Rather than making their users more mobile, some laptops are merely weighing them down–and causing traffic jams in airport security.
Intel (nasdaq: INTC – news – people ) and Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT – news – people ) finally get it. The two companies are pushing for a new class of machines that combine the power of a personal computer and the portability of a personal digital assistant. ^
Nice to see a mainstream source I respect noting what I noted some time ago.
I’d compare the UMPC to the T-1000, however, and I’d point out that what we’re seeing is the convergence of cell phones (which have become computers) and computers, with the new device favoring the form factor of the former. Light, cheap, massively portable. Laptop computers on the other hand are like slim desktops with smaller parts.
The computer market has shown no signs of radical growth. People keep upgrading, but they’re less inspired. The future is an expandable desktop at home, network aware gadgets scattered through your life, and a dynabook style micro-laptop for basic tasks on the road. It’s a better future than having all of us enslaved to bulky technology.
Now if Web 2.0 software would only follow the same path…