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Multi-head Meets the Laptop
PARENA writes: "Estari comes with a Dual-Screen Laptop! "A what?!" Yes: Dual-Screen. In fact, they are 2 15" TOUCH screens. According to TwoMobile: 'Unlike electronic tablets, the 2-VU(TM) allows users to view two full-page files or documents simultaneously. Users can page through two books at once, or take handwritten notes in a notebook on one screen while paging through a book on the other screen.' Sounds pretty cool!"
when you see someone holding this laptop sideways it means one thing......
they're on Playboy dot com, checking out the centerfold, the way they were meant to be checked out!
:)
Cool device though.....
Sehr geehrter Toilettenbenutzer!
You can keep notes in class, teachers can make lesson notes in it the night before, they can point out stuff in the book. Another nice feature would be a highlight function, so you can use your stylus as a highlighter. Very cool
Free Mac Mini
Now it is. Nice.
Laptops were there to be carted around because you need a computer on the move? You chose something that was small, light and just powerful enough to do what you needed.
That's the reason I still use my Thinkpad 760xl. It's tiny by modern standards, but it's rugged as h3ll and has survived two 4 foot drops.
Then we have the sort of laptop that execs use to show off with.... 17" screens, more memory than you can shake a stick at and all that jazz... They weigh a ton, last about 30 minutes on battery and spent all their life in the docking station. What's the point?
It's the same with this new laptop. How the hell are you going to find the space on a plane to use both screens? Or on a train. Yes, it's toy. Yes, it's shiny (and shiny is good) but it's got very little practical use as far as I am concerned.
Teamwork is essential. It gives the enemy someone else to shoot at
Watch out for the cheap rip-off with a similiar design released soon (before this one is???).
>The 2-VU operates in the Microsoft Windows 2000 and XP® environments and features the Adobe Acrobat Reader®. This strategy avoids the problems of a propriety, closed environment while maintaining the file integrity offered through these state-of-the-art digital rights management platforms.
Win2k and Acrobat. Could this thing be any MORE proprietary and closed???
I would think that since the display is typically the biggest load on the battery of a portable device (laptop/handheld/etc.) that they will have to work really hard to get a decent amount of time with those big bright displays lit up. If you were using it as an e-book reader you would need the battery to last longer than a few hours.
That's a pretty cool idea but when I look at that picture, I can't help but wonder why they're trying to emulate a pad of paper. For about $1, you could get yourself a nice real pad of paper and a real pencil.
I didn't read the whole article, bit I bet this thing is gonna cost some serious bucks. Why not make it look like something sleek and techno-sexy, instead of a cheap little paper binder.
Why try to emulate pencil and paper when we already have real pencil and real paper for much less money, that work much better than any fancy laptop. Why not exploit all the technology that goes into things like this and make them truly useful. Let the pencil and paper be it's own pencil and paper. These two simple items have a use.
"A terrorist is someone who has a bomb but doesn't have an air force." -William Blum
The concept of no longer owning the book, is introduced. For a price, you get access to the text for a period of time. Still want access to it after a year? Gotta pay.
Such concepts as selling the book back to the bookstore when you're finished with the class, or selling it to another student, will become things of the past.
Sure this is a great device, but with the textbook industry drooling over the students as a captive audience, the ramifications of such a device are worth considering.
Although airport security might be sceptical.
"It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
...what would be really cool would be a dual-screen system with a two-sided display. Think sales presentation, with sale guy on one side, and client on the other. No more elbow bumping and reaching over shoulders, etc. I've lost track of how many of our sales reps have asked me about this...
It looks funky, but I'm not convinced it'll play in the form factors they're planning.
:)
Mainly, it's the notebook (ironically enough) form factor that I'm not sure about. Some vertical markets might love it - those that need real computing and portable computing but struggle with the average handheld. Healthcare, education...that sort of thing.
But for the rest of us? Dunno about you, but I just don't work like that. I'm used to scrolling through long documents. I like being able to have wide windows for some tasks (mainly spreadsheets).
In its handheld/subnotebook model, now that could work. My feeling is that would suit the type of use you'd expect - holding a gadget like a book is pretty natural for some tasks.
I'm particularly dubious of the exec's claim that the book format is "proven to be better" for comprehension. That's because people are used to it. Same way that people who type on a standard keyboard struggle to use a Dvorak layout, but that doesn't mean the former is better. And that, to me, sums up a lot of their arguments in favour of the thing.
But hey. Maybe I'll recant when I've had the chance to play with one at a tradeshow and get hooked
it doesn't have a keyboard... so you have to carry that around as well...
probably also has a heavy external PSU...
Being that the LCD is the most expensive part in a laptop, I wonder how much this will cost?
hmm... for fun I enjoy launching DDoS attacks against 127.87.42.5
This thing has already been dreamed up by Apple more than 10 years ago.
See their Knowlege Navigator QuickTime movie.
So it doesn't need batteries, then, and boots instantly? Cool!
I've been involved with people doing music online. This is "music" in the sense of something that you put on a music stand and read, not "music" as in something that you put in a player and listen to.
One major barrier to use is getting the screen sitting on the music stand. Your typical big screen is hardly portable. Your typical laptop opens up in a way that just doesn't physically work on a music stand. This device opens sideways and lies flat, giving it a lot of potential.
Remaining questions: Can I get it with wireless IP access? If not, forget it. Setting up an Internet connection for N of them at a gig would typically take far longer than the gig itself takes. And if wireless access is via the usual phone-company route with per-minute connection charges, forget it. The cost of N phone connections would typically be more than you make at the gig. Unless it's a true "always on" IP setup, it's not usable.
Also, what happens when someone bumps the music stand and the gadget hits the floor? Do I buy a new one?
Also, forget Windows. If you want quality sheet music on a screen, you want a Mac or linux. Windows only supports commercial music packages with proprietary file formats. If I can't exchange the music files with other musicians, I won't even look at it.
There have in fact been experiments with using computers to display sheet music. One of the things that kills the idea is when the musicians discover that they can't write on the music. This is a total showstopper. In particular, no orchestra or band musician would consider using music if they couldn't write their own notes and comments on it. The article implies some sort of handwritten input ability. How good is it? Can I write on the displayed text itself? If not, forget it.
So we still have a way to go before it's usable. But this gadget shows some slight promise to solving some of the physical problems of current hardware.
Those who do study history are doomed to stand helplessly by while everyone else repeats it.
I don't think this kind of thing is going to get popular until e-paper becomes an affordable reality. Really, what's the advantage over say, a notebook? Besides the geek factor, that is.
Disclaimer: MINAA (Mummy! I'm Not An Animal!)
We could call it "Slashdot Vapor Extermination, Inc." Everyday, we would take a different piece of cool-sounding vaporware that gets reported on Slashdot's front page, and then produce it before the original company puts out the press release saying they've had "implementation difficulties" (they weren't smart enough to figure it out) or "that was a concept never destined for production" (we just wanted to tease you so you'd read our press releases).
So, what will it be? A multi-processor quantum teleported dual monitor touchscreen e-ink notebook with a fuel cell running Duke Nukem Forever anyone?
Ummmmm.... How much more closed and proprietary do you get? Not to mention that the writer was unable to deduce that even though his spell-checker told him that "propriety" is spelled correctly, it isn't the right word. Sheesh.
If you pay full price for it and keep it, the book depreciates on your shelf until the data in it is out of date and worthless.
As you mentioned, a literature textbook does not depreciate. Neither does a history textbook nor a Newtonian mechanics textbook (for Physics I).
With E-Books, you pay for it the time you use it. Presumably at a much cheaper price than what you would pay for the dead tree version.
Except in practice, monopolistic effects ensure that you won't see your "much cheaper price" for electronic textbook rental once dead-tree textbooks are driven off the market. There is an inelastic demand for textbook rental, and basic microeconomic theory predicts that inelastic demand + no significant competition = high prices for students.
I'm also afraid that you'll also see EULAs on such electronic textbooks: "You may not use a Braille terminal to read this book." "You may not allow more than one person to read this book." "You may not read this book off campus." Richard Stallman explains it better than I can.
Will I retire or break 10K?
Erm yeah...I can already do this on my laptop: ctrl-X 2 in emacs.
What's the point - it looks almost unusuable.
My favorite quote from the article: "This format for printed publications is widely accepted, based on a study of 30 centuries of graphic design and consumer testing." Wow, those Pheonecians were really ahead of the curve. Graphic design and consumer testing? Do you recall anyone surveying you after you read a book? Also, you'd think a 3,000 year old marketing program could produce results a little earlier then Q3 2002. Someone better fire the exec who started the program. Of course, they might have to dig him up first...
--- I wish I could hear the soundtrack to my life. That way I'd know when to duck.
From the specs: "AnyKey - External User-Assignable "ENTER" Key" Finally, we will be able to hit the AnyKey!
"Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge"
- Charles Darwin
said Estari CEO Dr. Crist
The competition should just give up now. They have the savior working for them! Jeez, talk about name recognition.
Disconnect your television. Do your own research. Draw your own conclusions. They're probably lying. Don't be a sheep.
Anyone notice it has pictures of three rings on each lcd? Just in case a confused reader isn't confused as to the functionality of this device.
I'd hardly call this a laptop. There's no keyboard, and no mention of an alternative input method! This is just a portable monitor.
THIS SPACE FOR RENT
I had thought of the idea for a "Portable Electronic Book", with much the same design in mind -- this around 1980-1985. My idea was to have books on CD (having just gotten a portable CD player, and noticing how small it was), in a foldable unit, with one or two LCD display elements (monochrome, lousy resolution at the time, etc.)
I actually tried to raise some $$$ to get the project off the ground, but there was no interest.
I'm sure I was not the only one with this idea.
You could've hired me.
..if your name is Zaphod Beetlebrox
for the basics in most subject, things havent changed much in a while:
take math for example-
there haven't been many advances in algebra, calculus, trig, numerical methods, etc that would make it into most undergraduate classes.
i'm a chemical engineer, and most of the work in fluid mechanics, thermo, and chemical transport havent changed in almost 50 years. what some would consider the ``bible'' of transport phenomena was first written by bird, stewar, and lightfoot in 1960... the second edition cameout last year.
sure there have been changes in more advanced topics, but the nature of science and math have changed very little lately. i frequently goto used book stores and get old schuams outlines on different mathematical subjects because they still apply today.
what does suck is the following:
i have th 5th edition of a book. the class is being taught with the 7th edition. the content in the books is _not_ very different, but the arrangement has changed. so when the prof says read pages 434 to 482, you have to talk to some other person in the class to find the corresponding pages in your book. i sometimes wonder if the publishers move things arround and changed the questions at the end of the chapter to force students to purchase new books.
-- john
on the rare occasion that i dont keep a book, i give the books to people, rather than sell them back. i give it to them on the condition that they too will give the book to someone else if they dont keep it. i really dont want to help the bookstore rape some other person a little bit less than me.
-- john
I think they're referring to the e-book readers, which are so proprietary they're locked to a specific piece of hardware reading a specific file format. The point being that on their pc tablet thingy you could open doc files, acrobat files, text files, html files, xml files - many formats. It's true that acrobat is a proprietary format. But if you're looking for a common format to read print formatted layout, what else are you going to find it in? Yes it has annoying and horrible drm crap built into it, but it also looks a lot more like print than a web page or a text file. And you will find a lot of content already out there that is in acrobat format, so anything that truly wanted to be a book-like reader would need to be able to read those files. And since the monitors are in portrait mode, one acrobat formatted page should fit exactly on one screen, making the experience fairly similar to a book. Because the one thing I hate above all else in acrobat is the freaking scrolling where you have to give up the hand grabbing the paper icon and go click on the scroll bar because it doesn't recognize that you want to go to the next page. Take out that annoyance and I really wouldn't mind using acrobat to read print formatted material, proprietary warts and all.
... at 1400x1050 mode on my laptop, I can nicely put two word processors side by side. Useful when doing long software engineering documents and you have to trace requirements back through who knows how many documents. Not that this doesn't look like a cool toy. =)
from the PR:
/. headline.
will bring to market the patented dual-screen laptop in the fourth quarter of 2002. Estari's 2-VU(TM) product line will include an eBook, handheld, laptop and portable desktop models.
Which implies that it's the eBook model, the dual head laptop probably looks like something else, however you are making the corrrect assumption from another misleading
-Jon
this is my sig.
The best feature of this puppy nobody is mentioning - screw-in tripod mount! Why in the hell someone didn't do this sooner is beyond me. You can carry a small tripod for your laptop and forego a work surface anywhere you either dont have one or need more room. A lot of these newer machines get so toasty you don't want to *actually* set them on your lap anyway -- sweat up your legs, and re-press your pants (if you are wearing the sort of pants that get pressed anyway)..
As far as I'm concerned, this design sucks with no integrated keyboard, and its requiring the user to hold the screens up to view them at any kind of angle is a total failure -- the thing is going to be HEAVY and HOT. Holding it in your hands for long enough to actually *READ* the eBook you've got on it is going to pain a lot of people.
~GoRK
I dont know about anyone else, but im sure one of these weighs alot less then 2 or three textbooks. if it is as readable as they say it is, and you can take notes, i would definitly opt to take one of these instead of the 5 textbooks i have to lug around from class to class... prodivded i can get the textbook on the laptop in the first place :) if i could, it would definitly save my spine.
Sun is Warm, Grass is Green
Useful for the person named in reference A607727 of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy....
when i say most undergraduate classes i am refering to the onese taken at the freshman and sophmore levels. these are the classes where people take required math classes for other majors. the topics covered in these classes have not changed much, and probably wont. these are the classes with the largest numbers, and account for the bulk of book sales.
it's not uncommon for professors to discuss evolving topics at the junior or seinor level. new books are not necessary for this. my profs would hand out research papers, discuss them, and sometimes have us implement algorithms. again the numbers in classes decrease each year, and so do the total number of textbook sales in upperlevel classes.
-- john
If this thing is supposed to be a fully capable laptop-type device (Harddrive, diskdrive, etc) this thing will wiegh in fairly heavy for a "book"
T Money
World Domination with a plastic spoon since 1984
I'll just keep using my iBook thank you very much.
T Money
World Domination with a plastic spoon since 1984