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Asus Says Netbook Is Dead, Hello Wearable Computers
pinkgadget27 pointed us at a story where the ASUS chairman waxes poetic on the end of the Netbook class that it pioneered, ChromeOS replacing Android, and the future you probably didn't know about: Wristwatch Computers.
Yeah, because we all know how easy it is to use a 1"x1" oval viewing screen strapped to your wrist, to view large PDF attachments, for example.
Just because I can hook a shark from a boat, I do no offer to wrestle it in the water.
Wristwatch computers. (One more thing for my cat to attack.)
IMO, this is simply yet another attempt to manufacture a "need" where none exists as in The Next Big Thing...
Just so Asus is aware. If the netbook is truly dead after only 26 (or so) months then you did not 'pioneer a new class of computer', you 'started a short-lived fad'.
I judt got a nre Kinesis keybiartf so please excusr ant egregiou typos.
Really? I thought the point of the article was that its death was inevitable, and that wearable computers are the future. How does that translate to "Netbooks are dead already"?
But hey, if you filter out editorial stupidity from slashdot we will have only one or two "news" every week or so.
Anybody remember Microsoft's smart watch? No?
I can wear it as I commute with my personal electric flying machine to my shiny new, high paying "Green" career.
Are the editors working from the Gernsback continuum today?
...Wristwatch Computers.
hahahaha HA HA HA oh god, oh god... it kills me.
You know, I can just believe that we can cram everything but the input and display into that small of a space -- but the human interface problem makes any further degree of minaturization rather pointless for general-purpose computers. In select circumstances, you can get away with a lack of keyboard or a mini one, but really -- anything you plan on using heavily you want to have a decently-sized display and an input device with more than two buttons.
But even if you could solve the i/o problems, there's another more damning one: energy requirements. You need a power source for it. And there just doesn't seem to be any real technology innovations that are going to give you the energy densities you'd need to make it work for awhile.
#fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
We already have wristwatch computers for decades. That's what electronic wristwatches are, those that Casio has been pumping by the barrel since the the 80s, such as this one. Naturally, nowadays we have more computing power available in a smaller form factor but that doesn't mean that we haven't been wearing computers for ages.
Slashdot, fix your code or at least hire someone who is competent at it to do it for you.
Great. Asus leadership has turned to worshiping vaporware crapola. This reminds me of Nokia's cellphone designs before the iPhone came out and eat their lunch in the high end. Make usable and manufacturable designs people. Geez.
More than dupe, Asus Waveface Ultra looks more or less like a direct rip-off of one concept from two years ago: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia_Morph
Though the idea, when approached that way, as an advanced "cellphone" which can also wrap around your wrist, isn't completely stupid...
One that hath name thou can not otter
No size of portable computer from wristwatch to 17" notebook will ever be obsolete. Different tasks require different sized screens, and people who do those tasks will always want the most portable device they can do them on. Yes, for some tasks that will mean a wristwatch. But for many others that means a smartphone, or a netbook, or a desktop computer with three 21" monitors.
Haven't we had this discussion before?
lysergically yours
Gives real-time stock market quotes, forecasts the weather, beams distress signals from anywhere in the universe, and tells the time in over thirty-six thousand time zones. (from the back of the action figure box)
I'm going to go back in my box and will think within the limits of my box: MS Sucks Linux Good I read too much Slashdot.
Is it the future already?
What do you mean "already?" Do you know how long I had to wait for my own flat screen computer, communicator, self-opening doors, and all the other impossible stuff they had on Star Trek? About the only thing that we don't have, out of all the impossible things we do have (microwave ovens, phonorecords you can play in your car, GPS, iPods...) is faster than light travel, replicators, and transporter pads.
Yes, this is the future, and I had to wait a long time for it.
Free Martian Whores!
This would make viewing and participating with certain types of "vivid" media a little more challenging to say the least.
"i lost my dignity on a slippery wiener"
Ever? Science fiction writers say screens will go away, replaced by glasses or contacts or other type of worn HUD which can show things in an arbitrarily wide field of vision. It ain't reality yet, of course, but it doesn't really sound all that far-fetched.
As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
Everybody I know still wants a 9" netbook for $200.
It's a perfect time for being wasted.
A perfect time to watch the stars.
- Burden Brothers, "Beautiful Night"
Sorry, but I won't believe it until confirmed by Netcraft.
"A revolution without dancing is... a revolution not worth having"
The last thing I wore around my wrist was (surprise) a clock some 20 years ago. I started having clocks all around me on computer screens at that time so I discovered I had no reason to wear one myself. Then came mobile phones. After all that time I can't stand having something around my wrist anymore. I have a clock for when I go hiking on the mountains but I strap it on the backpack. It's much more comfortable that way. Thinking about this Asus product, it may even sell well but I'd always go for something that can fit in my pocket and that's my mobile phone. I could call it a camera that makes calls and runs programs, or a computer with a phone and a camera but there is a limit to the number of devices we can carry around and recharge at home. No need for another one and no need to wear it.
Maybe as a cell phone, but as a PC? I'm sorry, but I have to say this is a big can o' fail. Did you read the rest of what the guy said? Crap like this gem "I don't believe that the PC will keep evolving from simply [having] four core processors, to eight core to 16 core," he said. "I am tired of only thinking about the regular, dull PC roadmap."
I'm sorry, but that is just dumb. Thanks to multicore we are finally getting computers that can keep up with even the fastest of us, and even my more clueless customers are loving the new AMD quads. All they talk about is how responsive their new PC is, and how no matter what they do their new PC never seems to slow down. I just tell them it ain't gonna get anything but better, as MLC SSDs and DDR3 becomes truly mainstream we will finally have systems able to feed 8-16 cores, which will enable even the most computational heavy tasks such as video editing to become "clicky clicky" and done affairs.
And WTF? A watch PC? It will either be slow as fucking Xmas, have a usable battery life of 30 minutes or the battery will nicely roast your wrist. Battery tech hasn't gotten good enough to pull off that size without some serious tradeoffs. And while my dad can handle his netbook just fine I can just imagine him trying to deal with that thing on his wrist.
So in the end I have to say this guy is full of it. I'm sure that most of the netbook manufacturers would like netbooks to just die, as it is cutting into their more lucrative laptop sales. But they can't get out because their are plenty of other companies that will happily take that business, and with the threat of ARM based netbooks, or "browsers in a box" they must really be worried. Hence they are desperate to cook up the "next big thing" to try to cook up a new and more expensive niche. But I just don't see folks giving up those nice sub $400 netbooks for an ultra expensive watch.
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
Forget detecting broken bones, give me a wrist watch that can repair a machine gun, feed me, enable magical objects that increase my luck and change the resolution of my eye sight all from a set of sub-menus.
How about dictation...
Dear Mr. Barnsmithers, ...
Thank you for inquiring about our project. That's product you stupid fucking piece of shit. Jesus Christ almighty, don't you understand anything?
My other car is a 1984 Nark Avenger.
One thing I've noticed over the many years I've been following the computer industry is that despite what hype marketing departments, CEOs and industry analysts spin, often times new devices don't replace the older devices so much as just augment the array of where you use a computer. So time has shown that you generally don't have to worry about a mass switch to newer technologies. These dates aren't exact, but its generally when they started showing up in the public eye.
*Mainframe/Server (1940s-infinity): Untouchable by user, but keeps track of info the user can't, makes sharing easier, etc. This will probably never go away as long as there is a need for reliability and massive storage.
*Workstation/Terminal (1950s-1990s): Let's you do stuff in relation to server/mainframe, but only at work.
*Desktop personal computer(1977-20??): Let's you try to do stuff at home. Can usually keep up with or exceed most innovations in technology. We will probably always have some sort of stationary access point for computing.
*Standardized Gaming Consoles (1977-infinity):Makes easier for most people to play games, but have never been realistic for computer-type work. Often goes back and forth between whether computers have better games. And no, this isn't the first time people have said "The end of PC/computer gaming". I think gaming consoles come and go with the cycles of the economy.
*Laptop (1980s-2020): Allows you do stuff in previous, but some people still prefer a desktop for power, customization, easy of repair
*PDA/iPhone/Droid (1993-24th century): More convenient than a laptop, but generally only used for organization type stuff, still need laptop or desktop for most things. Actually, if you look at Star Trek, you'll notice that they don't really have a one-device-does-it-all thing either.
*Tablet PC(1995-death of HP): More convenient than a laptop, but probably not as rugged. Only useful in some situations. Annoying when the touch display stops working. Will probably never catch on.
*Notebook computer (2007-?): Can put it in your purse and hold it like the bible, but good luck reading a document, doing anything useful. My wife uses hers to play Netflix movies while she uses her fullsize laptop.
*Wristwatch computer: Makes it a little easier to have fast access all the time to stuff a PDA would do for you. But you still need laptop or desktop.
So here we are in 2010, and all of these computing access paradigms still exist. None of them have replaced the previous paradigm even close to as much as they claimed they would. The only think I could think might replace the desktop/laptop paradigm is if headset computing comes along and allows you to see a virtual large display and you can think what you want to do and it will happen reliably. But we still have a ways and people will need to get used to that. Some people won't want to mess up their hair and what about when you need to drive, etc.
FO3
For shame.
When you're afraid to download music illegally in your own home, then the terrorists have won!
The desktop computer is on its way out for everyone but typists and coders.
And guess what anyone is who writes e-mail, blog posts, or forum posts: a typist.
There's no need for a general purpose applications device on one's wrist, except for very specialized applications: phone, text messaging, compass, navigation, perhaps. Maybe calculator. The same sort of "apps" we had on relatively small screened cell phones of a few years ago, like my Moto E815 (damn that thing had a great radio).
The trouble with this is that it's extremely battery limited. Still, if you want uberportable basics that run for one day, it's O.K.
A step up is the modern IPhone or Android-powered phone. Belt clip size, with decent battery life (because it can hold a bigger battery). Now, combining the two allows for interesting possibilities: the wristputer now becomes an auxilliary display device: glance at your wrist to see your appointments, or incoming calls, etc. Just swap the SIM card from the wristputer to the cell phone to use the latter's mobile data connection.
One step up is the single screen ebook. I see this as a handheld, which can function as a phone, or use the bluetooth or wifi connection to the belt-clipped phone, for dialing and call management (in parallel with the cell phone and wrist computer: if I'm reading a book and a call comes in, or I want to make a call, I'd like to do that from the UI on the book I'm reading instread of having to reach for another device (earbud, wristputer, or belt-clipped phone). Of course, it too can take a SIM card, if that's all you want to carry.
Finally, for more serious reading, in the format of a traditional book, at the expense of size, is the dual-screen ebook, that folds. This one has color screens (instead of just, perhaps, e-ink). It has all the capabilities of the single-screen e-book.
Each device is optimized for a particular purpose, but can be pressed into service for alternate uses: which devices a user caries depends on their physical activity and the types of computing they expect to be doing. I can very much see the single-screen e-book as a universal remote control, for example.
In Liberty, Rene
...because they can't make any money on them, that they'd actually bring up the wearable computer thing again. Well, it kinda makes sense. You can charge a whole lot more margin for a wearable computer than you can for a low end, tiny laptop. But I thought we've been over this before. Wearable computers are only for dorks.
Which would be one of the reasons they are not ready for prime time yet: The display issue hasn't been solved.
Sooner or later it will be, somehow. Foldable, projection, HUD, implant, something else; one will work well enough to be usable. Then we'll see if the other problems are solved or solvable.
Really: He's not saying it's ready now. He thinks it will be sometime soon, and he's got his company working on it so they'll be ready when it is.
He didn't say the netbook is dead. Just that it's a short-term solution, and long-term it'll be surpassed.
'Sensible' is a curse word.
Why do all these designs rely on tiny interfaces? That Nokia video had it fold out, but the "keyboard" was still minuscule.
There used to be an old projection keyboard, where it projected a keyboard onto whatever surface you wanted, and made little clicky noises when you typed. That plus one of those tiny projectors duct taped around the innards of a smart phone and you've got a respectably powered computer with a large screen and a normal sized keyboard that fits in your pocket. Well, if you have kinda big pockets.
You'd hafta have the software that college kid came up with a while back to make the projector not look crappy on uneven surfaces, but that's certainly not an unreasonable issue. Maybe same for keyboard, maybe not.
Still, this would be just about as usable as a desktop machine, just about as powerful as some of the junk I see non-tech people using on a daily basis, and when it's off, it's smaller than a desk phone. Imagine turning your computer off and suddenly having your entire desk empty.
Where is that computer? The one that doesn't have the sucky tiny keyboard where you can't even freakin' hit F5 anymore without pressing an fn button? Why isn't that the future of computing?
When you're afraid to download music illegally in your own home, then the terrorists have won!
...yes. Zardoz, not Star Trek.
A TOS terminal is like a Mac Plus without the fashion sense.
It even uses the same media... '-)
A lot of tech is not as new as the kids think it is.
A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
A problem with wristwatch and cellphone computers are their relatively tiny screens. A projector could be as small as sugar cube, ring, or pen, yet illuminate a couple square feet of a wall or table top. Some cell phones are already coming out with projectors.
I saw some neat demos at SIGGRAPH of self-registering projectors. You only have to get them approximately head-on. Tehn they detect the descrepency and warp the projection into the perfect desired rectangle.
Nor phasers or medical tricorders. Getting there though.
Those are still a pretty neat idea.
Matthew @ Bytemark Hosting
No, I don't think so. Better ask for the latest display models.
There is nothing new to Asus vaporware, but out of every five failures comes a great product. Some of their products are stillborn like the external video card that wasn't compatible with Vista's driver model, others are released but technical issues or poor adoption like the C90S upgradable laptop. Then they come out with a tiny notebook that runs x86 and create an industry.
Other companies that make innovative products like Apple had their flops too, but sometimes a flop drives a new market, like the Newton, other times they move into an existing market and fail, like the Pippin. Then out pops iTunes and iPod and iPhone and they're a market driver again.
Even Microsoft had its flops amongst their many hits (love em or hate em, you've gotta admit, they are very successful) - the MSX, and Bob to name two.
Used to be available?