Take it with you
We like our computers. And we like them close.
Two days ago, I bought a netbook, a little Acer Aspire One with an atom processor, a 10' screen, and a 160gb hard drive.
I love it. Not as much as my phone, which has become something I would never want to live without, but it achieves a very useful goal: fully portable, fully capable computing.
They call them "netbooks" - but it is not simply a netbook. It is a laptop, but a small one. It is more capable than most of the computers I have owned in my life, all of which I have done a lot more with than just surfing the internet.
The big advantage of this over a smarphone (or the oversized smartphones now being sold as "tablets") is that it is a full computer - just small and portable. It has usb ports, it can get pictures off my camera and save them, it can charge my usb electronics, it can keep everything I want on it, and do so for only $200. And damn is it small and light - its like carrying a small book around. And yes - if you turn down the screen brightness and contrast, it is very easy to read on. With a 6-cell battery, it would last for about 7hours or so as an e-reader, 4-5hours as a computer.
But all of these reasons are not just mine, they are part of a growing long-term trend - we want our computers with us, wherever we go.
My girlfriend's first comment (she bought one too) is that she could slip it in her purse. Absolutely. For me - I can easily fit this in the front pocket of my briefcase, along with my work laptop. For when I am otherwise traveling, I can bring this in my carry-on, and still be able to bring my camera bag as my second bag.
Because honestly, today, for a lot of us, our computers are an extension of ourselves. We keep them organized the way we like, it has our passwords saved (or locked in 87 layers of security, whatever your preference) it has all of your favorite programs, games, and notes. It has your pictures. It has your favorite places around the web, and those cool websites you dont always visit but you want to remember (I swear, every time my computer crashes I lose a bunch of those, because I just dont remember them). For me at least, visiting an old computer is visiting a piece of myself frozen back in that time.
My first computer, which I had in high school, I can still see my old (and terrible) writing, the incredibly basic games which I loved (GTA 1 anyone? Damn that game was good), and the cheesy 1st generation of CG generated wallpapers I loved (digital blasphemy - they were amazing).
Though I think netbooks are an evolutionary dead end (user interface is too awkward), I love it, and I think light, portable, and fully-featured is the way of the future. Or really, the future I want. Because the real future is likely small, portable, and limited features with ease of use, such as the iPad... oh well. I have my little laptop.
Two days ago, I bought a netbook, a little Acer Aspire One with an atom processor, a 10' screen, and a 160gb hard drive.
I love it. Not as much as my phone, which has become something I would never want to live without, but it achieves a very useful goal: fully portable, fully capable computing.
They call them "netbooks" - but it is not simply a netbook. It is a laptop, but a small one. It is more capable than most of the computers I have owned in my life, all of which I have done a lot more with than just surfing the internet.
The big advantage of this over a smarphone (or the oversized smartphones now being sold as "tablets") is that it is a full computer - just small and portable. It has usb ports, it can get pictures off my camera and save them, it can charge my usb electronics, it can keep everything I want on it, and do so for only $200. And damn is it small and light - its like carrying a small book around. And yes - if you turn down the screen brightness and contrast, it is very easy to read on. With a 6-cell battery, it would last for about 7hours or so as an e-reader, 4-5hours as a computer.
But all of these reasons are not just mine, they are part of a growing long-term trend - we want our computers with us, wherever we go.
My girlfriend's first comment (she bought one too) is that she could slip it in her purse. Absolutely. For me - I can easily fit this in the front pocket of my briefcase, along with my work laptop. For when I am otherwise traveling, I can bring this in my carry-on, and still be able to bring my camera bag as my second bag.
Because honestly, today, for a lot of us, our computers are an extension of ourselves. We keep them organized the way we like, it has our passwords saved (or locked in 87 layers of security, whatever your preference) it has all of your favorite programs, games, and notes. It has your pictures. It has your favorite places around the web, and those cool websites you dont always visit but you want to remember (I swear, every time my computer crashes I lose a bunch of those, because I just dont remember them). For me at least, visiting an old computer is visiting a piece of myself frozen back in that time.
My first computer, which I had in high school, I can still see my old (and terrible) writing, the incredibly basic games which I loved (GTA 1 anyone? Damn that game was good), and the cheesy 1st generation of CG generated wallpapers I loved (digital blasphemy - they were amazing).
Though I think netbooks are an evolutionary dead end (user interface is too awkward), I love it, and I think light, portable, and fully-featured is the way of the future. Or really, the future I want. Because the real future is likely small, portable, and limited features with ease of use, such as the iPad... oh well. I have my little laptop.
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