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Incredible Shrinking PC
Lawrence_Bird writes "Reuters is reporting that IBM is set to announce next week a
prototype
PC called a 'metapad' 5"x3"x0.75". 128Mb Ram, 10GB, and an 800 Mhz cpu.
Understand this is a module that can be plugged into other devices,
such as a LCD screen or docking station. "
I hope this device runs on the IBM PPC G3. An 800 MHz PPC in a machine this size would be incredible.
...putting one in your pocket on a crowded subway?
...trying to *type* on this thing?
...the cost of these things?
...how this will impact the PDA market?
...the cost of these things?
...having a Beowulf cluster in a card catalog?
Nice, now I can have a pc where ever I go! Oh wait, then what would I do with my laptop? Maybe I can attach it to my laptop, and use Merlin with it :)
.. the better/smaller the device, the easier it is for pickpockets ;)
The article actually claims that the unit has a 10-gigaBIT hard drive. I wonder if that was a mistake, or an intentional marketing ploy to make it sound more impressive than it actually is.
In other words this is a laptop without a screen?
MetaSearch=Search a set of search engines
MetaModerate=Moderate a set of Moderations
MetaPad=Pad a set of Pads???!!
Can 'Meta' prefix a Noun, rather than a Verb?
So, it's a really tiny computer. One that you still have to plug into a docking station. If you want to use the same computer everywhere you go, use a laptop. If you want to bring your work home with you, there's ZIP disks or CompactFlash cards. What, exactly, does this get us besides "Hey, look what we can do, even tho nobody'll use it?"
What makes this so wonderful?
Somehow new things (hadware at least) doesn't appeal to me.
"The portable computing device, which IBM Research will unveil on Feb. 11 at a technology conference in Phoenix, Arizona, includes 128 megabytes of dynamic random access memory, a 10-gigabit hard drive and a microprocessor -- which is the brain of the computer -- that runs at 800 megahertz, or 800 million cycles per second."
That's 1.25 gigs for the math impaired.
-Wade
...In other words, no keyboard, no mouse, no screen, no input or output of any kind. It's a PC you're meant to take home and plug into a docking station which has all your input and output devices ready for you.
Why this is any better than an ultraslim laptop, which has pretty much all the same features plus the ability to use it without a docking station when needed, is not immediately clear to me.
This sounds like something that would be a great application for a Transmeta CPU. These will definitely need low power and cool-running chips. It's too bad the article didn't have many details.
~.Evanrude
With a little device like this, I could move my "Computer" from home to work, have the laptop be a "dock" for the computer.
Taking it one step further, an industry standard device could allow one to buy laptops as a chassis with engine. I could buy the Thinkpad X's chassis and plop in a transmeta computing module to get 2x the battery life.
Alex
I wannit!
I wannit!
I wannit! (foaming at the mouth)
I wannit!
(Dear IBM, I do so much wannit, sincerly Ackthpt)
I wannit!
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Add a battery, DVD drive, keyboard. Is it still a lot smaller than a notebook? It seems to me like someone just took an old notebook apart... Not all that revolutionary when you look at it form this perspective, is it?
Finally, a mainstream computer both small and fast enough to fit in a car.
I am looking forward to watching movies and listening to the music I want to in the car, and it is removable and can have (Maybe) a cdrom so I can watch even more movies!
http://welcome.to/metapad
It's the Notepad alternative!
I'm not sure about the name...
...I think there could be a lawsuit coming from whatever Japanese company owns "Poke'mon." Isn't there a pokemon out there by that name?
I'm really thinking about switching to OSX.
It would be cool to see IBM make one of these powered by that chip that they make what's it called? PowerPC?
This thing sure has the potential to be an iPod killer. Not only do you get to have all your music, you get to have all your workspace and all your files with you, wherever you go. I just plug it into another computer and that computer instantly acts as a dumb terminal into my own computer. That sounds like a really great idea!
What does this do, you may ask, other than act as a penis-size indicator without a screen? Well, if I want, I can run it as a personal server that's small. If I want the portability of a laptop without the size, I can have one docking station for it at home and one at the office, and play mp3's on it in the car during my drive between. (If it's a pc, then somebody can make a panel you put on it that will give you an lcd to select files and an audio output). If it's reasonbly priced if/when it comes out, I'll definitely get one if only for the fun use factor!
so apparently we all read arstechnica too. this was on there long before it showed up on slashdot. i don't blame the /. editors for
this, but i'd hope that the people posting
news would take a bit more ethical responsibility and report the source. see
the original arstechnica article for more details.
...because pagers and cell phones haven't completely succeeded in making our jobs be 24/7.
The difference between theory and practice is that, in theory, there is no difference between theory and practice.
IBM is meant to produce secure sh1t! so it is irony in a weird perverted way! silly! :]
Can I use it to make toast on my lunch break? Where do they put the heat from that 800MHz. ???
Learn from the mistakes of others. There isn't enough time to make them all yourself.
...get AMD to put a proc in the thing, then market it as "MetaHeatingPad".
This piece of news has nothing to do with yahoo, except that yahoo quotes Reuters and you quote yahoo.
t ec hnologynews&StoryID=573016
The original could be found here.
http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=
It appears to be the CPU, memory, and HD packaged together in a 3x5x1 package, with a docking connector. No display, no FDD, no cards. Your desktop becomes a box w. a power supply, video card, sound card, FDD, and a big whole in the front. Rack in the module to do anything useful. Laptop is smaller and has a bay for the module. PDA is basically a screen with batteries and a port on it, and the module becomes the main body. Sounds neat - I want one.
"As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly." A. Carlson
That's like the people at k5 complaining "This was on The Other Site". All of us don't read arstechnica.
Best Slashdot Co
So it's an Ipod with more disk, faster chip, no firewire, bigger, no lcd or interface.
...
But it is a general purpose computer.
And it's two years away
*yawn*
a small pc isn't so much the matter any more..i mean being able to cram more jazz into your pda is cool and all but as far as desktop computers fo i think but a more quiet pc would be a better endeavor..(multiple brushless fans + hdd+52x cd rom)*4 is too damn loud for me.. i think especially when one is trying to concentrate
This would be perfect for health care providers. I develop software for hospitals and using these devices will make doctors, nurses, patients level of care quicker and more reliable. My company is using iPaq's / Palm PDA's currently and looking into the Viewsonic SuperPDA for Tablet based entry.
So in short it will have viable use.
Hook this up to one of those shoes that generate power as you walk from MIT. Attach it to a glasses HUD with voice recognition and you have a wearable computer.
This is gonna be cool...
_______________________________
"I'm not Conceited...I'm just a realist..."
I have a 5'x3' "module" I can plug into other devices, too, and it didn't take a $5 billion/year research budget to come up with, either.
(Had to be said...)
Lately democracy seems to be based on the skybox, the Happy Meal box, the X-box, and the idiot box.
is this a Good Thing(tm)?
This one ain't a prototype: http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/computing/5868.shtm l
Assuming it has a touch screen and an OS that takes advantage of that touch screen, then what you have here is much better than an ordinary laptop.
Frankly, laptops are uncomfortable to use in your lap. A tablet's form factor would work much better for doing things like browsing the web while you're watching TV.
As an artist, I use a sketch pad with an array of pencils and markers. With a sufficiently designed tablet, I could run Photoshop on it and use that as my sketchpad. Since all the work I do is digital, being able to save the step of scanning my sketches is a big time saver. Not to mention that with Photoshop, I could start with a real photo (PCMCIA camera?) and draw on top of that. Plus, I would need a lot fewer art supplies, and those aren't cheap. Heck, if I really wanted to get fancy (and I do...) I could get an 802.11 card and have it automatically upload my sketches to my website. Since I post my artwork on forums alot, this would be a time saver too.
The execs where I work have expressed interest in replacing their laptops with tablets. One of them actually said "I wish my PDA was about 8.5 by 11 inches." On a plane and in meetings, its far more convenient to use in that form factor.
If you oversimplify anything, it can sound dull. The revolution comes from how it's used, not how it's designed. If one teeny weeny little change to a system makes people use it in a whole new way, then that's all it needs to be interesting. You know that little wheel on your mouse? Those didn't always used to be there. Now that it's there, I can't stand mice that don't have that wheel.
"Derp de derp."
IBM is meant to produce secure sh1t!
Interesting theory. Why is IBM any more or less "meant" to do this than another company? Or would it be "ironic" if any company made something that was easy to steal? I think you're still missing the concept of irony. And there's nothing ironic about that, either.
MetaPad sounds WAY too much like a super-absorbent feminine hygiene product.
I realize this was for Yahoo Finance, and not exactly aimed at the SlashDot crowd, but seriously:
Sheeesh. Like explaining that 800 megahertz is 800 million cycles per second is going to clue folks in with such valuable information. "Gawrsh, that's a lot of cycles per second."
And IBM's statements seem weird:Ready for the market in a few years??? In a few years, this thing should be *way* obsolete, with tiny pocket computers more powerful than our desktops of today. This thing would be useful and interesting today, not a year from now.I thought IBM had top notch people in usability, market research, laptop design, and so on. It seems strange to hear them say "we have this cool technology, but we're not sure how people would use it." I can think of a dozen ways it could be turned into a useful product. I guess it's good that they're asking the industry, but it sounds like these guys are a bit directionless, and will end up deliverying too little, way too late.
Too bad, I'd likely buy one of these if it were available today.
-me
Love many, trust a few, do harm to none.
I want better specs before I get excited... can we necessarily assume this is a conventional 686 PC that fits in your hand?
;-)
And IBM says it won't be marketable for a few years... by which time these specs are tiny. So, my impression is less that this device will be a replacement for one's laptop, but rather a tiny alternative to smaller devices which normally use specialized hardware and software (e.g., handheld anything).
Not necessarily a replacement for ARM-based PDAs, but perhaps as a powerful and easily programmed tool for sophisticated field-testing, etc.
Naturally, though, I'd just use it as my "take anywhere" file-sharer.
der_m
This seems to be the Evil Empire answer to a Terapin Mine sorta kinda. All usual griping, sniping, and trolling aside, does anyone have any more substance? I couldn't find anything at IBM or IBM Research. I think it is a very sound idea. Dealing with the exact same environment for desktop, mobile and handheld settings certainly seems an obvious solution to issues with synchronization and functionality as you move from setting to setting. Microsoft is already creeping in this direction with PPC2002 the platform.
Dan FitzGerald Network Analyst and Wannabe Hacker KC0CZM (2m & 440 in NJ)
I was crossing the street one day and a few steps in front of me was a young lady talking animatedly on a cellphone. So animatedly was she talking, in fact, that she failed to notice the height of the curb and consequently stumbled when she reached the other side. The cellphone flew out of her hand and crashed down in the gutter, whereupon the battery fell off the back of the phone.
Leaving two very small black rectangular objects.
Both of which were easily small enough to fit in the gaps between the bars of the sewer grating on which they landed.
...unfortunately, as much fun as it may be to leave it there, I have to report they didn't fall down the drain, but instead both bounced off the bars and onto the road. Pure dumb luck she didn't lose them both.
I guess that the term 'metaphysics' answers the question about using meta+nouns. I agree that metapad doesn't sound that cool. It could be a Tampax product, or an Enron accounting practice, or...
I wonder how IBM plans to overcome interface issues that would occur with a device this small. I suppose someday we'll be able to speak or think commands to have them occur.
Also, at what point does small become TOO small? I mean... who wants to look at a postage stamp size screen all day? I actually think that unless they can come up with a new way to display information (like projected onto your glass lens, or cornea.) they shouldn't get any smaller than the current Palm PDAs. Just work on making the PDAs more powerful and more robust.
IMHO
The Generation
I'd say something witty here, but I'm not that bright.
krap. To do this now, just purchase a single board computer, with pc-104 expansion, add stuff here and there.
Then you have a highly function toy today without some jive astie wait state.
---If you build it yourself, it will work, least until you break it---
news.com has a story about this as well. There's says a little more about why it's different than a laptop. It's meant to convert from a laptop to a handheld to a desktop at will.
For OSX, you'd need more than just a PPC motherboard, as it uses other Apple proprietary components (ROM, etc.). But, you could still run Darwin, which is the Mach kernel and BSD workings that the "OSX Layer" runs on top of.
In fact, there is an x86 version of it availible for download at Apple's Open Source website (requires a free reg. to download). It's not Aqua but you still get a decent BSD system.
Makes me wonder if the entirety of OS X will someday be ported to x86? (Not likely)
CAn'T CompreHend SARcaSm?
...and when I opened up the box, there had been significant shrinkage.
I Heart Sorting Networks
Isn't this just a re-hashing of the Ergo Brick? It was a 486/Pentium that was just a brick with ports. Sold with the idea that you could afford a second monitor, kbd and mouse at home, and you would just lug this thing back and forth. Was used in some secure environments because you could pop the whole machine in a safe at the end of the day.
Point is, this really isn't a new idea. Not that it's a bad one, but it's definately not original.
Sig? What sig? Do I have to have a sig!?!?
I thought that IBM was going to be supporting Linux.
This article on CNN has the same basic content, a few more details, but infinitely less painful to read than the cornball "humor" in the Yahoo article.
-- Rob "Xemu" Fermier
Code-named ``MetaPad'', the module is 5 inches (12.7 cm) long, 3 inches (7.6 cm) wide and about three-quarters of an inch (1.9 cm) thick. The module fits into a larger accessory piece that includes a small, flat screen on front and is about 6 inches (15.2 cm) long, 4 inches (10 cm) wide and 1 inch (2.5 cm) thick.
Okay, well, the screen on my Handspring Visor is about 4" x 2.5" so in that light this device's seems to compare to a largish PDA at 6" x 4". I've seen Pocket PC's with color screens and more power than my little Visor, but they weren't running full-blown Windows 2000 and I doubt they had quite the specs this thing has.
I don't think this really appeals to me, mostly because if I want to do any real work that would require desktop processing power, I want to do it on a screen large enough not to give me eyestrain. 6" x 4" doesn't cut it for me. I think I'll just stick with my handy-dandy notebook computer.
When I hear "metapad" I think of a big 8.5" x 11" x 1" tablet with a big LCD screen taking up one entire side of it. You'd use a stylus like on a PDA, but it would have the processing power of a laptop, and a color display. Now that would be cool if it ever happens...
picture: http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/i/ne/en/2002/02/0205met apad.jpg
article: http://news.com.com/2100-1001-830173.html
How can they promote this as a feature? Telnet (and now ssh of course) works just fine for finishing work at home.
Or, using the same techniques used by the galsses, why not make a HUD for my car, with speed, and proximity warnings, and a GPS linked map... forget taking my work home, this is the right combination of size/power to do all kinds of cool new things!
And, for those calling it "obsolete" by the time it comes out, dont' you think that if they want to wait a few years to market it and such that they want some extra R&D time to improve it?
CAn'T CompreHend SARcaSm?
Why the hell would you want to plug it into a base station? Haven't they heard of Bluetooth? Simply walk up to a screen/mouse/keyboard station, pair the device and of you go. This is the medium term future of computing, one small device that holds all that you currently have on your local machine with the ability to pick it up and walk away with it, just like todays PDA's. Of course it will be full featured when linked with the right I/O devices unlike todays PDA's.
Longer term it should all be networked but since the networks don't cover everywhere we need to be and are not fast enough yet this isn't fessible.
[Please type your sig here.]
My company is selling control devices for a major brasilian telco which has as cpu a complete IBM-PC compatible computer built in a card no biger than 12cm x 12cm. It contains 1 Pentium MMX/K6, 2 72 pin simm memory connectors and a SiS chipset with buil-in graphics and sound.
In one edge of the card it have an I/O pannel with SVGA, mouse, keyboard, serial and paralel connectors and in the other an ISA-like male connector that plugs in the unit from where it draws power and comunicates with the rest of the unit. in the card itself it also has standard IDE and floppy connectors.
So, now I ask: What's the big deal with this IBM "invention" ?
What ? Me, worry ?
So it's a slightly smaller than the Saintsong Espresso PC. Big deal. The Saintsong Espresso has been available for over a year. I really don't see what IBM is trying to prove here.
These things have great potential. If each person has one of these things then terminals can be used instead of PCs all over the place. Just plug your metapad into the terminal and off you go.
Trademark does not apply -- the link you point to is for software, while IBM's handy-dandy miracle machine is hardware.
I hold it, that a little rebellion, now and then, is a good thing. -- Thomas Jefferson
It's ironic- I was fooling around with win XP- and my admin password file was somehow corrupted- the machine wouldn't even boot... and I couldn't recover or repair (since my password no longer worked)- way more security than any home user needs. Anyway, it required a reformat/reinstall... a headache that's over and done with. Thank god MS can protect me from myself.
The issue with something so small and portable as the Metapad becomes the physical security of the device itself. The entire unit becomes insecure as it is lying around. Anyone can walk off with it... sneak it out in a pocket, etc...
I also hope it is more rugged than my palm- the display cracked after falling off my knee while I was sitting... fell maybe two feet. Since the display is the input, the entire thing was inoperable.
Those that suggest you "dance like no one is watching" really want to see you make a complete fool of yourself.
geforce3, seeya.
It's about time this happened. I've been waiting for someone to come out with this device. This is the computer that does the work of many computers, and you take it with you. Think about it: you have a home computer. A work computer. A laptop. A PDA. If you are really cool, you might have an AutoPC or a RioCar. Maybe you have a web console for your TV. Why have all these devices when you only really need one computing device that you take with you?
Imagine the cost savings of having such a device. All of those extra processors, ram, unused storage, and power. Gone. You have all the information you need on one machine, and maybe a backup in case one gets stolen.
Now to make sure no body can steal it and your data with it...
oooooooh, I'm supposed to be impressed? What microprocessor? My cordless phone runs at 2 GHz. :-/
I hold it, that a little rebellion, now and then, is a good thing. -- Thomas Jefferson
and 1.2 GB isn't that big.
Understand this is a module that can be plugged into other devices, such as a LCD screen
A computer that can be attached to a monitor? I'll believe it when I see it!
Who needs a PocketPC or Palm when you can just take your whole computer with you?
Cell Computing make these http://www.cellcomputing.com/ - pretty much the same thing.
IBM is working with Xybernaut on wearable computers. This is just the transferable core technology that Xybernaut has a patent on, that IBM is making under their cooperative umbrella. This has been coming for two years now.. and its purpose and use has been designed for already.. it is to be the core of a wearable or laptop or desktop depending on the needs of the user at that time.
http://iwsun3.infoworld.com/cgi-bin/deleteframe
Xybernaut patents transferable core for mobile devices
March 1, 2000 1:57 pm PT
XYBERNAUT, A MAKER of wearable computers, on Wednesday said it has been issued a U.S. patent for a transferable core for use in a wide range of future mobile devices
Sure it's offtopic, doesn't mean it's irrelavant.
It sure seems to me that the tech world is relying more and more on announcements of products that are 'years' away from commercial products. I know vaporware has always been a part of the software industry, but it now appears to be common place for the hardware world as well.
...I never metapad I didn't like.
Editor Emeritus and Senior Writer, TeleRead.org
Palms and other handhelds have been growing in functionality, while PCs have been shrinking in size.
Soon, maybe in 3-5 years, the handheld/desktop/laptop distinctions will be virtually meaningless.
Long live the wearable/integrated/mobile/ computer!
A computer this small means you can take it to work and finish that game of NetHack you were doing so well on at home.
Am I the only one who sees a market for these are mini-servers?
a box that size sat ontop of the network switch, acting as NAT/Firewall/Counterstrike server/whatever else for a small lan?
sure, it wouldn't be all that cost effective, but it would certainly be space effective.
Here is the information from IBM.
Thought you'd like to know, esp. since it has pictures.
Also note, they refer to it as "prototype device that can transform in seconds into a handheld (shown), desktop (shown), laptop, tablet or wearable computer." Woo hoo!
It runs Microsoft Corp.'s (NasdaqNM:MSFT - news) Windows XP operating system.
OK, that explains the 10 gig drive. Now, where am I to store my data?
Add bootable fast ethernet.
Add blinking lights.
Publish detailed hardware specs.
Start shipping.
Here's the goal. Everyone's gonna do it. Why not be first?
------DO NOT WRITE BELOW THIS LINE------
It occurs to me that such a device might be useful for people who want a desktop and a laptop without the expense buying both separately. If you could use this 3x5 card as a home pc attached to a docking station, why couldn't you buy a laptop shell that fits around this card, too? Instead of paying big bucks for a laptop that duplicates all of the hardware of the home PC, only smaller, we could simply buy laptop shells with a display and keyboard and plug this little bad boy into it. The shell would certainly be much less expensive than a full-fledged laptop. Plus, it would have the effect of making it easier to choose a laptop with a particular keyboard and mouse style because laptop shells would essentially be a fairly standard commodity.
Bah, that's a load of BS. Where are your priorties? If you want to spend more time with your kids, then do so, don't sit there and complain about being too busy.
I get paid way less than I should because I turn my pager off on weekends. I don't put in any overtime unless it's critical. Yeah, I'm not living the high life, and not going to have much when it comes to retirement funds, but the important thing to me is that I enjoy my time with my son, NOW. Once he's grown, I'll probably have to work much harder and longer to make up for lost time, but that's just money. You can't make up lost time with your kids.
I don't have a GHz computer at home, I don't drive a Benz, I don't own a big house, I can't buy the latest gadets. But I do take my son out hiking and camping on weekends. That's where my priorites are. Think about yours...
-- If god wanted me to have a sig, he'd have given me a sense of humor.
My big question about this handheld is what sort of input system does it have? It would be great to have a computer of that caliber in my pocket, but how do you use all that computing power? I've been using a Compaq iPaq for about 6 months (if you're in the market, go Palm or elsewhere) and the most basic, simple tasks like copy-pasting and renaming files becomes incredibly tedious. Granted it plugs into a workstation, but I'm going to standby laptops until handhelds develop a system that makes navigating them easier. I don't care if it has an x86 under the hood, it's going to finish task A before you can ask it to do task B.
Did you even read the damn thing? I'm guessing you were trying to get first post, drooling on the keyboard, and accidentally shorted out you higher brain functions.
It is a processor module, meant to be plugged into a docking bay which is connected to whatever screen you want.
Do us all a favor and end it now. No point in degrading the gene pool any further.
What I want to know is: when will they make a computer I can plug *directly* into my head?
I can carry nearly eighty gigs of data in my head.
While reading this article, I immediately thought of one of our users who has managed to break four PDAs in the last six months. It would be interesting to see how well one of these MetaPads could withstand
*) a 4' or 5' drop onto a hard floor
*) being left in a hot car for a couple of hours
*) rain
or various other kinds of abuse. If they're not easily fixed or cheaply replaced, it seems like it'll be awhile before businesses start using them (not to mention the security risks!).
Still, I imagine that one of these days we'll be plugging these things (or something like them) into our cars or segways or power armor.
"Guess I'll have to buy the White Album again." -- K, Men in Black
--D
...I made a Beowulf cluster of these, and now I can't find it! It's on my desk somewhere.
This is *exactly* what I want for a wearable. Add a small HUD or something, and you've got:
* MP3 player
* media player for the living room
* toss it in my backpack and hook up to helmetcam for sweet footage of skiing through trees or mountain biking at Moab
* driving along, check GPS/map w/o having stupid laptop plugged into cigarette lighter sliding around the passenger seat
This is where it will be...IBM is leading the way...
I'm no hardware expert, but isn't this more or less the same thing as what PC/104 and PC/104-Plus standards have been providing for the past several years, except PC/104 is slightly smaller (3.6 x 3.8 in) and has a nice stackable (standard) PCI bus? Granted, I don't believe I've seen cards that have quite the horsepower as IBM's solution, but why not go with a standard that already exists?
Are we sure this isn't one of those fake FTC propoganda stories like the ones talked about here.
I like what you are thinking with this little gadget, but I want it with about 40 extra years of tech in it.
I want a pair of sunglasses.
Put some nice molecular computing in it. Molecular memory in the petabyte range. Cameras on each corner of the glasses, looking forward and side. Microphones. Running ALL the time, saved forever.
Lasers on the insides of the arms, that can paint full-color video on the inside of the lenses.
Power it from body heat from your head, or something equally silly.
Face recognition through the camera. Voice recognition through the microphones. Complete audio/video records of everything you see. (You better have good security on this thing!)
Memory prompts. I'm horrible with names. When I meet someone new, this thing should remember it. When it recognizes a face of someone I don't know well, put up their name to remind me. Tell me where we met last, who they work for, and remind me that the last time we talked I said I'd do something for them, so I can start working on my excuse early.
Tell me who that band is on the radio. (Hey, it's listening too, it might as well help out there...)
Calendar functions. Calculator. Wireless interface? Definitely, best way to grab information about anything. Add email while you're doing the wireless interface.
Keyboard? WHY?!?! Paint an image of a keyboard on any flat surface, and the thing can follow your fingers as you "type" on a flat desktop. (Okay, that would suck for touch-typists like me, but I'm sure you could get used to it.) Or just have real voice recognition on the thing. (Hey, I'm pretending working molecular computing, I can pretend intelligent voice recognition.)
Additional applications are an exercise for people that will actually be able to build this, in 40 or 400 years.
This is my sig. There are many like it but this one is... Oops. Frank, I've got your sig again! Where's mine?
The human interface is seperated from the computing power. Imagine moving this computer from your desktop to a PDA or Laptop shell. You aren't just synchronizing the data, but the whole shooting match.
With this device a laptop houses nothing more than a display, keybard, CDRom and battery. Imagine how inexpensive a laptop would be with only these few components. Move the computer module to a shell with a screen, a CF slot and a stylis holder and you've got a PDA. Cheap Huh? You already own a computer so why buy a seperate Ipaq? Just think how easy it would be to pop this computer into your car or a wearable shell.
You may have a laptop, a tower and a PDA, but chances are the only time you use them at the same time is when you are sync'ing data. Why pay for duplicate bits of harware when all you need are different ways (PDA shell, LapTop shell, Desktop shel) of accessing your computer.
Stop looking at the specs (which will change before this ships) and start thinking about how this mobility could change your life. It isn't just the data that becomes mobile and mutable but the compuing power as well. Once you have invested in the computer module, the devices you use to access it become both varied and inexpencive.
The measure of the tool is not how cool it looks to the but how it shapes society.
...subcutaneous computers. If the miniaturization trend keeps going this way, I figure ten years from now, we'll be able to pack a CPU, RAM and HD inside your body, with no ill effects.
Now, if we can just get a workable interface for that, it'll actually mean something. Without the interface, it's pretty pointless. As someone said, "imagine trying to type on that."
Kai MacTane: Web developer for hire in San Francisco
sounds VERY close to a nice star trek PADD type device :)
While i'm not privy to all the cool stuff they've been doing on this project, there was a hint dropped about possible operating systems:
"In addition, it can run multiple operating systems that share the same data"
Now lets see, what other OS is IBM pushing these days?
JS - IBM Metaverse devteam
The opinions expressed here are mine & not necessarily representative of IBM
Imagine a Beowolf CLuster of THESE!!!
I can see these being used in a cluster setup, but that's about it. I didn't see anything about a built in screen, or any type of input device, so without it's dock it's sort of useless.
Now, if they could spead this thing out an make it thinner so that it could be embadded in say a professional notebook (you know, those funky little half folder half pads of paper things that profesionals seem to carry arround.) And incorporate a very small screen into it, I could see a use.
Or instead possibly combine this with a fully touch screen LCD, that would make it much more useful, but as it stands all this is, is an HD, Motherboard, processor and memory in a box, which except in extreme cases has very limmited uses.
T Money
World Domination with a plastic spoon since 1984
It actually has a bit more than the posting or the Yahoo article states. According to the IBM page and News.com, it has a Transmeta processor (for low power usage), an 8mb graphics chip, and "includes IBM's handwriting-recognition software and a soft keyboard, allowing users to input data with a pen or type it in on the screen."
I'm not sure they realize how popular this could be. This quote from the article... "Ocheltree said IBM doesn't have specific plans to sell the prototype, which could be ready for market in few years. IBM is talking to computer makers and customers about how it could be used, he said. ... reminds me of a scene from Douglas Adams where the civilization of marketers and middle-managers stopped developing Fire because they were torn over market research.
"'We've got to find out what people want from fire, how they relate to it, what sort of image it has for them.' The crowd were tense. They were expecting something wonderful from Ford. `Stick it up your nose,' he said. `Which is precisely the sort of thing we need to know,' insisted the girl, `Do people want fire that can be fitted nasally?'"
Could it be that IBM doesn't think anyone would want this device that's lightyears ahead of all these damn PDAs??
nonsig. unsig. desig.
If this computer works well,the new imac is going to have some problems taking over the college crowd, which im assuming they were going for, especially compared to a computer you can lug with you easily.
This sounds rather dubious if it's sold to consumers. Remember the "brick" computers of a few years ago? These were compact and reasonably high performance boxes, more than pocket size but still not hard to take home with you. But you had to have a monitor, keyboard, mouse, and CD & floppy drives at every place you were going to use it. They were far sturdier than laptops, and I think had considerably higher performance than a laptop in the same price range. But they were duds on the market. I doubt that shrinking it to pocket size will be sufficient to overcome the basic problem that to the average user it's just a laptop with critical parts missing...
But I can see an embedded system designer salivating over this, IF the price is right and there is a good way to attach the required I/O. Give it USB, Firewire, and RS-232 ports so we can hook in I/O modules and bury this thing somewhere inside of a machine. For program development, we might have to reach inside and hook up the docking port, but once the software is released we just load up the internal HD and stick it in the machine.
"Innovator's Dilemma" - This actually puts it in a comfortable category :
- 3.5 Inch drives
- Internet
- 3D graphics cards (as opposed ye olde 2D ones)
- *cough* Java *cough*
Perhaps Sometimes the best strategy is across the board Darwinistic innovation.
Tera Pax.
Giga Tex.
Spot the madness!
5PM time for dinner, chow!
DMCA, Hollings, Palladium. What might have sounded like paranoia is now common sense.
I hope its running a lite version of XP. 1.25GB isn't too much space.
this would make a sweet little MP3/DVD player though if you could attach IDE/USB devices.
i just hope i don't have to take my work home with me every night.
THERE IS NO DATA. THERE IS O
Metapad is allready the name of a windows text editor. I sure hope they have that name trademarked so that the can sell it for lots of money :-)
http://www.liquidninja.com/metapad/
http://www.personal.psu.edu/reh18/micro/retirem
It's in an older excel format, if memory serves (as old as I could save with whateverI was using that day).
ANyway, it assumes a 7% real return (the historical average forthe stock market), though this can be set in a cell to other values.
It shows the effects of putting $2000/year (the old IRA amount; it's now $3000, but you can change that in the sheet) every year from 21 to 65, including the value of that year's contribution on its own at 65. It also shows starting at 31, and stopping at 30--come retirement time, your contributions from 21-30 are worth more than those from 31-65!
hawk
Why is it every self-righteous post about someone who is OH SO HAPPY they have kids gets modded up? This pisses me off. So what. You reproduced. Big fat hairy deal. You give your life to that, fine. If I feel like propagating my DNA I can go to a sperm bank and get paid. But don't imply that my life is any less rewarding because I live, eat, sleep and breath tech. My job demands 18 hour days, and I love it - no I'm not some IT monkey. I design those computer chips you use every day.
I have to listen to this crap at work. It pisses me off. Some people are more than happy working all the time.. because I don't think it's work. I don't just do it so I can drive a BMW and look pretentious in a huge house I'm never in. I do it because I love manipulating silicon.
Sorry. Venting.
American Computer Company makes a modern-day desktop-ish tiny computer... Sure, it's a bit bigger (about the size of a Discman), but heck, it packs a punch, as well as a large yet tiny hard drive...
http://www.compamerica.com/submicropc.htm