Comments on: This Old Machine http://www.danappleman.com/?p=58 Analysis and commentary on technology issues and others Fri, 19 Mar 2010 00:30:51 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Steve Nelson http://www.danappleman.com/?p=58&cpage=1#comment-175721 Steve Nelson Thu, 11 Dec 2008 14:48:30 +0000 http://www.danappleman.com/?p=58#comment-175721 Hi Dan! I was just wondering what you were up to these days, so a did a Google and got this (old) post. I saw in Popular Mechanics (Dec. 08) Philips has come out wth a mini projector and there was a comment that perhaps phones in the future will have them built in, just like cameras now. Moving forward from there, you might have your PC in your phone, set it down, project your PC on the wall, and the main thing you have to carry with you is a cheap bluetooth keyboard and mouse. Might be a ways out, though... : ) I became an instant fan of yours after getting the Win32 API book a few years ago, as much for your writing/character as for the excellent content. -Steve Hi Dan! I was just wondering what you were up to these days, so a did a Google and got this (old) post.

I saw in Popular Mechanics (Dec. 08) Philips has come out wth a mini projector and there was a comment that perhaps phones in the future will have them built in, just like cameras now. Moving forward from there, you might have your PC in your phone, set it down, project your PC on the wall, and the main thing you have to carry with you is a cheap bluetooth keyboard and mouse.

Might be a ways out, though… : )

I became an instant fan of yours after getting the Win32 API book a few years ago, as much for your writing/character as for the excellent content.

-Steve

]]> By: Neil Barnwell http://www.danappleman.com/?p=58&cpage=1#comment-103051 Neil Barnwell Tue, 25 Sep 2007 22:47:37 +0000 http://www.danappleman.com/?p=58#comment-103051 This has got me thinking. We're still in a position these days where there's a gap in the market for something between a notebook and a PDA. For taking my notebook on trips my main consideration would be size and weight, plus it's ability to back up photos from my camera, and allow me access to the internet. More than that is unnecessary. I currently have a Dell Inspiron, but it's a tad lardy so the 2nd hand option is food for thought. Thanks for the article. This has got me thinking. We’re still in a position these days where there’s a gap in the market for something between a notebook and a PDA. For taking my notebook on trips my main consideration would be size and weight, plus it’s ability to back up photos from my camera, and allow me access to the internet. More than that is unnecessary. I currently have a Dell Inspiron, but it’s a tad lardy so the 2nd hand option is food for thought. Thanks for the article.

]]> By: Dan http://www.danappleman.com/?p=58&cpage=1#comment-95312 Dan Fri, 29 Jun 2007 18:57:31 +0000 http://www.danappleman.com/?p=58#comment-95312 All good points. The deciding factor in this case was actually size. While prices of the sub-notebooks has been dropping, they are still very high. And this machine (the 240) is a very small (10.4" screen, weights just a few pounds) which makes it uniquely ideal for travel. Much of the time doing the installs was actually PC time - I was busy doing other things while the machine loaded software. Was it the right economic choice? Hard to say - but it was an interesting exercise - perhaps even priceless... All good points.
The deciding factor in this case was actually size. While prices of the sub-notebooks has been dropping, they are still very high. And this machine (the 240) is a very small (10.4″ screen, weights just a few pounds) which makes it uniquely ideal for travel.
Much of the time doing the installs was actually PC time – I was busy doing other things while the machine loaded software. Was it the right economic choice? Hard to say – but it was an interesting exercise – perhaps even priceless…

]]> By: Demetrio http://www.danappleman.com/?p=58&cpage=1#comment-95285 Demetrio Fri, 29 Jun 2007 06:06:32 +0000 http://www.danappleman.com/?p=58#comment-95285 Hi Dan, I always find this sort of thing a little tricky to work out whether you've actually saved money at the end of the day. I know when I tried setting up an old pc as a test machine, it took so long that, if you calculated the lost earnings in consulting time, I could have purchased a brand new top of the line pc and got a tax deduction to boot. In my case, the cost of setting up the old pc was more expensive than buying a new one already configured with an OS. In your case, you may have got the thing together in a snap, but you've still got to weigh the cost of the whole exercise (including the time spent at the computer shop) compared with the cost you would have incurred insuring your main laptop against it being lost, stolen or broken on holidays (as long as all the data is backed up before you go away). The other thing to consider is the enjoyment (or pain in my case) of setting the whole thing up - as the Master card marketing says 'priceless' for those things you enjoy doing regardless of the cost. Cheers, Demetrio Hi Dan,

I always find this sort of thing a little tricky to work out whether you’ve actually saved money at the end of the day.

I know when I tried setting up an old pc as a test machine, it took so long that, if you calculated the lost earnings in consulting time, I could have purchased a brand new top of the line pc and got a tax deduction to boot. In my case, the cost of setting up the old pc was more expensive than buying a new one already configured with an OS.

In your case, you may have got the thing together in a snap, but you’ve still got to weigh the cost of the whole exercise (including the time spent at the computer shop) compared with the cost you would have incurred insuring your main laptop against it being lost, stolen or broken on holidays (as long as all the data is backed up before you go away).

The other thing to consider is the enjoyment (or pain in my case) of setting the whole thing up – as the Master card marketing says ‘priceless’ for those things you enjoy doing regardless of the cost.

Cheers,

Demetrio

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