A Linux Machine For Your Collar

MadSaxon writes "gumstix.org has a brief but titillating description of a very small Linux machine based on the PXA255: 20 x 80 mm, '64MB SDRAM, 4MB Flash, MMC/SD/SDIO slot, and power management. It takes 3.6V - 5.0V power, and has been drawing under 200 mA.' It weighs less than 12g sans battery, and 'can fit in a collar undetected.' Is collar-top computing the Next Big Thing?"

Comments

Laundry advice?

[ackthpt]

So, if your collar is wired, do you dry clean?

You've got token ring around the collar!

Why not wireless?

[Sean80]

It has always struck me that putting more and more power close to people is the wrong way to go. Instead, why not make these machines effectively a "dumb terminal" and hook it in the Internet through a wireless connection, where it would interact with web services? Then, you can have a supercomputer on your side, and you wouldn't even know it.

But, I guess that goes against the post. My other thought is the social stigma associated with these things. I still get people telling me in an embarassed tone of voice that they can't remember my number any more without their cell phone handy. I see these things being huge in the area of 'intelligence augmentation' and 'external memories', if only people could accept that learning things rote is no longer something we actually have to do any more.

under the collar?

[nizo]

Ok great the computer fits under my collar, but does it have a jack to plug right into my brain? Or must I wear those uber-geeky display glasses with a one handed keyboard to use it, which would seem to defeat the purpose of yet another ultra small computer. It seems we need to work on the interface for wearables more than anything.

Bugs need to be ironed out.

[Traicovn]

I still have some (pretty straight-forward) bugs to be ironed out but a few other friends are now diving into these.

Best to iron these out without the device still in the shirt collar. Medium starch.

Well yes actually think about it.

[SmallFurryCreature]

You keep your neck undented. Things in my pocket have to survive me bending over and such. The connectors on portable players always get damaged because of that. Same with the antenna's on old phones. Add to it your keys, loose change and handkerchief and you got a hostile enviroment.

Belt? Even worse in many ways. In a working enviroment things tend to snag. And if you are crawling around after wires this is not nice.

So yeah the collar would be an intresting spot. A safe place on the body. How often do you bump your hips into something and how often your throath?

Of course the original reference was humorous intended but I just dislike it when people automatically snub an idea just because they refuse to think for a second about a new possibilty.

Re:Wearable Linux

[hardcode57]

I think you mean 'is that a gnu in your pocket?'

Re:So It's a PDA

[ill_mango]

Yeah, I agree at this point it's little more than a geekier-looking PDA, but it would be cool if he could somehow come up with a screen that wears like glasses and some sort of small, one-handed input device.

I think people should start working on smaller, more convenient interfaces rather than smaller computers, because we have some pretty ridiculously small computers out already.

Google cache

[DerOle]

Seems like they either prepared their site for the /. effect or they initially were out to sell this stuff but reconsidered. Take a look at the google cache here and here where you can find out more about prices and specifications.