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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."
Since they reduced the 3 finger salute (ctrl-alt-delete) to a 1 finger salute, they should rename it "FlipOff".
Ctrl + Alt + Del doesn't open the Task Manager on all versions of Windows, just "Home" versions. "Pro" or "Business/Enterprise/Ultimate" versions instead have a menu which allows you to launch the task manager, log off, switch user, lock the computer, or change your password.
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.
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
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The size of the actual computer is of absolutely no importance whatsoever. What matters is the size of the input and output components. These are the interfaces to humans and must exist on a human size scale, i.e. large enough to handle.
So as long as you need a keyboard, the keys must be large enough to press, and the entire keyboard must be large enough to comfortably hold. But if you think virtual keyboards, i.e. one projected into the air, on a HUD, or on a table (the later exists as a Palm Pilot accessory), then the size of the actual hardware again is irrelevant, the size of the virtual "keys" is what matters.
Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
If I remember my computing history, Ctrl-Alt-Del was picked because that was a keystroke combination that would never be accidentally pressed. There was nothing even close to it that did anything. The whole point was to be intentional.
Now they want to put it on a single button, surrounded by other tiny buttons? Someone had a real winner of an idea there...
I see your informative link, and raise you a pithy comment.
This thing (N800) is an update to the older Nokia 770. It's a wonderful little gizmo - it runs an ARM port of a Debian variant, so lots of SW is getting ported. It's powerful enough to feel like a "real" computer, although it still has the standard PDA input limitations unless you spring for a bluetooth keyboard.
It has included opera (800 px wide screen so you can actually view most web pages without horizontal scrolling, unlike all the 320x200 PDAs). You can ssh into it and use VNC and run opera and gnumeric and lots of Linux software.
The included mp3 player software sucks, but there are already better alternatives provided by the community. Battery life is quite good compared to my old Ipaq - 8+ hrs of active web browsing on low backlight (maybe 2-3 on high), and ~8 days of standby time without turning it off.
Disclaimer: I have no association with Nokia. I just like the device.
"No, no, no. Don't tug on that. You never know what it might be attached to."
Only three things are certain; death, taxes, and apocryphal quotations - Ben Franklin.
It was there in the BIOS of DOS machines, hardwired to soft reboot, before Windows even existed. Wikipedia seems to confirm my memories.
Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.