How Small a PC Is Too Small?

Banner~! recommends an article in IBTimes on the search for the ideal size for an ultraportable computer. One device mentioned is Paul Allen's FlipStart, discussed here recently. After watching early users fumble and nearly drop an early version of the FlipStart while trying to perform a three-finger salute, designers ended up including a single key labeled "CtrlAltDel" in the version that will be shipping soon. From the article: "Each device maker... has a different sense of how small an ultra-mobile can get before it becomes impossible to use. For instance, Microsoft thinks the tiniest screen possible measures 7 inches diagonally, but FlipStart Labs settled on 5.6 inches."

Comments

You know your PCs too small when...

[bluemonq]

* You need a million-dollar electron microscope to see the screen
* Sneezing anywhere near it wipes out the RAID array
* You confuse it with a prophylactic
* Ants use it to jumpstart their own nuclear weapon program for their holy war against the termites

Re:You know your PCs too small when...

[Whiney Mac Fanboy]

* You confuse it with a prophylactic

Zouch! I feel really sorry for your girlfriend* if you thought small & the first thing that sprang into your mind was a prophylactic.

* Yes, yes. This is slashdot, what am I thinking?

Control Alt

[Tablizer]

designers ended up including a single key labeled "CtrlAltDel" in the version that will be shipping soon.

I bet that key will get worn out first ;-)

I've found a similar shortcut; just click the Internet Explorer 7 icon, and the resulting crash reboots for me.

Re:These are not PC issues, but Windows issues.

[Jartan]

To those who don't use windows anymore it's only fair to point out that you can't reboot a computer anymore by pressing ctrl-alt-delete. It's only a hotkey to open the task manager.

Of course one could argue though that microsoft finally broke the only known fix for windows when they implemented this "feature".

FlipOff

[dotslashdot]

Since they reduced the 3 finger salute (ctrl-alt-delete) to a 1 finger salute, they should rename it "FlipOff".

Re:These are not PC issues, but Windows issues.

[Jartan]

Ctrl - Shift - Esc is a shortcut to open the task manager.

This is windows. They prolly did a study and found that having multiple shortcuts to open task manager increased productivity so you can end task faster.

Re:Sticky qualifiers!

[normuser]

The keyboard on my pc has a similar feature. When you push a qualifier key once it stays depressed. To release the sticky keys you lift one side of the keyboard three inches above the desk and drop it.

I'm not entirely sure how...

[TheBlunderbuss]

...but I think this is related: http://imdb.com/title/tt0374020/

Re:These are not PC issues, but Windows issues.

[Bastard of Subhumani]

This "menu" is known as the "Task Manager" in XP and above.

That's illogical. If one of the things the menu leads to is task manager, how can it be task manager? Task manager manager would make more sense. Or senior VP of tasks.