DreamGot a great idea for a pc? Big or small we want to hear it.You Dream it. ASUS Builds It. Intel Inside It.

NOTEBOOK PC PC : DISCUSSION

Built in projectors or Built in TV antenna, what is the most likely to happen?
Posted in Notebook PC | February 27, 2009 12pm

 

Watching TV is one of the most common activity shared by everyone in the US, after eating and driving a car. So when it comes to built in features, a TV antenna seems more logical  to happen before a built in projector in the next generation notebooks. One could argue that people will not watch TV on a small screen, especially in the US, since they have large TVs (some are HD) at home and watching TV while driving on the way to work is unlikely to happen as well. This particular usage would more likely be restricted to travel time in trains, buses, and airports, to students who have no TV access other than the laptop or to kids who prefer to watch a different TV show than their parents. Knowing that few people would watch TV on a small screen, having a built in projector would be in fact more useful, for business people or even students who need to do lots of presentations. Having both features without a significant price increase would be the best deal, and projecting TV on a larger surface will allow a better viewing experience. The real question is: would consumers pay extra to have these fancy features in their notebooks, and if so, how much are they ready to pay? What do you think?

NOTEBOOK PC PC : DISCUSSION

Less is more or more is better?
Posted in Notebook PC | February 23, 2009 9am

 

Architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969) came up with the famous design motto "Less is More", and this approach has been adopted ever since by numerous designers and artistic movements such as the Minimalists. Considering the unprecedented success of the iPhone and the Apple's minimalistic laptops, we can agree that this old motto is still valid. But, the first iMac (1998) was not that subtle, it was a bold statement against the "ugly" minimalistic beige box, the symbol of  conservative corporate technology, and Apple decided that this was not suitable to the personal computer any more.  Technology had to become really personal by expressing everyone's individuality in a creative way, the opposite of what corporations require from individuals: be neutral, serious and all the same. Bold colors and curvy shapes were the answer at that time. The colorful and curvy form factor was slowly abandoned by Apple starting with the Power Mac G4 Cube (2000) and the iBook G3 (2001) that featured a white slim line polycarbonate shell. In 2001, white was not a color used for consumer electronics products, black and gray were still largely considered as valid technological colors and white was restricted to home appliances. Again, the goal was to express the strong, different and elegant personality of the new iBook. Bold colors were not abandoned for long, Apple came back in 2004 with the iPod mini hyper colored line, what is better than a music device to convey the expression of one's personality? Design is about identity, whether people want to identify to a more "corporate", neutral and stylish form factor or give a bold statement about themselves with colorful electronics devices. Flashy drawings on laptops can work for some people but not for all of us, HP understands it: the HP MTV Artist Edition Notebook (photo), features a bold and flashy drawing selected during a global contest , but, on the other hand, the manufacturer co-organized a design project/competition at the University of Cincinnati and a student, Jeffrey Engelhardt came up with this minimalistic concept called HP LiM (Less is More), see photo. The risk of a flashy design is to become rapidly tired of it, so making such a choice is difficult knowing that few people replace their notebook before a year or two. An individual is far more complex than one color and one shape, and unlike clothing, it is difficult to buy a new computer every month simply to experience a new form factor. Even Paris Hilton does not do that. An idea would be to develop efficient mass-market solutions for notebook customization, similar to what the Japanese have done for cell phones: when I was in Tokyo, I visited a store specialized in phone plate customization where you could seat down in a nicely decorated room with a designer of your choice and brief her/him on the design that you would like to order. This is an expensive and high end business model, but we could imagine factory-made removable plates for notebooks that could offer numerous possibilities for new designs. An online app like Nike's shoe customization website would be a great and easy way to deliver it. A good compromise between bright color, sobriety and stylish design is offered by Samsung with its " deep rose red infusion that illuminates the piano-black, glossy finish." (see photo)
Getting more creative with materials usage would be another solution: selecting good looking materials and textures that are not too costly, so the retail price does not go through the roof just for having a cute device. To reduce the cost, materials could be used across all product lines, like what Samsung is doing with its "red infusion" that is featured on HDTVs as well. Asus and others had their share of experimentation with textures, like the Asus Bamboo laptop (2008) or the Asus S6 Pink Leather laptop (2006) (photo), but I am not sure if the majority of people would go for these unusual choices. But when it comes to concept designs, I noticed that ultra-minimalistic solutions are more often showcased by manufacturers (example: Asus concepts at CES, photo). Deciding whether a notebook design should be flashy or stylish and ultra minimalistic is a matter of taste, even if I tend to prefer the sleek design approach; having all solutions available is the best way to go, and keeping the costs reasonable is the challenge. What do you think?

NOTEBOOK PC PC : DISCUSSION

Can you think of an accessory that’s impractical but that you would still love to see?
Posted in Notebook PC | February 4, 2009 1pm

Photo from Paul Stamatiou Blog
 
I would always joke about next generation computers by claiming: "it does everything but coffee". What if a laptop would come with an integrated coffee machine? For all the geeks (and non geeks) working long hours and all nighters on a computer that would be great. I am still joking. A great accessory to integrate in a notebook could be a removable media center remote, it has been done before (see photo above). After all, Media Center is totally integrated in windows these days. When it comes to blogging, I often use the Pulse Smartpen to record audio and capture handwritten notes during interviews or conferences. I would love to be able to slide the pen into my notebook instead of having to plug a cradle with a USB cable to download the recorded files and recharge the pen. During conferences I collect tons of business cards and I have to wait until I get back to the office to scan them. The card scanner is small and could be transported easily, but I tend to limit the number of devices that I carry around. A good solution would be to have it available inside the laptop, integrated in the mouse pad for example. That's what I would want to see integrated in my fantasy laptop, but what about you? What devices would you like to see integrated in future laptops?

NOTEBOOK PC PC : DISCUSSION

Are notebook built-in webcams good enough for you?
Posted in Notebook PC | January 28, 2009 9am

Built-in Webcams for laptops did not improve significantly in quality since they have been a common feature. The main reason is the small size of the lens and the fact that most people use them only for videoconferencing or to stay connected with their family while traveling. There is not a real demand to enhance the image quality since few people shoot videos using the webcam. With the rise of easy-to-connect cameras such as the Flip or the recent Sony G3, the need to have high quality built-in webcams is even less necessary. Logically, manufacturers would rather save money on this feature and use it to improve others in high demand, such as the battery life or the overall system performance. Only some serious innovation would get people to pay for higher quality built-in webcams. For example, if they could use them to shoot decent videos or photos on the go, meaning that webcams need to be removable or at least swivel to record a scene in front of the user. Bloggers like us could do live broadcasts using such webcams.What do you think and would you use a high quality built-in webcam?