daugher@cs.tamu.edu (Dr. Walter C. Daugherity) (06/14/90)
Here is my dream for a laptop NeXT I could take anywhere (well, a briefcase computer, really): NeXT CPU board, optical drive, AC power supply, and Sharp's new electroluminescent panel (1024 by 768 by 16 levels of gray--so it doesn't quite match the NeXT; maybe Sharp could make an 1120 by 832 by 4). There would be a built-in keyboard and a trackball instead of the 10-key pad. (Yeah, I know, you'd have to put the magic ~ and * keys somewhere, but those are minor details.) I rarely need a battery-powered laptop; if I did I could get a battery pack and an inverter to generate AC for the above. Now that I think about it, this would be a great way to recycle the 68030 boards that get traded in! Or maybe some bright undergrads could build it for a term project :-)! Lemme know when you've built one.... (end of dream) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Walter C. Daugherity Internet, NeXTmail: daugher@cs.tamu.edu Knowledge Systems Research Center uucp: uunet!cs.tamu.edu!daugher Texas A & M University BITNET: DAUGHER@TAMVENUS College Station, TX 77843-3112 CSNET: daugher%cs.tamu.edu@RELAY.CS.NET
barry@pico.math.ucla.edu (Barry Merriman) (06/14/90)
In article <5847@helios.TAMU.EDU> daugher@cs.tamu.edu (Dr. Walter C. Daugherity) writes: >Here is my dream for a laptop NeXT I could take anywhere I suppose they could put it in a flat box and call it ``The Square'':-) My dream is for a ``Micro Cube''---something that would compete with the MacIntosh SE/Plus line, priced in the $2,000---$3,000 dollar range. Essentially, they would keep the Cube as is, and cut costs by making a smaller (say 13'') monitor and not including the accelerater 40MB hard drive. The reason this would be attractive is that it really would be appropriate for students and first time users. They could afford the price, and it beats the alternative---a Mac SE or IBM clone---hands down. The resulting large user base would encourage more software development, and NeXT could recover their costs (they would barely break even on the Micro Cube) by moving more of their real Cubes, and charging Hefty amounts for people to upgrade their Micro Cubes to Full Cube Status (better display, better drives, personal printer). This also wouldn't undermine NeXT's original goal of raising the lowest common denominator---the only reduced functionality of the Micro Cube is the size of the display. Developers could still assume all the other whistles and bells (DSP, 8MB Ram, OD, NeXTStep, PostScript, Bundled Apps) were in place. If NeXT would do this---and it would be easy, since they only need to procure a smaller display and bite the bullet on (at least educational) prices---I think it would really take off, and get them out of the slump they're in. And we'd all be better off. (And I would be able to buy my 13 year old sister a NeXT for her first computer, rather than a Macintosh!!!)
dorner@pequod.cso.uiuc.edu (Steve Dorner) (06/14/90)
In article <27@kaos.MATH.UCLA.EDU> barry@pico.math.ucla.edu (Barry Merriman) writes: >This also wouldn't undermine NeXT's original goal of >raising the lowest common denominator---the only reduced >functionality of the Micro Cube is the size of the display. But the size of the display is one of the MOST IMPORTANT least common denominators there is. You design differently for a small display than a big one. For exmaple, several apps (Mail, Librarian come to mind) use windows like this: stuff ------- more stuff ------- even more stuff You just plain can't do that on a small screen. Now, whether 13" is enough smaller to cramp such apps might be a subject for debate. -- Steve Dorner, U of Illinois Computing Services Office Internet: s-dorner@uiuc.edu UUCP: {convex,uunet}!uiucuxc!dorner
carlos@eeyore.caltech.edu (Carlos Salinas) (06/15/90)
How about a pocket NeXT? Just like those fuzzy dice you hang off your rear view mirror... "Hey, man... I got hydraulic jacks, chain steering wheel, even a NeXT hanging off my mirror!" Carlos Salinas | Use the NeXT Luke! Sucumb to the dark side of the NeXT Mail- | cube. carlos@eeyore.caltech.edu | But which side is the dark side?
carlos@eeyore.caltech.edu (Carlos Salinas) (06/15/90)
How about a pocket NeXT? Just like those fuzzy dice you hang off your rear
view mirror...
"Hey, man... I got hydraulic jacks, chain steering wheel, even a NeXT hanging
off my mirror!"
Carlos Salinas | Use the NeXT Luke! Succumb to
NeXT Mail carlos@eeyore.caltech.edu | the dark side of the cube.
| But which side is the dark side?daugher@cs.tamu.edu (Dr. Walter C. Daugherity) (06/16/90)
I received the following reply to my dream of a laptop NeXT: >From: manuel@cnam.cnam.fr (manuel bouyssou) >He, >look for the baby NeXT available this fall ! >Manuel Bouyssou ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Walter C. Daugherity Internet, NeXTmail: daugher@cs.tamu.edu Knowledge Systems Research Center uucp: uunet!cs.tamu.edu!daugher Texas A & M University BITNET: DAUGHER@TAMVENUS College Station, TX 77843-3112 CSNET: daugher%cs.tamu.edu@RELAY.CS.NET