[Klug-general] ultra thin Apple Notebooks

[Karl Lattimer]

> I think the main issue I have with modern laptops is battery life. As
> someone who spends an awful lot of time on the road, I would like to be
> able to work on the train. Now whilst an increasing number of trains do
> have working power sockets, not all do. 

> The thing is. Of all the features listed above, multi core cpu is
> probably the least desired item on a laptop for me. It drives me nuts
> that you see these laptops the size of some cars (seriously, you should
> see the cars some of the dutch drive). That have CPU's more powerful
> than most desktops, and a batterylife of about 20 minutes. 

Agreed, I know someone with a 17" toshiba monstrosity which not only
looks like a dutch car, but is also about as heavy as one... Pointless
to spend a grand and a half on a machine like that... Completely
unportable, unupgradable and is almost as fixed in position as a
desktop.

Battery life is the most important factor, but its about a sweet spot of
performance per watt, and dual core chips don't have to be high power,
there are many advantages of multicore chips other than speed.

> And, you can power it by a draw cord.

Actually no you can't, they found after the baylis radio thing that kids
in africa had become freakishly overdeveloped in one arm (according to
J5), and the idea of having a manual charging method was dropped while
they came up with something better... They're apparently going to add
this into the next XO if they can find a real solution.

> 
> In realistic terms, since the release of Word 2, there have been very
> few (I am struggling to think of any) features that have been added to
> word that are actually really used every day, and couldn't be
> lived without. Word 2 came on less than a dozen floppies, and ran on a
> 386. Whats more, it also ran at 640x480. You have to ask yourself then,
> why do we need such powerful machines?

Wirths Law - computing sucks...
http://www.techweb.com/encyclopedia/defineterm.jhtml?term=Wirth'slaw

> Right, going to shut up now and drown my sorrows at not being able to
> get an XO :o(

Donate one, get one! You could have bought one in december, if you had
paid for two. They might be running this scheme again so keep your eyes
open for it if you REALLY want one. 

K,