd mean I'd have to walk all the way over there, and use a keyboard, nahh I'll just sit here."
Also, configuration/ease of use becomes an issue, because I like to be webbrowsing in a comfortable and familiar environment, where I have my bookmarks at hand, I have my mp3s playing, I have Kinkatta up so people can IM me, I've got about 25 windows open, maybe even KVirc on #debian; in other words, if I'm only 15 feet from my computer, I'd rather just get up and go full Internet mode than sit around, dealing with a small screen and uncomfortable interface. Yes I read the specs and saw that it offers a "full" range of Internet tools, but you ever try to communicate on IRC with handwriting recognition?
Basically, I can't see buying one of these as anything but self-indulgence, unless of course you have an understandable need such as a disability preventing you from using a regular computer/terminal set up. If I had a spare $600 to burn on geekstuff that I'd never fully use, I'd think about building a cluster or an mp3 jukebox/mapping+gps system for my car, at least I'll have the parts left over in a couple months after I realize how little I used it.
Sorry to be so cynical, but after dropping $500 on a PDA that I only used to play Doom and for playing mp3s and it didn't help me get organized one bit, I've started to rethink my approach to gadgets.
Just my $0.02,
Mike
Touch screens still don't cut it for me. My stubby callused fingers are about as precise as a horse's hoof for a pointing device.
Also, the 'soft' keyboards that can be displayed on these touch screens are frustratingly inaccurate due to a lack of tactile feedback (no click-clack).
Combine a Web pad with a chording keyboard-mouse combination and we would have something great. 'Til then I'll stick with my Palm.
I have no pants and I must scream
For me, I really want this space to converge.
1)I want (BADLY) for something that is more powerful than a PDA - thus why the wince pocket pc's appeal to me - they have enough power to do more than just keep appointments and sync email. The form factor makes it tough to do anything but basic app - but even something like MP3's are tough to do with under 64M of storage. If this thing uses standard SDRAM, then w00t! 512M today is an easy thing to see happening. That does not even include the micro HDD advances... I want something less than a super mobile PC, more than a PDA.
2) I want something smaller than my thinkpad. I end up lugging this think in and out of meetings all day long. Toss it in my carry-on, and I don't have a lot of space left.
3) I want something I can code to - if that's IBM's j9, Microsoft's wince c++ package, whatever, I want to build some custom apps. If its a closed systsem - thanks, but no thanks. Give me a compiler and a resonable chance of building something, and hey, I'm in....
4) The only reason I don't have a pocket pc right now is the bloody price. If palm could run a JVM and had enough space to store a few hours of MP3's I'd shell out the $400 for one of the sony jobs. Its close... The wince kits have almost enough power and RAM, but come on... $600 is way to much when I compair it to some of the laptops out there. Get the price down to $300, and things get interesting.
In short, I'd like to see my laptop and PDA killed off. Way to many "wants" in this post....
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