Slashdot Mirror
Concept PC 2001
Rami Kassab writes: "Check out this sweet PC developed by HP. It runs on the Intel P4 and features a wireless keyboard, mouse, even a wireless 18" flat screen LCD monitor. The wireless mouse and keyboard run over RF. All of the components are connected to eachother via Bluetooth technology. Included with this PC is USB 2.0 and an ATI 7500 AGP card." The screen looks a little strange, but I always love seeing interesting new designs for these boxes since I spend so much time in front of one.
There!
Krama: Bigdickinyoura
huh-huh.
that was cool.
Puh! +im3 2 g0!
Now I know hp is done.
I am a republican not by choice, but rather by lack there of.
damn...almost...
Maybe its just me, but I didn't see anything about a wireless monitor..."DVI Interface LCD monitor" "and an 18" flat screen LCD monitor to top things off".
No cables to play with and/or chew to bits. If I can't offer my computer to them as a sacrifice they'll make a beeline to the A/V gear cables.
Does it have a flash disk thingee? Those things rock!
My IBM PC jr had a wireless keyboard that came standard. For you folks who don't remember the PCjr was popular in the mid 80's
frist post
There is finally some bluetooth devices coming out. I have been using a traditional wireless keyboard and mouse (IR) for a while and get quite a few missed keystrokes and mouse jerks. Bluetooth from what I understand is supposed to eliminate this. For those of you who dont know what bluetooth is go here.
--
FearLinux.com
The article says nothing about this being a wireless monitor. That would be quite a task though, bet that doesn't run across 802.11b or Bluetooth.
First post bitches.
http://www.goatse.cx
I love hot grits down my goatse with Nathalie Portman licking it up while Angelina Jolie eats her out.
It won't be really wireless until the power supply is also wireless ;-)
Maybe someone can beam the power into the machine with lasers or something, but I wouldn't want to have to reboot every time a cat runs under the desk!
NO TOUCH MONKEY!
Imagine a beowulf cluster of these.
There, I said it and I'm proud, PROUD, do you HEAR??
Damn you all to HELL!
I've seen systems before where the cd drive is built into the monitor (like this one). I'm curious what happens if the CD drive goes bad on you. Obviously, it would be a bit too expensive replacing the entire display, but the drive itself looks like it would have to be very slim to fit in there. Has anyone had experience with something like this, and if so, how hard is it to find a replacement drive? Just curious. :)
Other than that, this thing looks nifty. It would make a great in-car computer if it doesn't draw too much power.
You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life. --Winston Churchill
Last time I tried wireless a keyboard and mouse was about a year ago. It sucked. The keyboard dropped characters often enough to bug me, and the mouse had a tendency to "stick" as it lost its connection for brief periods. Has the technology gotten any better? It doesn't seem like that hard a problem to solve reasonably.
Now if only it had a sweet web server and some sweet bandwidth....
-----
How many more times could they have mentioned "Intel's Pentium 4" in that article? Funniest part, was when I came back to write this response there was a p4 ad running on slashdot (ugh).
"In case of emergency, break glass. Scream. Bleed to death."
The PCjr was a joke, as was Bill Sydnes who commissioned it while at IBM. Another example of his handiwork is the death of Commodore (specifically the Amiga).
Ok, if they article has "Posted by CmdrTaco" at the top then only read the parts that are in italics.
The parts that are not in italics are either wrong, advertising or some text designed to piss you off and start many fame wars....
Mod me OT or troll or whatever, but it's true...
M0571y H@rml355.
Wow! That's cool. How about calling it television?
How long before someone hacks this sweeeet machine? Maybe it could run Linux!! Maybe MAME too and then someone can sort out a beowulf cluster of these. And is *BSD dying? What about Natalie Portman and what is her involvement in Taco snotting? I also heard Steven King kicked the bucket and all his base belong to us because Microsoft are evil and the government are persecuting us and removing our civil liberties like in "1984"...
Best to get it all out of the way now, hmmm?
"I said it's time for action - Boom Boom Boom Selek'shun!" - Genius Cru. Coming at you from London, England.
18" TFT... Got it...
Wireless Keyboard and mouse.. Got it...
Silent machine.. got it...
I don't see where the _concept_ part comes in???
This is a good glimpse into the future of new technologies, with higher transfer rates and eliminated bottlenecks. But conspicuous in it's abscence is Intel's new bus architecture, 3GIO, where is it? Is it such vaporware that there are not even prototypes to use? Or does this mean that HP is endorsing Bluetooth as its connection interface of the future? I would like discussion on Hypertransport vs. Bluetooth vs. 3GIO. And which one, if any, will be the new standard.
Insert Sig Here.
I hate sigs.
I have a couple problems with the devices being hooked up via RF.
1. There is the Cancer aspect. It's obvious that no one understands the issues that may arise from having a radio transmitter around you all the time (Cel phones) let alone multiple ones around you all the time at your computer.
2. Interferance. The FCC regulations for RF devices at these frequencies state that you have to accept whatever outside interference there is. Getting bad input on an RF mouse, display or keyboard would blow.
Those things said, my mother had an RF remote for her C-band sat dish, and it was really neat.
wow, 15 comments and its already slashdotted... now this comment isn't meant to be a troll, but... what is Slashdot doing right and other sites are doing wrong? I mean... in order for a site to be slashdotted, those browsers are being directed from slashdot, so AT LEAST that many people are browsing slashdot at any given time, yet the front page loads lightning quick, even over dial-up, and there's very little downtime, i think the rest of the web can learn something here (don't use IIS maybe)?
anyway, not a troll, just genuinely curious
May you be touched by His Noodly Appendage. RAmen.
Been five minutes waiting for that site to load. Time that someone used a proper CSM rather than those PHPNuke pieces o' ####.
Still to this day, upgrading a hard drive or a graphics card is an unnecesarily obfuscated process, requiring the PC guts to be cracked open and laid out on the kitchen table.
Of course easily upgradeable components would cut into PC sales, so its probably hopeless.
With only ten posts with a score of 1 or above, the site is already down. Can anyone post the text of the article? Thanks.
...they could make the toilet wireless..
My sources tell me that these PCs are really cheap for foreign HP customers in the information technology sector. However, buyers should not wonder when black vans permanently circle their premises. As additional benefit, you don't have to file any patents in the U.S. any more, others are doing this for you.
www.designtechnica.com has got to be the worst "design" website I've ever seen. How could they possibly think dark blue, almost black, links with no underlines, could possibly be "good" design. It's so poor it's not even funny.
If this product had been Open Sourced, it would've been made of unfinished plywood ("If you don't like the case, you can sand it yourself!"), had an unlevel base that made it constantly wobble like a drunken Irishman and probably caught fire (but only because the varnish company won't release its formula so a suitable flame retartand could've been designed.)
However, since this isn't an Open Source product its a work of art.
C - A language that combines the speed of assembly with the ease of use of assembly.
The PC is pretty cool, but the monitor is kind of strange.
1. The dials on the right look like something off of a 1960's era tv set
2. No cables are going to the monitor
3. The article does not say anything about the monitor being wireless. That would have to be a lot of bandwidth
Brad Pitt Confirms: *BSD is dying
Yet another crippling bombshell hit the beleaguered *BSD community when last month IDC confirmed that *BSD accounts for less than a fraction of 1 percent of all servers. Coming on the heels of the latest Netcraft survey which plainly states that *BSD has lost more market share, this news serves to reinforce what we've known all along. *BSD is collapsing in complete disarray, as further exemplified by failing dead last [sysadminmag.com] in the recent Sys Admin comprehensive networking test.
You don't need to be a Kreskin [amdest.com] to predict *BSD's future. The hand writing is on the wall: *BSD faces a bleak future. In fact there won't be any future at all for *BSD because *BSD is dying. Things are looking very bad for *BSD. As many of us are already aware, *BSD continues to lose market share. Red ink flows like a river of blood. FreeBSD is the most endangered of them all, having lost 93% of its core developers.
Let's keep to the facts and look at the numbers.
OpenBSD leader Theo states that there are 7000 users of OpenBSD. How many users of NetBSD are there? Let's see. The number of OpenBSD versus NetBSD posts on Usenet is roughly in ratio of 5 to 1. Therefore there are about 7000/5 = 1400 NetBSD users. BSD/OS posts on Usenet are about half of the volume of NetBSD posts. Therefore there are about 700 users of BSD/OS. A recent article put FreeBSD at about 80 percent of the *BSD market. Therefore there are (7000+1400+700)*4 = 36400 FreeBSD users. This is consistent with the number of FreeBSD Usenet posts.
Due to the troubles of Walnut Creek, abysmal sales and so on, FreeBSD went out of business and was taken over by BSDI who sell another troubled OS. Now BSDI is also dead, its corpse turned over to yet another charnel house.
All major surveys show that *BSD has steadily declined in market share. *BSD is very sick and its long term survival prospects are very dim. If *BSD is to survive at all it will be among OS hobbyist dabblers. *BSD continues to decay. Nothing short of a miracle could save it at this point in time. For all practical purposes, *BSD is dead.
FACT: *BSD is dying
Thanks!
--B. Pitt
Hmmm...a wireless monitor?
At 24bpp and a 1600x1200 display, that's 3 bytes x about 2E6 pixels per frame, times (very nominally) 60 frames per second, or ~360MBytes per second.
If they could do that cheaply, they wouldn't be using it just for sending digital video to monitors.
DVI is Digital Video Interface. It's neat (no more ghosting and shadowing), but not wireless.
What technology allows to transfer video signal in real time?
According to the users of this device, wireless peripherals constitute an "illegal circumvention device" under the DMCA and will be filing a lawsuit against HP shortly. In the meantime they urge that all computer users stick with wired peripherals.
;)
Error:
It comes with up to 300' of cable so you can put the base anywhere. This is slashdot, so accuracy in reporting is not a concern.
A wireless flatscreen would SUCK. Analog = interference. Digital = too much bandwidth for wireless. 'nuff said.
Armand28
"-LINUX was a good OS, before it became a religion."
Wireless everything... because RF is so secure.
Sure, it uses Bluetooth, but you still have to run power cables to each one of these things, a VGA cable to the monitor and worry about replacing batteries in the keyboard.
As anybody noticed the image on the screen is always the same in all the pictures? And no power cables shown...
Looks more like a model to me than a real working PC...
coffee | nose > keyboard ©
This Post Is Powered By the Intel Pentium 4! Get yours today! If you don't, you are l4m3.
The base unit can be located up to 300' away thanks to 300' of cable bundles. That way, all your PCs can be in the server room... Uh, winframe anyone??
Analog wireless monitor = interference and garbage.
Digital wireless monitor = WAY to much bandwidth.
Armand28
"-LINUX was a good OS, before it became a religion."
In addition to the above, I would like to know about:
3. How secure is this?
I have already heard tales about being able to spoof/sniff logitech wireless mice and keyboards. Like much of wireliess tech, this just adds another layer of vulnerability. Why go through the trouble of getting a trojan onto a system, when you can do it remotely, w/o using a network? Add this to a wireless LAN, and it seems like it opens a lot of doors.
Takahashi Rumiko made beats! DON, taku, DON, taku. . .
Wrong! The PCjr was sold in the early 80s, but it was never popular.
C - A language that combines the speed of assembly with the ease of use of assembly.
I have enough trouble with finding my remote.
Now I can lose my keyboard, mouse, monitor and CPU. This is definately progress.
--
#include <malloc.h>
free(your.mind);
Together its about $950 without monitor. It runs completely on 266Mhz bus (DDR) and outperforms your common 2Ghz P4 with SDR bus thats shipped all over as latest greatest.
It has 4xUSB 2.0, 4xUSB 1.1 and 1x IEEE1394 (firewire). And also other standard ports. Dolby Digital Surround sound is also neat and the thing just rocks. And under $1000.
If programs would be read like poetry, most programmers would be Vogons.
I don't see how it could be sweet if it's running a Microsoft OS. And for that matter, I would hardly consider this Slashdot news worthy since it does not talk about the opression of the people.
Did you actually look at the thing? Sure, some of the gadgets are interesting, but the way they've put it together isn't what I'd call sweet.
Expandability? None, internally, to speak of. So that means loads of things hanging out on FireWire or USB cables. Wanna upgrade? Better call HP, as I'm sure this thing screams 'proprietary case design' for the thermal management they mention, let alone that's generally how HP works. Add that DVD-ROM? External, please. CD-RW? Same thing. Hard drive? Replace the existing, while juggling your data, because there isn't space for a second one.
They mention XP pretty prominently, but I doubt seriously it will run Linux out of the box. They mention the Intel Pentium 4 a LOT. But I can get more bang for the buck with an Athlon. Option for that? Not that I could find...
All in all, the whole thing looked like a commercial for Intel, not a sweet concept PC.
Little girls, like butterflies, need no excuse. -- L. Long
Intel has a page about this Concept PC. It is not slashdoted like the main link :)
I saw this system on TechTVs week in review. The system box is tethered to the display unit by a cable up to 200ft long. The Box contains the HD, processor, display card, etc. The flat panel display contains the CD/DVD drive, camera and a speaker.
The mouse and keyboard are the only wireless parts of the system.
According to dinky Jim Lauderback, HP claims you'll only need to change the dispaly component every 5-6 yeats, and the system box every 2-3 years.
Article X: The powers not delegated... by the Constitution...are reserved...to the people
/.-ed again :(
Today's PC is brought to you by the number 17 and the letters N, S, and A. Tune in tomorrow when we show you how to get rid of that annoying aluminum foil wrapped around your head.
I use a logitech wireless keyboard and mouse... is it just me or is this technology still a little immature? Once every few weeks things go on the "fritz" -- the mouse stops responding or the keyboard acts really weird -- radio interference?? I'm only 3 feet from the transmitter... its nice to have no wires but when the keyboard malfunctions its -really- annoying.
Warning: User designtechnica@localhost has already more than 'max_user_connections' active connections in /home/www/designtechnica/mainfile.php on line 42
/home/www/designtechnica/mainfile.php on line 42
Warning: MySQL Connection Failed: User designtechnica@localhost has already more than 'max_user_connections' active connections in
Unable to select database
I want to see line 42. Right now I refreshing the page.
...if you owned such a system. I'd be willing to bet that you'd rather buy a GeForce 3 AGP card for $100 (yeah, I'm dreaming) than a GeForce 3 module for $300, right?
Profitable indeed, if they could only persuade people it was worth it.
Besides, how difficult is it really to swap parts of a PC? Sure, still too complicated for the average user, but at least these days we have PnP, IDE autodetection, and so on...
Would it kill you to add an HP Logo?
There's at least 1 HP story a month and quite a few in recent months with the whole layoff/merger/calculator thing. They always manage to pick some other logo, last week it was the Compaq one...
Slashdot is such hypocrites. It is running on Windows 2000 and IIS, masked to give out "fake" responses saying it is Linux/Apache.
Paying lip service to a bunch of freeloaders while running on a stable 21st century OS is pretty hyprocritical. Come on, come out of the closet already.
the cat is out of the bag
Back when it was called the Apple G4 Cube... <br>Except that the cube needed no CPU fan... And was designed by people with talent. Hmm...<br><br>
On top of that.. The non-symmetric monitor would make my head explode after 2 hours of usage. Not too sure about the 60's era TV throwback industrial design thing either...<br><br>
summary: leave the innovative industrial design to Apple and keep to making those hideous grey or beige boxes, HP...<br>
I hate Grammar Nazi's
Funny, I did the same thing because the page didn't even bother trying to render in my browser. So I saved the HTML and read the article in "vi". Or rather, I saved the HTML and spent 30 seconds trying to find the damn article.
1) SaveAs article.html. Cut-and-paste only the HTML that includes the article text and image HREFs.
2) SaveAs articleraw.html. Cut out the user comments, leaving the original HTML intact.
3) $ wc article*.*
44 381 2473 article.html
482 1742 22916 articleraw.html
Geez, a 10:1 ratio of Javashit and other dreck to actual content, and that's without loading graphics.
The sick thing is that I know that's not a record for waste.
Maybe someone can beam the power into the machine with lasers or something, but I wouldn't want to have to reboot every time a cat runs under the desk!
Every time? I suspect each cat would only be able to do this once. How many cats do you have?
Isn't the latency for wireless bad enough it's noticable for fast-twitch gaming such as Unreal/Quake and relatives?
Any sort of RF-based wireless hardware bears a much greater risk of interfering with, or getting interference from, ham radio equipment, cordless phones, and other RF devices nearby.
Given this, wireless accessories make a lot less sense if you're also an amateur radio op, especially if you're operating on the UHF and microwave bands required for things like satcomm and moonbounce/EME communications.
The endless hype surrounding wireless devices really makes me wonder how long it's going to be before someone starts playing with their RF-based wireless keyboard, and their typing ends up on their neighbor's PC or something equally annoying.
Bruce Lane, KC7GR,
Blue Feather Technologies
Perhaps Bluetooth connectivity is an add-on then? I have trouble believing this. HP make good hardware, and they charge a bundle for it. Thats the way it's always been. Even if it does have an intel heart-replacement.
The question is, does it still have a 16-bit BIOS, AT hardware interrupts and a funky A20 line on the processor?
:-)
I'm out of my tree just now but please feel free to leave a banana.
HP doesn't really even deserve their name anymore. Hewlett and Packard are both dead. All the cool scientific goodies have been spun off into Agilent. HP just killed off ACO after insulting their loyal user community with the 49G. And Carly Fiorina (can you look at her picture and honestly say that she doesn't look like a vulture?) is gleefully turning the remnants of HP into yet another Microsoft whore.
Their printers are the only tolerable product they're still producing, and I hear Epson is rapidly catching up. I have had the worst luck with HP's computer systems, both with the Kayak (their "high-end workstation" that I used at a previous job) and with various Pavilions that I have tried to fix/upgrade for people (oh, and their tech support is useless; try calling and asking what Ethernet card they have inside: "oh, that would be a `10/100' card, sir").
HP has a training program wherein you can get significant discounts on their products if you take online classes. I guess the idea is that retailers will be more eager to sell HP if they have 1) gotten free stuff from HP, and 2) know lots about HP products. Well, the HP PhotoSmart 612 which I got at a nice discount is of horrible quality. The camera design itself is actually pretty decent, but I had to go through 5 cameras before I found 1 without significant CCD defects. What I can tell you from my extensive HP training is this: Don't buy HP, kids. They suck.
TO BUY A NEW CAR WOULD MAKE YOU SEXUALLY ATTRACTIVE.
Or at least in my experiences they haven't been.
Has anyone else found a wireless keyboard that works okay under games? Seems like the keys don't register as often or quick enough.
I can't remember the model I was using. It had a touchpad built in.
The man who trades freedom for security does not deserve nor will he ever receive either. - Benjamin Franklin
Seriously, if you're advocating simple to upgrade PCs.
Pull a latch and the side of the G4 pops open. Drives sit on the bottom and are connected to a ribbon cable. CPU sits on an easily upgradable daughtercard (or maybe it's in a ZIF socket by now, I own a Titanium Laptop), ram is easily accessable, and all the PCI slots are trivially available because the motherboard lies on the hinged door.
The problem? Most PC buyers don't want to *pay* for the ability to easily tinker with their PC, instead placing higher value on performance and price, leaving design innovation, power consumption, and noise pollution as casualties of their budgets.
GPL Deconstructed
Although I may be a lowly AC, I -do- have to comment on this.
What is to get excited about? Concept PC? Concept of what? It's all more of the same---same centralized ram-it-all-through-the-CPU architecture running on the Nth generation 8086 derivative. There's nothing new about that at all. All else is fluff--bluetooth? Wireless? Whoop-de-do. This is nothing I couldn't assemble myself.
What -I- want is something new. JUNK the PC architecture entirely---start over with something new. Geeze, when was the last time anyone tried that? The BeBox perhaps? And no thanks to the Dual Monopolies (TM) of Intel and Microsoft, it died before it hit the streets. No one can afford to try something new with Microsoft and Intel around.
Now before I wax nostalgic about the Amiga, all I will say is this: at least they tried a totally new approach to computer hardware. With the lamentable rise of the IBM PC clone we've been walking in lock-step with a braindead design.
*sigh* at least we have the Apple machines...they aren't revolutionary but at least they're -different-.
It seems that the only consumers willing to pay for design considerations are Apple customers.
Fanless design, low power design, ease of accessability, ease of maintainance, CPUs on daughtercards, Firewire and USB, easy to access ram, easy to open cases, are all part of the G4 Tower and the G4 laptop.
The majority of PC buyers would rather put up with more noise pollution, cramped and difficult to maintain cases, spaghetti cables, and heat than pay for the design and manufacture of concept PCs.
GPL Deconstructed
Gee, who did the article say was teaming up with HP to make this thing? Let me check... Oh, yeah, there it is: Intel! What they hell are they doing?!?!? Intel shouldn't waste their money promoting their own products... They should be getting together with HP and developing a product built around AMD chips... Sheesh.
As for the expandability of the thing -- read the first line:
Equipped in their concept PC.
Concept widgets generally never make it to the public as is... Oh, look, it says so right here:
Will we see these new PC's on shelves soon? Not likely..
If you are looking at something other than the link in the article, I am sorry, please post a link, but the way I read the article this is nothing more than what they call it: A Concept PC.
here's a link to Intel's version of the page...the other link i saw only took me to www.intel.com, lotta good that did...
This is exactly the same concept Apple implemented in the 20th Anniversary Mac in 1997, and they actually sold the thing! It had a box on the floor for the power supply and subwoofer to complement its Bose sound system (where is the audio on this box?), and it thethered to a flat monitor that integrated the motherboard, CD drive, and speakers. The concept of placing the power supply outside the enclosure to save space and increase cooling efficeincy was used again in the Cube. The wireless keyboard and mouse are also very old news; if you wanted them you would have bought them months ago.
"Will we see these new PC's on shelves soon? Not likely"
Yes, the fact that HP is far too safe/non-innovative (they weren't always that way, either) a company to actually introduce it makes this even more of a non-event.
But I suppose we are resigned to see another box shop make some half-assed copy of an Apple idea and be lauded by the technologically-illiterate press once again.
"Reality is just a convenient measure of complexity" -Alvy Ray Smith
There is more information from the (non-slashdotted) Intel site. The thing at the side of the monitor is indeed a CD player (CD writer, even).
For comparison, look at the Concept PC 2000 (also known as "deep forest") from HP and Intel sites. Both designs feature a small case. The most advanced feature of the 2000 design is that the side of the case has a translucent panel so that you can use the PC as a picture frame (for those who don't have enough room for their pr0n). But the lack of PCI slots seems like a pretty big limitation (if USB were faster and had more peripherals, maybe that wouldn't be such a big deal and I suppose for many uses it still isn't a big deal, but I'm not sure I'm quite willing to consign PCI to the "legacy" category yet).
I could never get into the whole small pc thing. Every time I have to fiddle with small case computers, I have visions of hell turned loose. To me a "sweet computer" is one in which everything is easily upgradable and insertable. On my last computer, I replaced every component except the actual case (which I am also planning to do soon with an addtronics 7896 case). This thing is just begging to be outdated before it is even fashionable due to when the next cool graphics card comes out or when 600X cd roms are all the minimum on games or even just to upgrade ram.
I miss the Karma Whores.
Ok now, I'm not talking about laptops. I'm talking about this wireless (home)PC. Really, whats the point? once you throw printers, speakers, internet (phone line or cable modem) digital cameras and whatever other nifty toy's people have for there PC's these days your still going to have wires sticking out all over the place so really it's not a big deal since you can already go buy a wireless keyboard and mouse. And who needs to move their home pc around that much? isin't that what laptops are for?
Snoozer.
... besides the matching cute exteriors of the devices? We already have the "concept" of wireless mice and keyboards. Besides, why the hell would anyone want a wireless mouse, with its horriffic refresh rate?
luckman
I don't involve myself with flames, much less know how to bait one.
imagine how fun it would be to see everything your neighbor does and sees!!
my neighbor is big into porn, now i can get all i want for free!! only problem is he's a homo.
Wed-3-Jul. Hamar-Åstbru. [73 km 900m] The cycling book (SFIN) has 2 tours in the plateau between the 2 big dales of Gudbrandsdalen and Österdalen. In the south the plateau is only about 800 m but in the north it ends with Rondane, the mountain region with peaks over 2000 m. Treeline is about 900 m. The area is famous in Norwegian history and legends. The flight of the Birkebeiner, carrying the infant Prince Håkon happened here in 1206; this was the inspiration for the famous Birkebeiner ski race. Many of the well known folk-tales take place here, including those of the legendary Per Gynt and his exploits with reindeer, trolls and budeier. The summer farms in the highlands were called seters where the budeier, daughters of the farm families, kept the livestock, made butter and cheese. There are several gravel roads going through the area. Most of them are toll roads (bomveg). Motor traffic is very light on them. Sheep and cow traffic can be quite heavy. There are several marked cycling routes. Sheep also run loose on some major roads, like Rv 250 from Lillehammer to Dokka. There are occasional cattle grates called "ferist" across the roads which must be crossed at right angles. The presence of cattle wandering on the roads actually makes for good cycling conditions. Motor-traffic tends to be slow, cautious and patient. It was partly sunny in the morning so again I had false hopes about good weather. I would probably be out in the wilderness for several days so I had to go buy groceries first. So it was quite late before I left Hamar (el 120m). I went back out to Vang again, on the cycle paths along Rv 25 to Ry then turned off at Ry to Övre Vang (300 m). I was heading for Gåsbu (520m). In March I had skied up to Gåsbu across the fields so I knew some of the area. Then I saw a road marked Ormseter Veg. I don't have my good topo map of the area but I remember Ormseter being near Gåsbu. So maybe this is a shortcut. The road turned to gravel and got very steep. Then it seemed to end at a farm. But there is a rough road heading in the right direction. I don't want to waste all the climbing so I walk my bike up through the woods. I may have skied up this path in March. Finally I come to Ormseter which is now a collection of cottages (hytter). Then it is a short ride to Gåsbu (520m). I probably only lost 30 minutes by taking the shortcut! There is a big parking lot and a cafeteria, which is closed today. There are only a few cars parked here today. This is a very popular ski area in winter, with several hundred km of trails (löypa) and a connection to a trail that goes all the way to Rondane. There is a self service tollgate (bom) here . Of course, cyclists and hikers can freely travel on these private "bomveg". There are also bicycle route signs all the way to Ringebu. I had lunch here while the sun shone. These gravel roads would be very good if it hadn't rained so much. In the dirt I could see large and small hoofprints and I was hoping to see reindeer (caribou) or elk (moose) but it was just cows and sheep. This is seter country, the upland summer pastures. Maybe there will be trolls or maybe even budeier ! I passed St Olaf (el. 620m) and it had become cloudy and cool. I stopped for lunch by a river at Bolsdalen and it started to rain. I tried to find shelter under some trees but some sheep had the same idea. One must be careful where one sits down in sheep country! The rain did stop but the roads now became rather muddy. At Kvarstadseter (670m) on the Åsta river I crossed the famous Birkebeiner trail (loype). I had skied across here in March 1995 from Rena to Lillehammer on a foggy, snowy day. Today I am wearing more clothes than in winter and feel colder! I thought the loype might be a shortcut to Sjusjöen (12km) but it was definitely not rideable. Not even walkable. One would sink up to the knees in the bog. A large part of the trail is across open bogs (myr). There is a Birkebeiner mountain bike race but it follows more solid roads. About 10 km later at Åstbru I come to a major junction of bomveg. There is a toll booth there. The choices are north-east to Messelt in Österdalen, south to Sjusjöen and Lillehammer or north-west towards Ringebu. I decided to stop for supper and camp nearby. There was a utedo (outhouse) with very artistic interior. There was a copy of the famous Birkebeiner painting and some poetry. There is a picnic table by the river. The sheep didn't bother me while I had supper. I had some whole wheat Birkebeiner bread and some Gudbrandsdal ost (sweet, brown whey cheese), but no römmegröt. One advantage of the cold weather is that the cheese keeps better. It doesn't slice very well when warm. I put up my tent in a little clearing by the river. I checked the ground carefully! One get used to the smell of sheep muck but I don't need it on my tent. The roar of Åsta lulled me to sleep. No trolls came. Thurs-4-Jul. Åstbru-Harpifoss. [99 km 1036 m] Sunny breaks in the morning gave be more false hopes about nice weather I had breakfast and the sheep just looked on. My chain had picked up a lot of mud so I washed and oiled it. The wet, dirt roads have worn out my brake pads and I will have to replace them. My bent rim has held up very well in the last 3 weeks and has only needed a few minor spoke tightenings. Unfortunately, the sunny breaks ended and it was misty and cold, the temperature dropping to about 5 C! Near Åstdalseter the road rises above the treeline (900m) and also above the cloud line. At Kjeiken (1000m) I stopped in the lee of some seter buildings and had lunch. No budeier here! The fog is getting thicker and it is getting colder so I'd better cut short this tour before I die of hyperthermia. I'll head down to the bottom of Gudbrandsdalen where I hope it will be warmer. If the weather improves I can come back up the mountain at Ringebu. There is a road junction with bicycle signs and I turn off on the road down to Öyer. Now I found out that Norway is a 3-dimension country. From the map it looks like it is only about 3 km to the E3 at the bottom of the dale but it is almost 1 km vertical below. Gudbrandsdalen is almost a canyon here. It is a good dirt road but the rain has made some muddy spots. My rear brake wasn't working so good so I adjusted it. I guess I didn't align the pads properly. It is a wild ride down with several hairpin turns, then I get to some pavement. I get below the cloud level and visibility improves. The temperature gets warmer, a balmy 10 C! There's a few more hairpin turns on the narrow paved roads down to the bottom (150m) At Oddvang I had to ride on E6. There are some sections with a bike path but most of it is a highway with heavy traffic. I've only seen about 10 cars in the last 24 hours so maybe the traffic was really light! At Tretten I crossed the river to ride the back road. I was expecting a flat road along the river, but the road joins up the farms and they are at different elevations of the western wall of the dale. There is a lot of climbing and descending. I can see that E6 is perfectly flat on the other side. It is also raining and temperature is 10 C. This might be a scenic road in nice weather but I was cold and wet. My spirits are getting low. I wished I was cycling in the Sahara desert instead. So at Fåvang I crossed over to the E6 again which is flat and the traffic didn't seem so bad. I stopped for supper at a picnic area along the highway. At Hundorp I crossed the river again. The road isn't quite as hilly and it stopped raining so it seemed nicer. I camped in wet woods. My original plan was to take Rv 27 up over Ringebufjell and then around Rondane, maybe on some more seter roads. But it would be even colder and wetter up there. Maybe tomorrow. Fri-5-Jul. Harpifoss-Sjoa. [94 km 664 m] I went down to a picnic area on the river below a power dam in Harpifoss and cooked breakfast. There were a few sunny breaks on E6 so my spirits improved. I have given up expecting summer weather. Now I try to feel happy when it doesn't rain for a few minutes or the temperature is above 10 C. At least I am learning some new words to describe the weather, by looking at the headlines on the papers on the newsstands. "Mer Mökke Vaer" says one, I wonder what that means? Just like it sounds- "More Mucky Weather", muck as in manure! Another said something like "Would the last person to leave Norway, PLEASE TURN OFF THE SHOWER!" At Vinstra I stopped at the Per Gynt museum. For a fictional character, old Per got around and left his marks. Dovregubbens Hall (Troll Kings Cave) is marked on the highway map and there is a monument in the Rondane where Per met the Boyge! In the late 1700s there was a farmer called Per (Peder) Gynt Hågå near here; Hågå is the farm name. The museum is in a house that had been moved from the farm. The girl in the museum said that the correct pronunciation of Gynt is with a "soft G", like "Yes" in English. The 2 "Es" in Peer is Henrik Ibsens invention. The first written account of Per's tales is in Asbjörnsen and Moe's "Norske Folk Eventyr". I changed the brake pads on my front brake. The sand and rain has worn them down and I expect more steep hills. I should have checked the rear brake! The back road to Sjoa is quite nice, especially when it isn't raining. There is a suspended footbridge across the river. I walked my bike half way across to get some pictures. I saw some river rafters. These were on little rubber rafts and they had wet suits and swim flippers. There are lots of river rafters in the area, but mostly on the side rivers, Otta and Sjoa. These people were paying money to be wet and cold! I'm wet and cold for free! The backroad on the west side of the river continues to be nice all the way to Otta, but then it started to rain. Then I join up with my 1994 route. This was the northern point of my 1994 trip, when I had to take a train to Oslo. That day it was sunny and hot! This is supposed to be the driest area of Norway, in the rain shadow of Jotunheimen. I was in the sports shop to buy a new butane fuel bottle for my stove. I should have bought something else, but I didn't know that yet. I also forgot to use the bank machine. Heavy rain kept me in town until 1500. I headed out of the west side of the river on a nice back road. I was hoping to get to Dombås. When I got to Nord Sel it started to rain again and it didn't look any better ahead. It was 33 km to Dombås. My original plan was to continue north to Åndalsnes, then come south on Trollstigvegen but I probably didn't have time for that anyways. So I gave up that plan and headed back to Otta. I also didn't want to spend another night in the wet woods so I was heading for the hostel at Sjoa. Back through Otta, I forgot to go to the bank. I continued back to Sjoa. I had passed the hostel about 5 hours ago. The hostel was full. I guess this is a high tourist area; a lot of people come here for the river rafting. There was a big tour bus from eastern Europe. The manager gave me the name of a guest house along E6 about 5 km away. I didn't have much hope but when I got there they had empty rooms. It was only 150 Kr for a private room, including breakfast, no more expensive than the hostel. They also had cabins to rent which would be a bargain for 2 or 3 people. Finally I'm going to have a dry night. There were several groups of river rafters here. I cooked my supper on a picnic table outside. It had stopped raining and I even warmed up in a brief patch on sunshine. Sat-6-Jul. Sjoa-Gjendesheim. [89 km 1292m] I had a nice buffet breakfast before the big groups of rafters came in to the dining room. I had checked my rear wheel several times since the start of the trip when it was bent on the plane flight. It had stayed quite true. But this morning I thought to try to make it even better. Then I noticed cracks in the rim around the spokes! To straighten the rim I had put too much tension on some of the spokes. So I don't dare touch the spoke tension now. I also should have checked my rear tire more closely. My other problem was that there would be no banks along the route, Rv 257 and 51 so I'd better go back to Otta again. It was only about 10 km along E6 which had bike paths and shoulders. I used the bank machine in Otta but decided try my luck with my cracked rim so I didn't go to the bike shop. It was a nice ride along the south side of the Otta river and there was even some sun-shine so I forgot about my wheel problems. I passed a dam and then just a little ways above it, a bunch of river rafters. I wonder if they know about the dam? At Lalm I had to wait a few minutes for some cows to get off the road. I turned off on the road up to Heidal when I heard a swish-swish from my rear wheel. I looked and saw a large rupture in the tire, the tube was sticking out! My brakes has been rubbing against the tire and worn a hole in the sidewall. So I have a rim that may disintegrate and a ruptured tire! What else can go wrong? My spirits were at another low. There's the bike shop back in Otta. But first I have to make the bike ridable. I put my good tire on the rear and put a rubber patch boot on the rupture. Then I put a few layers of packing filament tape inside over the boot. It seems to work. I push my luck and decide not to go back to Otta. The next bike shop should be in Fagerness. After the repairs I was hungry so I had lunch in Lalm. Then I start up on the gravel road through Heidalskogen. "Once upon a time, in these woods, there lived three giant trolls with only one eye ..."; but that's
another story. You'll have to read Asbjörnsen and Moe's "Norske
Folkeventyr" for that one. (The 2 Small Boys Meet The Trolls in
Heidalskogen).
The road climbs in several hairpins and reached 700 m. I made it out
of the woods and onto pavement without being attacked by the trolls.
The sun was out as I descended into pretty Heidal. Hay was drying out
in the sun on the long hay fences (hesje), as it had for hundreds of
summers. There are a lot of well preserved wood houses which are the
scenes for some more fairy-tales. The word "eventyr" means both "fairy-
tale" or adventure. When you explore these little dales you do get the
feeling that your adventures are part of a fairy-tale.
I lost about 250 m of my gained altitude when I got to the junction of
Rv 257 at Bjölstad then it's another 250 m climb again. I had a second
lunch along the road. Then I descended to 600 m again. I know I must
climb to 1000 m today so I regret any losses in altitude.
The sunny weather was brief and some cold rain was falling as I got
to the junction of Rv 51 at Randsverk. I took shelter under a little
roof. The rain was coming down hard. There was a cafe here, I could
use a hot drink, but the sign said "stengt for selskap". Closed for
party. It was quite a fancy dress party, too. I pulled out my stove
and made some coffee.
Then 2 Norwegian cyclists came by to check the cafe. They weren't
more than 14 years old. I saw quite a few fairly young cyclists touring
alone. They could already speak better English than I could Norwegian.
They continued on in the rain. I stayed under the roof.
There were some sunny breaks as I climbed steadily up Sjodalen. To
the west lies Jotunheimen, the Giants Home. It cleared up enough to see
the high snow covered mountains. Actually there had been little snow
last winter so most of the hills were bare. I'm approaching the tree
line again at about 1000 m. Numerous waterfalls pour over the cliffs.
I passed the 2 young Norwegians who had ridden in the rain. They said
they might stay in a hut tonight.
Due to a bylaw in Vågå Kommune, camping is not allowed within 100
m of this highway so I was looking for some side road or path off of it.
But at the Gjendesheim junction there was a commercial campground that
had hot showers and a kitchen building so I paid 100 Kr for that. I
wanted to be fairly close to Gjendesheim for tomorrow's hike. It rained
when I was having supper in the kitchen.
I talked to a Dutch family who had maps and info about the hikes.
They were planning to take the boat on the lake to Memurubu and walk
back, which is what most people do.
After the mornings wheel and tire problems, this turned out to be a
nice day. I had at least 2 hours of sunshine
Sun-7-Jul. Gjendesheim-Valdresflya, plus walk. [18km +10 488m +1000]
Gjende (985 m) is a lake about 20 km long in the Jotunheim Mountains.
there are peaks above 2000 m around. There are boats running to
Memurubu and Gjendebu. The most impressive side is the "knife-edge" of
Besseggen (1600m) between Gjende and Bessavatn( 1300m). Here Per Gynt
claimed to ride a reindeer which jumped off the cliff.
(From Henrik Ibsen's Peer Gynt, this was on a postcard )
Har du sett den Gjende eggen noen gang ?
Den er halve milen* lang
Hvas bortefter, som en ljå
Utfor breer, skred og lider
Rakt nedover urder grå
Kan en se til begge sider
Lukt in vannene, som blunder
Svarte, tunge , mer enn 1300 alen** nedenunder
(Christopher Plummer's narration )
Have you ever seen that mountain ridge at Gjende?
All of half a mile* it stretches
Sheer and sharp as the edge of a scythe
On either side as you look downwards
You can see deep into brooding waters
Dark as if asleep more than 1300 yards** below
(* half mile is about 5 km)
(** an alen is actually 62 cm)
It was mostly sunny this morning. I had breakfast in the kitchen,
packed up, and rode the 2.5 km to Gjendesheim (1000m) on the east end of
Gjende. There was already quite a lot of people there. There were a
lot of tour-buses but they weren't the if-its-Wednesday-this-must-be
Norway crowd. From their outfits you could tell that these were serious
hill walkers. Most people were taking the boat down the lake and
walking back. I decided to walk up the Besseggen trail for 2 hours and
then turn back.
The trail starts out very steep and soon is above the tree-line. The
vegetation is quite fragile and there are signs not to walk off the
trail. Most trails in the Norway are marked with a red T by Den Norsk
Turistforeningen (DNT). In some places the trail goes up the face of
cliffs and is almost requires rock-climbing skills. Norwegians consider
it a casual walk! Although it continued sunny I could see dark clouds
and showers coming my way. I pushed on, trying to get to the top while
it was dry. Vegetation shrunk from grasses and moss to lichens to
nothing at all near the top. Normally, at this time of year, hills this
high would be covered in snow but there are only a few snow patches.
There was false summit with a 100 m drop, then I finally got to a
large cairn marking the top at 1743 m. There is no warming hut here! So
I just sat down in the lee of the cairn.
The clouds came over me so I put on my rain suit over a down vest.
But it didn't rain. It snowed, quite thickly! But it was less
unpleasant than rain. I was warm and dry wearing 4 layers. So I sat
down and had lunch. I could hear several languages, including English,
from passing hikers.
After lunch and the snow cleared I decided to go down to the "knife-
edge" between the 2 waters Gjende and Bessvatn, 1300 alens below (alen
== 62 cm). There was some ice on Bessvatn. I didn't see a reindeer to
ride. Of course, Per's deer fell off the cliff here! I wanted to take a
slower way down than that!
So I went back up to the summit, had another snack and started down.
I met a bunch of teenagers from an school in England and talked to some
of the teachers. They were on a 2 day hike.
The walk down is harder the climb. I carefully stepped through the
boulders, trying not to wreck my knees or sprain an ankle. The cliffs
were very tricky. Some of the rocks were wet and slippery.
I was still wearing 4 layers, including rain suit. Then I was passed
by 3 attractive Norwegian women, wearing shorts and carrying fairly big
rucksacks. They were running down the mountain, leaping from boulder to
boulder!
I was back at Gjendesheim by 1500. I had lunch and a cup of coffee
and bought a few souvenirs.
Now I have an "easy" 400 m climb on bike up to Valdresflya which is
one of the highest highway passes in Norway. There are threatening
clouds but I stay dry. There are tame reindeer herds in the area. I
didn't see any.
Valdresflya Vandrerhjem (1400m ) is the highest hostel in Norway. For
electricity they have a diesel generator which is only on for a few
hours a day. There is no guest kitchen so I cook supper outside. Then
I go to the cafeteria and order a bowl of römmegröt, a specialty of
the region. It's a porridge (gröt = grits, groats) with sour cream and
cinnamon.
Mon-8-Jul. Valdresflya-Borlaug. [112 km 1240 m]
I had the usual buffet breakfast in the dining room.
I had read about a boat which goes down the length of Lake Bygdin
and it looked like a good option on the way to Fillefjell. At 1050 m
altitude it is one of the highest boat services in Europe.
Pretending I was fluent in Norwegian, I asked:
"Finnes det en båt på Bygdin?"
"Nei, desverre. Båten ikke går. .... lite vatn"
She said something about little water, I wonder what that means. No
boat ride, but I should go to Fagerness to find a bike shop for a new
tire.
It was really cold (just above freezing) and wet on the ride downhill
to the lake. I was wearing all my clothes. Too bad I didn't get a
better view of the peaks, but I did see Bitahorn (1680m). At the lake I
saw what was meant by little water. The lake was practically empty! The
boat was sitting on dry land!
There were several cars parked, other people must be waiting for the
boat too! A couple from Belgium invited me into their van and gave me
some hot coffee. They were expecting to meet friends here.
I got down below the treeline and the sun came out. That feels
better. There were some bike paths coming into Beitostölen, a mountain
resort and there was a grocery store and a sports shop here. Maybe they
have tires. Although they sold mostly mountain bikes ( 26 in. size
tire), 700 x 35 C (ISO-35-622) is a common size on commuter bikes so I
got a brand-X tire for only 90 Kr (about $18). It was actually a little
wider, 700 x 37C. It hurt me to discard that $40 Avocet with only 3000
km on it, they usually last for 10000km. I should check my brake pad
adjustments more! Now I feel better about riding on rough roads.
Now I don't have to go all the way to Fagerness so about 8 km south
I take a shortcut over a nice sideroad which climbed back up to near the
treeline at 1000m. But then it started to rain again and I was cold.
There was a cafe behind the silversmith museum, but the sign said
"closed Mondays, you can get ice-cream in the museum" I didn't feel like
ice-cream, and the museum didn't open until 1300.
But the sun came out again and I had lunch in a clearing. I didn't
want to lose altitude by going down to E16 on the bottom of the dale, so
I took a parallel road along the hillside. This is really nice, passing
by the stav kirk of Höre (no tour busses!). There are nice views of the
dale below, of the long hay-drying fences (hesjer). There are even
lilacs still in blossom. To the north are high mountains of Slettefjell.
A large waterfall spreads down the hillside. Traffic is almost none,
except for cows and sheep.
After another rainshower I was chilly. There was a little kiosk
selling refreshments. I want something hot. So I asked the young boy.
"Har du kaffe?
"Nei."
"Noen varm?"
"Nei, vi har iskrem."
Icecream! They must think it is July! Oh, it is, I almost forget.
Some local kids cycled up and got some icecream (BRRR). I pulled out my
stove and made some coffee.
The road was gravel and was soft in places after I met a road grader
spreading fresh gravel. Finally I had to descend down to lake
Vangsmjösa (466 m). This is a nice paved road along the north side of
the lake, E16 is on the other side. There is a narrow stretch of fields
but then cliffs rise over 1000 m to Vennisfjell (1777 m). Numerous
waterfalls plunge down the cliffs. There are several rocks the size of
houses that look like they have fallen recently. The roads winds
between 2 of them, I hope no more are falling today .
Along the lake there was a beach and I saw some girls, wearing
bathing suits, trying to sun themselves. They must think it is July
too!
Near the west end of the lake a full size Viking ship is anchored!
At Öye I join E16 but it has fairly light traffic. There is now a
gradual climb to the junction of Rv 53. This is where I would have come
in if I had taken the boat on Bygdin. Some rainshowers happen but stop
by the time I reach the top of Fillefjell (1013 m) at about 1815.
For a while it is flat, but then there is a long, fast downhill to
Borlaug (500 m) at the junction of Rv 52, where I had come down 2 years
ago. It was 1945 but the hostel had lots of room. The sun came out and
I had supper outside with the sound of waterfalls.
This was a long memorable day, I even had about 2 hours of sunshine.
Tues-9-Jul. Borgund-Flåm. [100 km 1450 m]
In the morning it was sunny but that it probably won't last long so I
listened to my radio for a weather forecast. It was difficult to make
out the words but I'm sure I heard the words "pent vaer" - fine weather!
It's a gradual downhill but a headwind slowed me down. I had been
over this section 2 years ago but it was nice to do it again.
Again I walked a bit up the old Vindhellveg road with its stone
posts. Then I rode to the famous Borgund Stavkirke. At about 10 AM
there were 4 tour buses (if it's Tuesday this must be Norway) with
swarms of tourists in the parking lot taking pictures, most had video-
cameras. But I think I got a better picture. I walked up the trail
through the pasture behind the church where there is more panoramic
view.
This next section is one of my favorites anywhere, even the second
time. The road goes through a few narrow canyons along the raging river.
There are many waterfalls coming over the cliffs. I'm glad the water
isn't falling out of the sky, on me! The road is narrow with a few short
tunnels but traffic is light. This a famous salmon river, there is a
"wild salmon" museum in Laerdal.
The town of Laerdalsöyri looks like a museum with nice wood houses
and "koselig" streets. It is on a branch of Sognefjord, the longest
fjord in Norway. I went to a little square in town by the tourist
bureau and town hall and had lunch. I had a talk with a 75 year old
minister who had come out of retirement to perform a wedding in the
famous Borgund church.
Traditional Norwegian music was coming out of a store next door so I
went in. I asked the clerk about a CD of Musical Souvenirs of Norway.
He described all the songs and played samples -some Grieg, Holmenkoll
March, some Syssel Kyrkjebö, etc. I probably could get it cheaper at
the Duty Free Shop at Oslo airport but I wouldn't get service like this
so I bought it. I don't have a portable CD player so I have to wait til
home to hear it.
I was down to the end of my last (5th) roll of film so I bought a
roll of 36 - I should have bought 2. Now that the weather is improving
I'm taking more pictures. I took over 300 slides on this trip.
The ferry situation here has changed since 2 years ago. The ferry
from Revnes to Kaupanger doesn't run, so I couldn't do the route I did 2
years ago. Some new highway tunnels - one 10 km long have been built.
I'm not sure how cyclists can get across to the north side of
Sognefjord. I didn't ask further since I wasn't going that way.
Finally at 1400 I started climbing up the "snow road" in bright
sunshine. I had this strange feeling of HEAT. For the first time in
weeks I was wearing shorts and short sleeves. It would be better coming
down this side since it is a long straight section. The road is only
one lane wide. I kept going with only a few photo stops. I wanted to
reach the half way point, at elevation 650 m before a major rest. I had
a snack while some cows wandered freely by. There are ferists (cattle
grates) at places across the road so one must cross those at right
angles. Higher up sheep take over from cows.
There are a few switchbacks up to the treeline at 1000m, then It is a
gradual climb across the vidda (tundra). Across on a barren hillside I
can see a small green field and some seter buildings. There are only a
few snow drifts along the road. There are several small lakes with some
ice left.
There are 2 summits at Hornshytta at about 1300 m. At the top of the
second summit it has clouded over and got cold. It is raining but only
on me! In every direction there is blue sky. Down below I see a meadow
in the sunshine, it looks like a good spot for a lunch. By the time I'm
down there, it's raining there but sunny everywhere else.
I finally got to a sunny patch and sat down for lunch. I cut off a
few slices of bread and made a sandwich. But as I was eating I got
attacked by a sheep. She tried to steal my bread and then tried to get
into my panniers. I threw her a carrot to keep her busy.
I left my rainsuit on over sweatpants and sweater since I expected it
to start raining again, and thought it would be a cold descent. Of
course it became sunny and very warm.
Then I got back to the treeline and back civilization. I can see
Aurlands fjord about 1 km away, straight down that is! There are many
hairpin turns on a very narrow road. There was some on-coming traffic
including some travel trailers, which take the whole road. I didn't
think that trailers are allowed on this road. It would be much nicer
climbing this side on the hairpin turns.
Anywhere else this would be called a cliff but here it is vertical
farm fields! Farmers are cutting hay with scythes, and hanging it on
long hesjer. The fjord today looks like the typical Norway travel
poster- blue sky, snow capped mountains, green meadows, blue-green water
with a few big cruise ships.
By the time I got down to sea level it was very hot. I was still
wearing winter clothes while I saw some girls riding in bathing suits.
There are a lot of people in Aurland. New tunnels on Rv 50 have brought
in masses of traffic to this fjord. Ferry service has been reduced.
Fortunately there are cycle paths and old roads for most of the 8 km to
Flåm.
There are a lot of people in Flåm too. The hostel is at a campground
and with all the people here I was not surprised that it was full. I
decided to camp in the campground for 40 kr, rather than in the utmark
for free. There were hot showers etc. here.
This has been the nicest day in over 2 weeks, with warm temperatures
and only a few minutes of rain. I hope this weather continues since I am
about to start the biggest goal of my trip - Rallarvegen.
another peice of shit HP
"The new concept is that of wireless keyboard and mouse, and an 18" flat screen LCD monitor to top things off."
Oh, yeah, I've never heard of any of those things before. What a concept! They're still on the ol' cutting edge there at HP.
Maybe, just maybe, it is becuase this concept PC was co-developed my Intel and HP.
-- Find the Truth...
For those of us that can see and need to be in the same room as the monitor, the range and less dependance on direction or line of sight of RF over infra-red is an advantage. For example, my IR mouse can't quite make it from the lounge to the top of the TV set, so the sensor has to sit on an object at the same height as the mouse about a metre in front of the TV.
One possibility, which I don't think has a commercial solution yet, is to connect a transmitter to the RF-out on a video card, have it tuned to a spare channel and use TV sets wherever you go as monitors. The frequencies for TV are at the top end of the MHz range, so a very similar piece of equipment to the small, low power FM transmitters should do to job. Picture quality will not be fantastic due to NTSC (not the same colour twice) and PAL limitations. For those of us with one TV a cable would be better.
of a wireless monitor? I am gonna assume that it still has a power cable, so it's not really "wireless" anyway, and seems like a cable between your stationary monitor and your stationary PC won't really get in the way much.
I do love my RF keyboard and mouse though - but I never did realize how "conceptual" and "cutting edge" they are.
sic transit gloria mundi
Since the CPU case is for the most part not a human interface device and since it is the only one producing irritating white noise, wireless interfaces make it possible to move the noise into a closet, air-conditioned box in the garage, attic or neighbor's guest house.
Luuvely! With a strong enough transmitter I bet you could overpower the base unit... AYBABTU!
Wah!
...but I've already got one!
When I bought my computer two years ago, it was a Cyrix with a PCChips motherboard and a 14" VGA monitor. Now only the case remains.
RF keyboard + mouse, 15.1" Sony flat screen, 1.1GHz thunderbird, a GeForce 3 Titanium and vast rolling expanses of RAM.
And all for about 1/3rd of the likely price of this thing. I'm just a little upset that that TBird is almost obsolete already! Now twin 2GHz Athlons - that would be droolworthy.
"I think he was truly surprised at how little I cared about how big a market the Mac had" - Linus on Jobs
I love the wireless cup of coffee that is featured in most of the pictures of this new comp. what would ever get done without coffee? obviously nothing.
So basically, it's a small footprint PC case (BookPC), a flat panel display (hundreds to choose from), a wireless keyboard/mouse setup (dozens to choose from)...and that's it.
Hell, if that's a concept PC, I'll take my modified Biostar Sunflower to Comdex next year. Or my i-opener! Yeah, that's the ticket. That'll blow them away. Computer and flat-panel display IN THE SAME BOX!!!
And why would I want wireless input peripherals in an office environment (as they seem to be hinting at in the photos)? Anything that isn't tied down disappears. No more handing out $10 replacements when someone spills coffee on the keyboard or steps on their mouse.
i've never ever seen any techie's desk so clean. in a matter of hours questions like "where the hell is my mouse!" and "who put the keyboard on the shelf?" and "who put this picture of spock on my monitor!" would come screaming out of the cubicle/office space. sometimes i think the cables are necessary just so we don't lose the components, and the size so they dominate the desk full of clutter...
I can just see it now - 100 keyboards and mice within earshot of each other - that's 200 xmitters and 100 recivers. Can anyone say RF pollution?
Think outside the... Hey, where'd the friggin' box go?
As for it being safe, large amounts of RF radiation will turn you into a crispy critter.
All of the earth return work he did also looked very weird - apparantly he planted a light bulb in the ground near an AC generator and it lit up.
He has a reputation for being a crackpot, which mostly came from Edison calling him names over the DC (Edison) vs AC (Tesla) debate, and from a few psuedo-documentaties that came out in the 1970's (you know the sort- "What are these mysterious roads into the sea, are they proof that Easter Island was once part of Atlantis?" when twenty years before someone with scuba gear has proved that they were BOAT RAMPS!). All of those pencil sketches that are shown things like airships generating power by the potential difference in the atmosphere and broadcasting it were never published (that's why they are in pencil), and just get dragged out when someone wants to make Tesla the pin-up boy of the conspiricy theorists.
This a concept pc? More like a pc that is somewhat non legacy and has wireless components. As others have noted: great, I can lose my keyboard and mouse too. Fundamentally though it is still within the same monitor-keyboard-mouse-cpubox paradigm defined at Xerox PARC. Cept it has things in different positions and fewer wires. Why a cpu-box? I thought LCDs don't generate that much heat, so why not, at very least, increase the leg-room, deskspace, whatever and combine the cpu-box and monitor. Things can certainly be made light enough; we have laptops after all. Also why no creativity from the industry leaders in the interaction dept. I have always wanted to do something like combining an expresso pc (see arstechnica.com) with a head mounted display. Maybe even throw in vr gloves and software that virtualizes the standard interfaces (keyboard, pointer) and adds new ones. This is the same old thing with prettier chrome.
-ghostis
Computer Science is all about trying to find the right wrench to bang in the right screw. -T.Cumbo?
Maybe someone should go into business making chains for these wireless devices. "Always losing you mouse, why not securely chain it to your keyboard so you never have to look for it again." Probably should make the chain look like a normal mouse cord.
People might steal the keyboards so better chain them to.
People who buy more than one of these might forget which computer is which monitor, so we better have a chain (again styled like a cord) to connect the wireless screen to the computer.
Alternative Laptop Gallery Lots of cool images!!
"The computing element measures 4.5"H x 12.8"W x 14.8"D and contains sealed and secure devices to offer increased control for information technology managers"
First off it seems the real innovation here is the new marketing BS - "My computer doesn't have a CPU, it has a Computing Element!"
"Sealed and secure device" - as in, "you can't fuck with them"? By the gods, what's the point then!!??
sic transit gloria mundi
yeah, and in a cube the farthest your keyboard can be from the receiver is about 4cm, so it kinda looses the whole idea.
sic transit gloria mundi
Is it secure? I don't know much about Bluetooth, so I couldn't say. But I don't want to be transmitting my keystrokes in cleartext over RF. Somebody probably already mentioned this, but I couldn't find the thread...
Still to this day, upgrading a hard drive or a graphics card is an unnecesarily obfuscated process, requiring the PC guts to be cracked open and laid out on the kitchen table.
If upgrading hardware was quick and simple - what would be the fun in it?
sic transit gloria mundi
ever since the P4:
"'Concept PC 2001' uses the power of the Intel® Pentium® 4 processor platform for future PC innovation."
What does that sentence MEAN?? How can a computer (even a Concept PC) use a platform to achieve future innovation?? Or is it just using a platform that's itself is a platform for future innovation? In that case, since when is a proccessor a platform for innovation? And lastly, what the hell does "platform for future PC innovation" mean in the first place???
sic transit gloria mundi
uhh... are my Kendwood 72X, Plextor 24X and Asus DVD all gonna fit in there?
sic transit gloria mundi
I have yet to see a good fixed wireless power solution for a PC that doesn't potentially kill the user or his stuff. Yes, the fuel cells look promising, but recharging your keyboard/ mouse/ monitor(?) with a cartridge every few months may end up being too much hassle.
Never never never smoke crack before geometry class!
...the Pentium 4. The whole concept is that of a better working environment with the best technology too, but mainly to get the job done. The 2001 Concept PC uses... Better working environment? The dude is still surfing the web and wasting productivity... So much for getting the job done... ;) Now we can goof off without any wires to tangle our coffee cups.
My god! You still use floppies? I'm sorry, but you can't have a nice modern PC until you can get over that. :-)
:-)
Another example of the dark side of PCs. The inertia for `the way we have always done it' is immense.
When I got my first iMac I was worried about the no-floppy. It was pointless. I have never wanted a floppy for any mac since then. I still use them on PCs that are too old to boot from CD or net. Got to get linux on there somehow.
So where's the wireless power?
Seastead this.
My wish for a PC is to be rackmount at home, in the basement. Keyboards, mouses, CDROMs and Monitors are dispersed in the house. Since the CPU is in the basement, the fan noise would not be a problem in the main appartements. Quiet, slick terminals across your home... Imagine...
Note that rackmount of a 5U unit at least. I want the same upgrade possibilities as I have with my mid tower. The CPU unit does not need to be slim; costs consideration must come before space or even noise (to a limit of course).
Remember the year 2000? They promised us flying cars. They delivered the PT Cruiser...
I don't think the Monitor is acutally wireless, I couldn't find any specific mention oother than on the post above.
Let's think about the bandwidth required to display 1600x1200 resolution, Bluetooth doesn't come close to hacking it
This monitor has effectively increased the surface area that I have to put the stickers from my bananas on by at least 500%. It's going to be a long time before we see another innovation like this from the computer industry.
OK.. so i'll lose a karma for flamebait.. but WHO THE HELL MODS THIS!!! -1 Offtopic? WTF That's a poorly used as the 10 -1 Redundants i've got.. and only 3 other comments posted!!
:->
:)
Anyway. I'd hate to be that cat, with that much power runnin via laser
Microwave might work... but with the same caveat
I do find however that the worst wire to work with is the power wires. Its stiff.. and finding damn OUTLETS!!! i've got WAAAY too many surge strips already!
Is it just me, or does that look like my parents old Black and White Zenith TV that got run over by a steam roller.
Seriously! Wats with the off-center screen, and the knob looking things at the side!! DAMN that's waaay to retro.
Oh, and BAN the fucker who used all their mod points to -1 Offtopic relevant posts. dumbshit..
I love how someone modded this as offtopic. I've seen posters who didn't bother to read the story or the article, but when a mod does it, it's just sad.
See the picture with the monitor hanging on the cube wall -- this thing has 'corporate' written all over it.
Expandability? None, internally, to speak of.
Corporate MIS doesn't generally add cards or internal devices.
I'm sure this thing screams 'proprietary case design'
Corporate MIS NEVER wants to upgrade motherboards. Any other objections?
All in all, the whole thing looked like a commercial for Intel
Yup, different market than you, hopefully you'll understand that. Still it's been done 100 times already (see iPaq, etc).
From pricewatch.com
$503 17" LCD
45 wireless keyboard+mouse
64 32M RADEON
218 1.5G P4 + MB
45 512M RAM
73 40G drive
8 ATX micro case
84 WinXP
Same fluff and junk different approach. You would think with a few years of experience between Intel and HP that they would have come up with something better than commodity hardware that has been trashed with more proprietary hardware.
I have been working with computers for years, and even teach a computer repair course for an Adult Education program. The thing that torques me off more than anything is that this concept PC is nothing but a scam. Let me see here, I run to my local computer store and buy a NLX box, wireless keyboard and mouse. I get a little jiggy with a soldering iron and mount the RF wireless receiver inside the case. I get me a nifty LCD Monitor, put it in a box with a Laptop/NLX style CDROM... break out the soldering iron again, and make a single nifty cable to go from the "Monitor, Drive" to the NLX Box.
We are down to 2 cables, 1 for power, one for Monitor...Ohhh wait, how about a 802.11b wireless card. Job is done.
Now on to the bashing part: They probably spent more than my new house cost on developing this thing. While what they should have been doing is spending less time on fluff and more time on compatibility. Like say, developing a Standards based store bought computer that doesn't consist of a $79 mother board, and the cheapest stuff they can get their hands on, then putting in a Pentium 4 and sell it as gold. Ohhh wait, they could use a FORM FACTOR in a PC... so when they pull a Micron and put a pico fuse on the motherboard connecter, you have to buy a Micron motherboard.
Wait... Speaking of standards, Pentium 4... different power supply, different memory, marginal performance gains.
Boils down to pure crap.
Is it me, or have computer keyboards actually gotten crappier over the years? More keys, buttons, dials, and knobs. Fancy colors, new computer interfaces (USB, IEEE1394, bluetooth). However, the actual performance, functionality, and durability of computer keyboards has gone down hill over the past 10 years. The strange thing is that almost every other aspect of computers has improved significantly over the past 10 years. CPUs are god-like compared to those available 10 years ago. RAM is fast, plentiful, and costs next to nothing. Same goes for harddrives. Video displays have gotten larger, and have better quality.... etc... Hell, even the other major input device, the pointing device has improved (trackpoints, laser and mechanical mice, etc).
Keyboards on the other hand are degenerating into cheap pieces of crap. They no longer have crisp clean tactile feedback, which makes fast and accurate touch typing possible. Keystrokes often fail to register. Keys stick, and even sometimes fail to press. All in all, the modern keyboard fails at its most basic task: typing.
Why are keyboards getting worse?
Here are some of my theories:
So yeah, this Concept PC looks cool, and I am glad that overall, computer technology is improving, but I wish that the "few steps back" taken in the keyboard technology department didn't have to happen from generation to generation. Of course, some people still make and sell good keyboards with the high quality and durable capacitive aka buckling spring keyswitch technology.
Don't forget the magnetic floppies that are the heart of Zip and LS-120 disks. They'll probably be around for years to come.
Never never never smoke crack before geometry class!
BFD.
BTDT.
If you get a decent case, all this becomes simple. Take my case, for instance. Open the side latch and the whole side comes off. Flip a catch and the 5 1/4" drive bay comes out to allow you to screw in drives from both sides. Flip another catch and the floppy bay comes out. Case fans fit into clips, which gets rid of the need for screws. Tons of room, so that you can get at any part of the motherboard.
Elapsed time to replace any component in the system? A minute, max.
If that's not fast enough for you, then buy swappable drive bays for your hard drives. It's not hot-swappable, but the drives just slide in and out. Course, you need enough externally accessable 5 1/4" bays.
It seems we live in worlds too different to even communicate. Allow me to supply more detail...
:-)
Zip - it never entered my mind to use a zip disk. I have no use for cheap, unreliable storge (floppies), I certainly have no use for expensive unreliable storage.
Bootable CDs - my prefered way to install software. Fragility doesn't matter. I lose them or loan them. I just burn a new one each time I need one.
Bootable Network - I use this. If my NIC dies I replace it. I'm using Linux on these machines. I do not have a driver issue to deal with. If I did, I would just use a CD or CD-R to tote the driver over.
Everything is networked. All my valuable data moves around at night using rsync so it is stored on multiple machines. rsync is patient. Most users (image editors aside) don't make enough data that rsync won't catch up in a couple of hours at night, even on a modem.
You use "floppies" and "reliable" in the same sentence. I'll assume that is a typo.
You mention me using a costly horrible to upgrade box. I'm not sure what you mean there. I buy my wintel boxes for $400 (cheapest machine at BestBuy) and never upgrade them (ok, I do add RAM initially if I will be running gimp or such on it). The macs I usually buy low end machines on their 'end of model' sale and get a nice price on those as well.
Other than adding RAM or a new drive now and again I have only upgraded 1 machine in 20 years. I got a clocked doubled P180 for a P90 once. It wasn't really worth it. The rest of the machine was mostly obsolete and the machine just got bus bound. Paying a premium for upgradability is a waste of money in my book. Part of that comes from having multiple computers. I can always just demote all the machine, give away to oldest machine, and buy a new for the machine that needs CPU.
Sony's 18.1" LCD display is available now. Looks better, too.
This is an interesting concept and show of technology but very insecure.
It is currently hard enough to secure current displays and interfaces from determined, well funded snoops(read government, drug cartels, industrial estionage).
Current wireless keyboards(Logitech) are very easy to intercept from a decent distance.
You could aquire much more information from a distance if you could watch all input from the office or appartment nextdoor.
I would hope the display and keyboard would use some sort of encryption.
SIGFEH
We always hear about the Concept PC's yet they always go back to the 1980's technologies of the floppy, slow serial, slow parallel etc. IR Wireless keyboard and mouse were here more than five years ago and last month I tried one that was very reliable and cheap. Nothing is new here.
The concept PC of 200X is one that sheds all the bottlenecks of the 80's and 90's. Unfortunately every PC maker talks the talk but does not walk the walk.
/-\ |-|
Yet another sad attempt by a PC designer to make cool, elegant, homogenous looking computer components like Apple. At least this doesn't look as slapped-together and idiotic as earlier HP and Compaq attempts.
Maybe they'll get it right in several years, just about on track for the general "PC now is Apple 10 years ago" rule.
Why is it that only Apple seems to be able to pull this off? They couldn't have hired all of the talented industrial designers in the world.
As usual, this HP P4 box is just a ripoff.
The Twentieth Anniversary Mac was introduced in 1997 and Apple built 12000 of them. It contained a Base unit with power, drives and subwoofer. Just cable one from the base unit to the LCD display which contained a cdrom and the connectors... or check the picture to see it yourself..
Tesla was successful! Haven't you ever seen a Tesla coil? That's wireless power, buddy. It's a little loud and tends to smell like ozone, but Tesla wanted to put one of these on every street corner.
Sure it looks neat, but what about the always full coffee mug. That's gotta come in handy for all night coding/gaming.
0 011113comp_a.htm
On another note, someone mentioned the article on Intel's site but I didn't see a link directly to it so here it is:
http://www.intel.com/pressroom/archive/releases/2
They have nice big pictures there so you can actually tell what those dial looking things are.
Granted, I didn't read the article, just looked at the pictures (hey, I have an art degree). But the two circular 'knobs' on the monitor remind me of the TV I used to plug my Timex Sinclar 1000 into -back when 1K was this boundless void of ram.
Never trust a bald barber; he has no respect for your hair
" Fiorina holds a bachelor's degree in medieval history and philosophy from Stanford University "
*Insert jibe about her medieval treatment of HP here*
Alex 4.0
a new way for my employer to cram me into an even _smaller_ space than I'm already in now.
There's no "I" in Linux.. err..
That monitor looks like one of those old (pre-remote) tv's complete with separate dial for UHF and VHF stations
what a piece of shit. the monitor looks very stupid the way they have it. if you must have a cd drive on the monitor, at least they could have mounted it on the back so that you don't have this wasted blue hunking real-estate on the side. where do they find their industrial design guys? toys"r"us? gm? zenith? i'm sure they were tops in their class. what a joke. hawaii five-0 anyone?
small box is nice. but come on, it's still a box. ooooh, how original.
keyboard and mice are old news. nothing special.
you can say what you like about apple, but at least they know how to make shit look good. the rest of the industry in that regard just plain sucks.
-running with scissors
By the way, aren't there security concerns with running every interface on the PC as wireless? Brings a whole new definition to sniffing/hacking someone's box if you can hijack the video, input devices, and network connectivity.
With RF, I might be concerned that I'd have yet another plain text connection that could be snooped.
Does anyone remember when keyboards were attached to the terminal? It was such a nice thing when, finally, you could put the thing in your lap. Now we have the Enterprise class keyboard (named after the aircraft carrier, which it resembles. There are all these extra keys on one side. So in the lap, the keyboard is an out of balance accident waiting to happen.
Laptops have nice compact keyboards that you can put in your lap, but the monitor goes into your lap too.
-- Stephen.
This seems to me that HP was inspired by Apple's Cube. The color scheme looks the same (from the tiny pictures), they tried to minimize cables (Cube had ADC & AirPort), a slot load optical drive, and they are using airflow to control the temperature just like the Cube.
I have a website. It's about Macs.