Re: XY on tiny screen (OT)

[J R FOX jr_fox@xxxxxxxxxx]

--- "Patricia M. Godfrey"  wrote:

> Si Wright wrote:
> The ASUS seemed like too many compromises,
> especially the
> hard-drive size.
> >
> > Jon Pareles
>
> The attempt to create a usable but small and light
> PC inevitably,
> IMO, founders on the rocks of human anatomy.
> Anything small and
> lightweight enough to be easily carried is going to
> have a
> keyboard too small for normal adult humans to type
> on,

That doesn't seem to impede all the
teens-through-thirtysomethings who snap up the various
models of cellphones featuring a keyboard for texting.
 And *those* keyboard / screen combos are much smaller
still. (But, of course, they aren't doing word
processing, and make heavy use of that atrocious,
acronym'd pidgin-speak that may go further than
anything else in burying the English language.)

I'm pleased to say that I've yet to 'text' anyone, at
any time, for any reason.

> and a
> screen too small to read intelligibly on. I'm not
> just talking
> about the problem of font size, esp. for myopic old
> bats like
> moi. I'm talking about the fact that intelligent,
> literate adults
> are used to reading in great swaths: to be compelled
> to scroll
> down (or worse, left or right) every 10 lines is
> intellectually
> crippling.

That is more of the impediment, in my view. I don't
know what the cutoff point would be for me. Maybe a
X60, or whatever the recent Lenovo sub-notebook model
is. Come to think of it, I do like having more
horsepower, more functionality (like not having to
give up the optical drive), a less cramped keyboard,
and a screen closer to the size of a full laptop
model. Lighter and more compact is always going to be
more convenient, but then you also have to consider
things like the battery life. The Asus EEE looks
pretty neat, but falls short for *our* primary usage,
in these areas. I'd like to take a look at the one
Jon -- or anyone else -- mentions favorably. As
ever, when weighing tradeoffs, the devil will be in
the details.

And if one can't run Xy on it, I'd have to say "Next
!" (Or else go in search of earlier models that can.)


 Jordan