An Apple Competitor to the Foleo?

[r0k]

Hehe. I knew this thread would get woke up for the 'air! My Foleo use case was to have my desktop remain in the "office" in the basement and keep the foleo sitting on the nightstand. The 'air would give me near the same feature set because I could leave it on a "black" screensaver or off and fire it up to do work. Macos takes less time than windows to wake up from full off. While the 'air is not trying to tap into the same market as the Foleo, it could do the job I had picked out for the Foleo. And it makes the Foleo seem like such a deal.

I've looked at the EEE. To small and too cheesy. I'm sure the Foleo wouldn't have felt as cheap.

I've held the air. It feels as sturdy as any laptop but is half the thickness and at the low end of the weight. One usb port and a video output that requires an adapter is a bit of a deterrent, but they are far less important than having a machine with a full sized keyboard and large screen and large set of available software.

The 'air is a lot more than an EEE, Foleo or a dumb terminal, but it is on my short list for a next machine. The ones I handled in the Apple store were not running nearly as hot as the Macbooks and Macbook Pros on the adjacent counter. I'm sure the drives were those itty bitty drives they use in the classic so they wouldn't run all that hot either. Definitely a beautiful machine.

[internetpilot]

A bit late on replying to all this, but when everyone is talking about the Apple sneaking out a flash memory based notebook companion, does no one remember the WindowsCE based Handheld PC's? Models like the HP Jornada 720, NEC MobilePro 800, and IBM WorkPad Z50 were all subnotebook sized devices with near full-sized keyboards. I believe the later MobilePro 8XX models actually supported USB hosting, too. These devices were all Folios while Palm still had only B/W displays. I had a NEC MobilePro 450, NEC MobilePro 700, NEC MobilePro 750c, and an IBM Workpad Z50. While I owned each of these individual devices, I used them as 100% notebook computer replacements even though they were called "companions" -- especially the NEC 750c and the IBM Z50. I was configuring routers and even running sniffer applications on them.

The Foleo holds no prize for being innovative or a new idea. If Apple puts something out like that it will be nothing, but second-hand theft of an idea -- kind of like what Apple always claims about Microsoft Windows (by way of Xerox).

Oops...I thought I'd already posted something similar to this in the Foleo forum -- and here it is (including pictures of the Handheld PC devices):

Let's Try Something New -- I actually like it!

[Konrad Pierce]

Our digital "assistants" used to be called "companions"?

Maybe the next generation will be "slaves"? (Oooh, look at Apple's new iPeon and HP's new line of Personal Digital Minions!)

[internetpilot]

Our digital "assistants" used to be called "companions"?

Maybe the next generation will be "slaves"? (Oooh, look at Apple's new iPeon and HP's new line of Personal Digital Minions!)

ARE YOU INSANE?! Apple is going to read this and go with it, and now you will get nothing for this incredible marketing campaign that you actually initiated.

I can hear it now:

"The all-new, Apple Touch iMinion -- a digital slave to your multimedia whims..."

There have been more weird/silly names:

Palm Pilot (uh...what?)
Apple Newton (does that have fig or apple filling?)
Jornada (didn't VW make a sedan by the same name?)
MobilePro (if it's a "MobilePRO" then why is it just a companion?)
WorkPad (any getting the play on "notebook"...workpad....haha)
iPAQ (I pack, I move, I unload....)
Mogul (and that's a recent one)
Excaliber (ditto)


In all seriousness, yes -- they were called "companions", a word later reserved for homosexual relationships. I guess my Handheld PC was male after all....hmmm.... Anyway, yes, Microsoft was VERY firm about this name. Anytime anyone contacted support about a Handheld PC not being able to do something quite like a notebook computer, they were VERY quick to say, "Well, it's not intended to replace your notebook or desktop computer -- it's a companion that works with your full-sized PC." Companion, companion, companion -- that's all I ever heard.

[Konrad Pierce]

Apparently the ones on Star Trek are called Personal Access Display Devices (PADDs). Starfleet-issue PADDs are rectangular "clipboards" available in a variety of configurations with a large backlit touchscreen (and stylus), a few buttons, isolinear printed circuit boards, sarium krellide power cells, and an outer casing made of boronite whisker epoxy (able to sustain a 35-meter drop without damage). Processing specifications are difficult to verify; it's reasonable to assume they're about as capable as a tricorder.

Are there any mobile devices with laptop-sized touchscreens available today?