Incredible Shrinking PC 228
Lawrence_Bird writes "Reuters is reporting that IBM is set to announce next week a
prototype
PC called a 'metapad' 5"x3"x0.75". 128Mb Ram, 10GB, and an 800 Mhz cpu.
Understand this is a module that can be plugged into other devices,
such as a LCD screen or docking station. "
Can you imagine... (Score:2)
...trying to *type* on this thing?
...the cost of these things?
...how this will impact the PDA market?
...the cost of these things?
...having a Beowulf cluster in a card catalog?
Metapad Name Already Taken (Score:1)
It's the Notepad alternative!
Re:Metapad Name Already Taken (so?) (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Can you imagine... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Can you imagine... (Score:5, Interesting)
Actually, it's 3x5, i.e., the size of a small stack of 3x5 cards. It'll fit in a pocket, but more importantly, will fit in most organizers/office supply holders. It's a known format.
And to the person who said "imagine tryng to type on this thing?" - Well, imagine trying to type on a Pentium chip!!! Because that's what this basically is - only mugh higher level. It's the processor and storage in a modular block. Realistically, I'd love to see it become standardized and OSes support it - pop one into a "empty" laptop, and you have your data. Pop one into a "empty" desktop, and you have it there - or pop two in, and you've got twice the diskspace (or maybe just mirrored), and twice the processor power. Is your game too slow? Pop in two more.
As stupid as it is, the phrase: "Can you imagine a Beowulf cluster of these" almost makes sense. Well, not Beowulf, per se, but personal clustering on a shared bus.
HAHAHHAHA! I just realized - after 25 friggin years of moving towards PCs and peer to peer, we may be not only be going back to minis and mainframes storing data (accessable via a wireless, pervasive network), we *may* just go back to a neutral backplane - can you say "S-100 bus"? Hehehhee....
--
Evan
Re:Can you imagine... (Score:2)
I am / was a S-100 Junkie, not the neatest and most compact, but in 81 I had a z80, a 8080 , and a 6502 all sharing the same backplane and devices....
God those days were good when the only thing that could ruin your day was the smell of toasting caps..
I have a hell of a time making a connection to the surface mount crap.
But back to the Bus, this is in my opinion The only way to fly, Ive been thinking about what it would take to ressurect a new S-100 standard,
Re:Can you imagine... (Score:2)
Sounds like it might be more successful as an embedded control module than as a consumer product. But I do want to know how they got away with an 800MHz CPU without adding a humongous heat-sink. Does it throttle back to 66MHz most of the time?
Portable! (Score:2)
ironically.. (Score:2)
The danger inherent in a small device (Score:2)
Leaving two very small black rectangular objects.
Both of which were easily small enough to fit in the gaps between the bars of the sewer grating on which they landed.
...unfortunately, as much fun as it may be to leave it there, I have to report they didn't fall down the drain, but instead both bounced off the bars and onto the road. Pure dumb luck she didn't lose them both.
Re:The danger inherent in a small device (Score:1)
A 10-gigaBIT hard drive? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:A 10-gigaBIT hard drive? (Score:1, Flamebait)
Re:A 10-gigaBIT hard drive? (Score:1)
In 3 years the capacity you can fit into the space will probably be significantly higher than 10 GByte, let alone 10GBit.
Re:A 10-gigaBIT hard drive? (Score:1)
Re:A 10-gigaBIT hard drive? (Score:2)
PPA, the girl next door
A rose by any other name ... (Score:2, Insightful)
In other words this is a laptop without a screen?
MetaPad?? (Score:4, Interesting)
MetaSearch=Search a set of search engines
MetaModerate=Moderate a set of Moderations
MetaPad=Pad a set of Pads???!!
Can 'Meta' prefix a Noun, rather than a Verb?
Re:MetaPad?? (Score:5, Informative)
Main Entry: meta-
Variant(s): or met-
Function: prefix
Etymology: New Latin & Medieval Latin, from Latin or Greek; Latin, from Greek, among, with, after, from meta among, with, after; akin to Old English mid, mith with, Old High German mit
1 a : occurring later than or in succession to : after b : situated behind or beyond c : later or more highly organized or specialized form of
2 : change : transformation
3 [metaphysics] : more comprehensive : transcending -- used with the name of a discipline to designate a new but related discipline designed to deal critically with the original one
4 a : involving substitution at or characterized by two positions in the benzene ring that are separated by one carbon atom b : derived from by loss of water
Looks like 'meta', as a prefix, can mean a great deal of abstract things. Presumably, the idea of transcendence is what they're looking for here.
Re:MetaPad?? (Score:2)
The only diff is : Metakeys sounds cool. Metapad sounds dumb.
PPA, the girl next door
MetaPad ... with Wings? (Score:4, Funny)
Re:MetaPad ... with Wings? (Score:2, Funny)
Here is a list for you: (Score:2)
Tera Pax.
Giga Tex.
Spot [critpath.org] the madness!
5PM time for dinner, chow!
Re:MetaPad?? (Score:1)
Can 'Meta' prefix a Noun, rather than a Verb?
Well, you would understand what I said if I said "MetaModeration", right?
As Will Rogers might have said... (Score:2)
Re:MetaPad?? (Score:2)
Yeah, I think so.
Okay... (Score:1, Troll)
Actually this would be perfect for... (Score:1, Interesting)
So in short it will have viable use.
Just a mini-mini-minitower (Score:3, Insightful)
Why this is any better than an ultraslim laptop, which has pretty much all the same features plus the ability to use it without a docking station when needed, is not immediately clear to me.
Re:Just a mini-mini-minitower (Score:1)
Re:Just a mini-mini-minitower (Score:2)
What I have imagined is a device that could be worn like a wristwatch (perhaps it will be a wristwatch), that would function as a supplementary memory, but be less obtrusive and less easily misplaced than a PDA. It would have voice recording/recognition, medical alert data, PDA functions, two way paging, and emergency location, and general computing features such as record keeping. Because of its small size and senior's perceptual difficulties, it would have only basic UI capabilities on its own, but it could interface wirelessly with large format displays, public kiosks, smart vehicle systems, and perhaps with a number of user interface appliances. For example, you could perhaps add an LCD pad which interfaced wirelessly with your wristwatch computer to provide "continuous translation" when your hearing is no good anymore.
We'll all be there some day, so I personally applaud every advance towards ultraminiaturization of computers and wearables, even if I personally have little need for them today.
Re:Just a mini-mini-minitower (Score:2)
Make it 802.11 capable, then build generic keyboards and screens that use that work through RF. Bluetooth, if it ever works, would fill the bill nicely if it ever gets cheap enough.
Storage? Firewire enabled hard drives in at your office or home, or connect to your data bank in your house via modem, broadband, or RF.
And hard drives are shrinking. And MRAM is coming in a few years, which means solid state non-volatile storage.
The PC is dead, long live the PC! The world is changing again. I think modular 802.11 micro-micros with commodity peripherals are the next wave.
And what a HELL of an e-book reader it could be!
Transmeta makes a comeback.. (Score:3, Insightful)
Brilliant (Score:2, Interesting)
With a little device like this, I could move my "Computer" from home to work, have the laptop be a "dock" for the computer.
Taking it one step further, an industry standard device could allow one to buy laptops as a chassis with engine. I could buy the Thinkpad X's chassis and plop in a transmeta computing module to get 2x the battery life.
Alex
Re:Brilliant (Score:2)
Re:Brilliant (Score:2)
It's got everything you want, in a PC the size of a CD player.
Just a stripped-down notebook (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Just a stripped-down notebook (Score:1, Insightful)
:-)
-ac
Yes it's true, oversimplifying makes it dull. (Score:2)
Frankly, laptops are uncomfortable to use in your lap. A tablet's form factor would work much better for doing things like browsing the web while you're watching TV.
As an artist, I use a sketch pad with an array of pencils and markers. With a sufficiently designed tablet, I could run Photoshop on it and use that as my sketchpad. Since all the work I do is digital, being able to save the step of scanning my sketches is a big time saver. Not to mention that with Photoshop, I could start with a real photo (PCMCIA camera?) and draw on top of that. Plus, I would need a lot fewer art supplies, and those aren't cheap. Heck, if I really wanted to get fancy (and I do...) I could get an 802.11 card and have it automatically upload my sketches to my website. Since I post my artwork on forums alot, this would be a time saver too.
The execs where I work have expressed interest in replacing their laptops with tablets. One of them actually said "I wish my PDA was about 8.5 by 11 inches." On a plane and in meetings, its far more convenient to use in that form factor.
If you oversimplify anything, it can sound dull. The revolution comes from how it's used, not how it's designed. If one teeny weeny little change to a system makes people use it in a whole new way, then that's all it needs to be interesting. You know that little wheel on your mouse? Those didn't always used to be there. Now that it's there, I can't stand mice that don't have that wheel.
Re:Just a stripped-down notebook (Score:2)
Yup, it's a crippled notebook or a fancy removable HDD. Considering how much this will cost, and that it needs full docking stations at both ends to make it usable at home/office (and anywhere else you go), you'd probably be as well buying two complete desktop system (at a much lower price for the same spec) and adding a removable HDD. The advantage of the super-removable-HDD is that it carries its own OS and apps, but there's nothing stopping you doing that with a normal removable HDD with two similar desktop systems, or running VmWare and mounting your portable OS/apps as a virtual machine for that matter.
Perhaps we're getting the wrong idea though. They're talking about using it as more of a super-but-crippled-PDA for hotel checkins and such. Say what? So, it's like a PDA, only there's no way to use it on the move, which really means that it's like a super-smart credit card, only stupidly expensive and much bigger and less convenient?
Sound to me like a cool toy without any real application. I kind of want one, but I don't really know why. ;-)
Choices (Score:2, Interesting)
Finally, a mainstream computer both small and fast enough to fit in a car.
I am looking forward to watching movies and listening to the music I want to in the car, and it is removable and can have (Maybe) a cdrom so I can watch even more movies!
Other uses (Score:1)
Or, using the same techniques used by the galsses, why not make a HUD for my car, with speed, and proximity warnings, and a GPS linked map... forget taking my work home, this is the right combination of size/power to do all kinds of cool new things!
And, for those calling it "obsolete" by the time it comes out, dont' you think that if they want to wait a few years to market it and such that they want some extra R&D time to improve it?
"Metapad"? (Score:2)
...I think there could be a lawsuit coming from whatever Japanese company owns "Poke'mon." Isn't there a pokemon out there by that name?
Re:"Metapad"? (Score:2)
you were close though
and I think "whatever Japanese company owns Pokemon" would be Nintendo.
powerpc (Score:1)
It would be cool to see IBM make one of these powered by that chip that they make what's it called? PowerPC?
Darwin will work now. (Score:1)
For OSX, you'd need more than just a PPC motherboard, as it uses other Apple proprietary components (ROM, etc.). But, you could still run Darwin [apple.com], which is the Mach kernel and BSD workings that the "OSX Layer" runs on top of.
In fact, there is an x86 version of it availible for download at Apple's Open Source [apple.com] website (requires a free reg. to download). It's not Aqua but you still get a decent BSD system.
Makes me wonder if the entirety of OS X will someday be ported to x86? (Not likely)
iPod killer? (Score:2, Insightful)
What does this do, you may ask, other than act as a penis-size indicator without a screen? Well, if I want, I can run it as a personal server that's small. If I want the portability of a laptop without the size, I can have one docking station for it at home and one at the office, and play mp3's on it in the car during my drive between. (If it's a pc, then somebody can make a panel you put on it that will give you an lcd to select files and an audio output). If it's reasonbly priced if/when it comes out, I'll definitely get one if only for the fun use factor!
Re:iPod killer? (Score:2)
Reasonably priced, HA! Things like this never become reasonably priced until like 10 years after its initial release. Just look at Flat panel Plasma TVs. They are still well over $5000. I'm thinking this will come out at around the same price. Would you be willing to pay 5K for a 800mhz, 10 gig computer that you will have to shell out even more money to plug it into an LCD, etc.
Don't get me wrong, I like this idea. But it's still in its concept stage and at this point, its only something that geeks will go gaga over for a while.
Re:iPod killer? (Score:2)
That said, I think this is a fabulous idea. Pluggable, portable. You don't have to worry about cracking the screen, 'cause you don't bring the screen along. When they release this (if?) in a couple years, LCDs'll be cheap. You buy one for home, and one for the car, and one for work, and you tote this thing around with books and notes and appointments. More portable than a laptop, and more flexible than a PDA.
People have been saying recently that the place for Linux is in embedded and portable systems, 'cause that's the wave of the future. Little PC things like this are exactly what they were talking about!
Re:iPod killer? (Score:2)
Maybe.. But they need to add a Firewire or USB2 port, a small HD, a DAC, and a nice interface.. For a drive, IBM's microdrive might work, but it's slower and smaller than the Toshiba Firewire drive in the iPod..
The point is that the iPod looks pretty secure for the time being..
unattributed metanews - grr (Score:3, Informative)
Oh come on (Score:2)
Re:unattributed metanews - grr (Score:2)
Just What the Doctor Ordered (Score:5, Funny)
...because pagers and cell phones haven't completely succeeded in making our jobs be 24/7.
Re:Just What the Doctor Ordered (Score:3, Insightful)
I really don't think this is funny at all. Some of us *ARE* way too plugged in all the time. It is unhealthy, imo. I remember somewhere, don't have time to find the link, as I would have to dig for a long time...saying that the more we advance, the less time we will have for ourselves. I don't like the sound of that. I want my children to have me there for them, as well as a little time to myself where I can disconnect from the daily grind and do what ever. If I was given one of these, it would NOT leave the office.
ok, just a little insight on this rainy, ugly day.
Re:Just What the Doctor Ordered (Score:2)
for a more employee-centric perspective, see the movie "Matewan". If you can find a video store that has it - it's probably considered a terrorism-inciting piece of artwork now.
Re:Just What the Doctor Ordered (Score:2)
it's the consequence of my choice, but if the world were a better place - even the place it was before Reagan and Thatcher - the consequences would not be so severe that there is no hope of overcoming them.
If you cage an animal, it will become more angry and agitated and eventually fight back, unless you sedate it artificially. Hence, the entertainment industry, the pharmaceutical industry (to a small extent), and the drug trade.
no, you won't change my mind. move along, but remember what I said...
Where are *your* priorities? (Score:5, Insightful)
I get paid way less than I should because I turn my pager off on weekends. I don't put in any overtime unless it's critical. Yeah, I'm not living the high life, and not going to have much when it comes to retirement funds, but the important thing to me is that I enjoy my time with my son, NOW. Once he's grown, I'll probably have to work much harder and longer to make up for lost time, but that's just money. You can't make up lost time with your kids.
I don't have a GHz computer at home, I don't drive a Benz, I don't own a big house, I can't buy the latest gadets. But I do take my son out hiking and camping on weekends. That's where my priorites are. Think about yours...
Re:Where are *your* priorities? (Score:2)
Re:Where are *your* priorities? (Score:3, Insightful)
"I get paid way less than I should because I turn my pager off on weekends. I don't put in any overtime unless it's critical. Yeah, I'm not living the high life, and not going to have much when it comes to retirement funds..."
And why is this fair? This is what I am saying. Why should you be plugged in 24/7 to get a good salary? Basically you are saying that you are forced to sacrifice salary because you want to spend time with your child. I commend you in this, and I wish more people would. However, is it fair that you can't have it both ways? Why not get that good salary AND spend time with your kid? Are corporations blind to this? Seems to me to be that way. And yes, I know that life isn't fair...but this isn't something to be taken lightly. He's taking an admitted pay cut because he wishes to spend time with his family. IMO, shame on your company, and others like it.
Re:Where are *your* priorities? (Score:2, Insightful)
Well, suppose you were the person who was working like a dog. How would you feel if someone working plain old 9-5 got the same pay? I think that would be perceived as unfair.
"Why not get that good salary AND spend time with your kid? Are corporations blind to this?"
Um, corporations don't exist for the purpose of providing their employees with a generous salary for a light work load. Their purpose is to turn a profit. The corporations are not blind - they are quite clearly looking at those things which affect the bottom line.
A retirement spreadsheet (Score:2)
http://www.personal.psu.edu/reh18/micro/retirem
It's in an older excel format, if memory serves (as old as I could save with whateverI was using that day).
ANyway, it assumes a 7% real return (the historical average forthe stock market), though this can be set in a cell to other values.
It shows the effects of putting $2000/year (the old IRA amount; it's now $3000, but you can change that in the sheet) every year from 21 to 65, including the value of that year's contribution on its own at 65. It also shows starting at 31, and stopping at 30--come retirement time, your contributions from 21-30 are worth more than those from 31-65!
hawk
Re:Just What the Doctor Ordered (Score:2)
If that means you have to ditch the career into a lower gear then cool - it WASN'T FIRST ON THE LIST!!!
Some peoples list will be "earn shitloads of cash", "shag dozens of women", "play better football" - They too should go for it and make sure they get what they want.
The fact that a wee computer exists doesn't make the slightest difference to this. I carry my laptop everywhere, I'll boot up and check my messages when visiting my parents, I love my job, my first three are different from yours, tech rocks.
I've left jobs because I realised they didn't fit with my top three. If yours doesn't then leave the job. That's not meant confrontationally - but quite seriously nontheless.
Lifes too short to dick about in the wrong job - they take too much time and effort at the best of times. Job inertia is a powerful thing.. fight it.
Take it Home? (Score:1)
Re:Take it Home? (Score:3, Funny)
Turn it around (Score:2)
Imagine a Beow.... sorry ;-) (Score:1)
if it doesn't sell well as a computer... (Score:3, Funny)
Just the guts, not the skin... (Score:1)
IBMpod? (Score:1)
But it is a general purpose computer.
And it's two years away
*yawn*
Wearable PCs (Score:2)
This is gonna be cool...
Re:Wearable PCs (Score:2, Funny)
While I'm burning Karma, I think I went to school with this Ocheltree cat. If it is the guy, he's pretty smart, but he don't have any Elvis in him.
Been done. (Score:1)
(Had to be said...)
Re:Been done. (Score:1)
And why exactly... (Score:2, Insightful)
is this a Good Thing(tm)?
Re:And why exactly... (Score:1)
If I was a beer-taster, then I'd want one of these.
Bizarre article, interesting device (Score:4, Insightful)
I realize this was for Yahoo Finance, and not exactly aimed at the SlashDot crowd, but seriously:
Sheeesh. Like explaining that 800 megahertz is 800 million cycles per second is going to clue folks in with such valuable information. "Gawrsh, that's a lot of cycles per second."
And IBM's statements seem weird: Ready for the market in a few years??? In a few years, this thing should be *way* obsolete, with tiny pocket computers more powerful than our desktops of today. This thing would be useful and interesting today, not a year from now. I thought IBM had top notch people in usability, market research, laptop design, and so on. It seems strange to hear them say "we have this cool technology, but we're not sure how people would use it." I can think of a dozen ways it could be turned into a useful product. I guess it's good that they're asking the industry, but it sounds like these guys are a bit directionless, and will end up deliverying too little, way too late.
Too bad, I'd likely buy one of these if it were available today.
-me
Re:Bizarre article, interesting device (Score:2, Interesting)
The computers would host this card (think of flat screens with slots in the side) plus the CPU and the peripherals (monitor, keyboard, mouse, printer, modem, whatever). So the bit-storage would be basically separate from the host unit and replaceable while the machine is running.
There would be no need for hard disks anymore. If you'd want new data for a program (create a new document, save it, whatever), all you'd do is malloc() it, no need for files or anything. The static memory would store it all. No file systems, just memory managers (associating "filenames" and "folders" with handles of allocated memory blocks)
The task states would be stored on the memory card, too, so if you'd just remove the card from the computer, all programs would be left as they were, if you'd insert it into other computer, the memory would be automatically appear in the address space of the CPU and all programs would continue where they were left off. (the host would provide the power to drive the bits on the storage
Hope I'll see this happen...
less portable more tiny (Score:1)
And IBM says it won't be marketable for a few years... by which time these specs are tiny. So, my impression is less that this device will be a replacement for one's laptop, but rather a tiny alternative to smaller devices which normally use specialized hardware and software (e.g., handheld anything).
Not necessarily a replacement for ARM-based PDAs, but perhaps as a powerful and easily programmed tool for sophisticated field-testing, etc.
Naturally, though, I'd just use it as my "take anywhere" file-sharer.
der_m
More info? (Score:1)
Interface issues. (Score:1)
Also, at what point does small become TOO small? I mean... who wants to look at a postage stamp size screen all day? I actually think that unless they can come up with a new way to display information (like projected onto your glass lens, or cornea.) they shouldn't get any smaller than the current Palm PDAs. Just work on making the PDAs more powerful and more robust.
IMHO
here's another story about it. (Score:1)
Re:here's another story about it. (Score:1)
shrinking? (Score:2)
Re:shrinking? (Score:2)
"This package contains the full measure advertised."
"It may appear to be less than full because the package contents are measured by weight, not by volume."
"Some settling of the contents is to be expected during handling."
Thank you.
t_t_b
Ergo Brick (Score:2, Informative)
Point is, this really isn't a new idea. Not that it's a bad one, but it's definately not original.
it runs Windows XP? (Score:2)
Re:it runs Windows XP? (Score:1)
"Ocheltree said IBM doesn't have specific plans to sell the prototype,
Perhaps the real thing will run Linux ?
Another article, with less cheese (Score:2, Informative)
Okay, I'm trying to picture this... (Score:1)
Code-named ``MetaPad'', the module is 5 inches (12.7 cm) long, 3 inches (7.6 cm) wide and about three-quarters of an inch (1.9 cm) thick. The module fits into a larger accessory piece that includes a small, flat screen on front and is about 6 inches (15.2 cm) long, 4 inches (10 cm) wide and 1 inch (2.5 cm) thick.
Okay, well, the screen on my Handspring Visor is about 4" x 2.5" so in that light this device's seems to compare to a largish PDA at 6" x 4". I've seen Pocket PC's with color screens and more power than my little Visor, but they weren't running full-blown Windows 2000 and I doubt they had quite the specs this thing has.
I don't think this really appeals to me, mostly because if I want to do any real work that would require desktop processing power, I want to do it on a screen large enough not to give me eyestrain. 6" x 4" doesn't cut it for me. I think I'll just stick with my handy-dandy notebook computer.
When I hear "metapad" I think of a big 8.5" x 11" x 1" tablet with a big LCD screen taking up one entire side of it. You'd use a stylus like on a PDA, but it would have the processing power of a laptop, and a color display. Now that would be cool if it ever happens...
Picture of it at CNET News.com (Score:3, Informative)
article: http://news.com.com/2100-1001-830173.html [com.com]
Plug In? (Score:2, Interesting)
Longer term it should all be networked but since the networks don't cover everywhere we need to be and are not fast enough yet this isn't fessible.
We sell this kind of stuff (Score:1)
In one edge of the card it have an I/O pannel with SVGA, mouse, keyboard, serial and paralel connectors and in the other an ISA-like male connector that plugs in the unit from where it draws power and comunicates with the rest of the unit. in the card itself it also has standard IDE and floppy connectors.
So, now I ask: What's the big deal with this IBM "invention" ?
what's the big deal? (Score:1)
800 MHz what?i (Score:3, Funny)
oooooooh, I'm supposed to be impressed? What microprocessor? My cordless phone runs at 2 GHz. :-/
hey! (Score:2, Funny)
A computer that can be attached to a monitor? I'll believe it when I see it!
Embedded controller? (Score:2)
But I can see an embedded system designer salivating over this, IF the price is right and there is a good way to attach the required I/O. Give it USB, Firewire, and RS-232 ports so we can hook in I/O modules and bury this thing somewhere inside of a machine. For program development, we might have to reach inside and hook up the docking port, but once the software is released we just load up the internal HD and stick it in the machine.
GOOD GREAT GRAND (Score:2, Interesting)
this would make a sweet little MP3/DVD player though if you could attach IDE/USB devices.
i just hope i don't have to take my work home with me every night.
Re:PPC? (Score:1)
Re:PPC? (Score:1)