my observations on everything right and wrong with the world - starting with myself.
Thursday, March 09, 2006
Microsoft has finally announced the reality of their "origami", or Ultra-Mobile PC (UMPC). It's being touted as the latest and greatest all-in-one portable solution...
But in all honesty, who would want to lug this big brick around? Also, for the price ($999 for the best one), why wouldn't you just want a laptop or a tablet PC?
Also, come to think of it, my Tapwave Zodiac does almost everything that the UMPC is supposed to be able to do...with the added ability of being pocketable, having an intuitive user interface...and the fact that I only spent $80 for my Zodiac 1. If I wanted GPS capability, I could buy an SDIO GPS card.
And let's face it...something new and powerful that is meant to make life less complicated actually does the opposite. I'll have to admit that I feel the same way about my Zodiac. I initially purchased it because I wanted a color interface for my Datebook, but with all of its capabilities, I now have the following within my reach:
- Doom 2
- an NES emulator with hundreds of NES ROMs
- a LOT of games
- MP3 playback
- videos downloaded from google video
- all of the pictures of my son and family
- my resume and poetry
- lots of ebooks
- sudoku
oh, and let's not forget all of the PIM stuff (calendar, contacts, to-do list...)!
It looks like I'm not the only one with 'productivity' on their mind though. Check out this picture:
yep. that looks like a business professional in a suit...in the first class section of an airplane...standing in the aisle and playing sudoku.
But in all honesty, who would want to lug this big brick around? Also, for the price ($999 for the best one), why wouldn't you just want a laptop or a tablet PC?
Also, come to think of it, my Tapwave Zodiac does almost everything that the UMPC is supposed to be able to do...with the added ability of being pocketable, having an intuitive user interface...and the fact that I only spent $80 for my Zodiac 1. If I wanted GPS capability, I could buy an SDIO GPS card.
And let's face it...something new and powerful that is meant to make life less complicated actually does the opposite. I'll have to admit that I feel the same way about my Zodiac. I initially purchased it because I wanted a color interface for my Datebook, but with all of its capabilities, I now have the following within my reach:
- Doom 2
- an NES emulator with hundreds of NES ROMs
- a LOT of games
- MP3 playback
- videos downloaded from google video
- all of the pictures of my son and family
- my resume and poetry
- lots of ebooks
- sudoku
oh, and let's not forget all of the PIM stuff (calendar, contacts, to-do list...)!
It looks like I'm not the only one with 'productivity' on their mind though. Check out this picture:
yep. that looks like a business professional in a suit...in the first class section of an airplane...standing in the aisle and playing sudoku.
