On 2009-01-17 11:47 +0100, Sylvain Abélard wrote:
>
> > (The Modern Web counts as sheer lunacy. In
> > a few years, given the trend, it will require triple-widescreen
> > configurations for all the advertisements and other crap, yet still
> > have a single 5cm text column in the middle.)
>
> The Web will not require a triple-wide screen since the trend seems
> precisely to get the content on a third of the width, two thirds being
> empty white (or styled) borders.
The two thirds are mega-wide and force the text out of view in narrow
browsers for sane content (such as my slightly smaller than portrait A4
or "letter" window on a 17" 4:3 display) and viewing other stuff on the
side. You need the tripe-wide screen configuration to not have
to scroll horizontally to get to the text.
> > In fact, an approx A4 sized screen [...] could be quite nice on a laptop.
>
> That would be great, readable, and not to mention easier to fit in normal
> bags.
Of course, it would also be great if you could use it as a tablet in
portrait mode... with an e-paper display mode. The current "tablet PCs"
seem horribly kludgy, though, and, in fact, it might be better for the
tablet mode to be the default, with the computer behind the screen and
no keyboard except on a docking station that perhaps can be attached
to the computer nicely for transportation. At least I don't think
I'd miss the keyboard much when travelling lightly. The keyboard
does work as a screen cover, though, and there needs to be something
to replace that function. Surely it can be made lighter and less
fragile than esp. tablet hinges. Or maybe the docking station can
be made to fill this function, essentially making the computer
of two detachable parts, so the tablet can be made less clunky.
In fact, maybe you could also split the eletronics and battery
between the two components, further reducing the tablet weight.
E.g., a primary storage HD (or SSD) could go in the KB part, as
well as any optical drives -- actually, it sucks that you have to
again pay extra for a laptop that doesn't waste space for one;
this is again something that belongs in a docking station or
otherwise external device -- with a smaller SSD on the tablet
part for the OS and some documents etc. The mechanical coupling
between the parts of course has to be made reliable.
--
Tuomo
