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NETBOOK PC : DREAM

Ditch the touchpad, set yourself free!
Posted in netbook | December 16, 2008 2am

I stumbled upon a form factor I want to see come back, that of the now defunct Sony Vaio C1. It was an ultraportable, but what's a netbook other than a cheap ultraportable? It had a 8.9" extra wide screen and no touchpad or wasted space for palm rests. It had a pointing stick, and what looks like three mouse buttons, which I dig as a Linux user. Personally, my laptop has a pointing stick and a touchpad and I turn off the touchpad, so this would be ideal for me. I think a lot of people would be happy about this compromise since it makes for a much smaller device, with an unbeatably large keyboard for the size of the screen. This is a form-factor a lot of companies wish they could make. That's why a few netbooks have come out with touchpad buttons on the sides of the touchpad (yuck!). Think of how many users use an external mouse for their laptops, and consider how many more use one for netbooks, with their extra small touchpads. This may be a niche product, but it will be a passionate niche. Don't give in to design by comittee.

The other remarkable idea I want in my netbook, is for it to be an ebook reader. It would have a screen like the OLPC X0. It has two modes, a regular backlit color mode, and a black and white one with no backlight that uses less power and is sunlight readable. The netbook would have a tablet form factor (but no touch screen) so you can hold it more like a book, and a scroll-wheel for scrolling through text.

Personally, I would tend towards long battery life, low weight and low cost, so the processor would not be very powerful. Most people will do on this laptop the same stuff they've done on computers for years, so they shouldn't need significantly more power than they used to have. Also, this isn't meant to replace a more traditional laptop or desktop, it's a complement. It will also have an SSD, but a relatively small one to keep costs down. Ideally this would have some form of wireless internet everywhere, and you'd live in the "cloud."

The attached video isn't mine. I don't know know what any of the Japanese says. It gives you a good idea of the size of the C1, and also it's age. It is shown booting Windows 98 and features an external floppy drive! It makes me want to consider a larger screen than the 8.9" featured, but that would make it worse as an ebook reader, so I'd have to see. I never used a C1 so I don't know.