It is possible to get a decent laptop for just over a $1000. You just have to buy the models made by several asian manufacturers to compete with Dell, Combaq, etc. Laptops are beginning to push desktops aside, especially with the current sales slump that has hit the market. Laptops have higher margins and are still susceptible to branding (the whitebox social order hasn't hit yet). Manufacturers such as ASUS and KDS(not sure about them?) have been producing OEM laptops for the big boys for years. Now that desktop sales have slumped they are trying to push they own systems into the channel independent of their OEM partners. Basically they want to see a larger piece of that profit pie.
What this means to you:
Cheaper Laptops
Local Computer Dealers Selling Their Own Line of Laptops (based on the ASUS,KDS base models)
Laptops WILL bump out desktops for the mid-low, mid markets
Desktops WILL be around for a while yet, as the ultra-cheapies (family room PCs *for the Youngins*) and high-end (power hungry video cards, huge fast hard drives that are needed for video editing, CAD design, game playing, music archiving, etc.)
Check the notebook listing on pricewatch for ASUS and KDS models. Should see a lot more activity (maybe new suppliers) in the not to distant future.
Inflatable Technology, The Future
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Space Blimps
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· Score: 1
Scientists and inventors help make a writer's imagination reality. Sluggy Freelance
One question that popped to mind. Does this count as the most expensive tech-support call in history? I know how much I hate debugging software/hardware issues over the phone but this would be a nightmare.
I think we can all agree that some patents are just too broad to deserve being issued. However, I do believe that patents have there place in a free economy. It's overreaching patents that are the problem.
Are lawsuits showing prior art the only way or would giving the patent office the ability to review a patent application after issuance work? I suppose I would have to read up on the current patent process to know whether this is already the case. Something we should all do before trying to expound on how to fix it.
Still the patent office seems to be skating close to the line of allowing me to patent creativity and thought process. The patent issued here would preclude me from creating any kind of multi-user graphical environment that uses clients communicating with a central server, even if I wrote all the code and produced all the graphics from scratch. Patents were not meant to stifle invention they were meant to encourage it.
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What this means to you:
- Cheaper Laptops
- Local Computer Dealers Selling Their Own Line of Laptops (based on the ASUS,KDS base models)
- Laptops WILL bump out desktops for the mid-low, mid markets
- Desktops WILL be around for a while yet, as the ultra-cheapies (family room PCs *for the Youngins*) and high-end (power hungry video cards, huge fast hard drives that are needed for video editing, CAD design, game playing, music archiving, etc.)
Check the notebook listing on pricewatch for ASUS and KDS models. Should see a lot more activity (maybe new suppliers) in the not to distant future.Scientists and inventors help make a writer's imagination reality. Sluggy Freelance
One question that popped to mind. Does this count as the most expensive tech-support call in history? I know how much I hate debugging software/hardware issues over the phone but this would be a nightmare.
I think we can all agree that some patents are just too broad to deserve being issued. However, I do believe that patents have there place in a free economy. It's overreaching patents that are the problem.
Are lawsuits showing prior art the only way or would giving the patent office the ability to review a patent application after issuance work? I suppose I would have to read up on the current patent process to know whether this is already the case. Something we should all do before trying to expound on how to fix it.
Still the patent office seems to be skating close to the line of allowing me to patent creativity and thought process. The patent issued here would preclude me from creating any kind of multi-user graphical environment that uses clients communicating with a central server, even if I wrote all the code and produced all the graphics from scratch. Patents were not meant to stifle invention they were meant to encourage it.