h a l f b a k e r yAmbivalent? Are you sure?
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Laptop computers are awkward. Even the best ones. I used to
blame this on the low-quality keyboards and displays, but these
have both improved greatly over the last few years, and yet
laptops are still awkward.
I think I've finally figured out what was really bothering me all along:
the keyboard
and the screen can't be moved relative to one another.
If you put it where your hands are comfortable on the keyboard,
it's awkward to look at the screen. If you put it where you can
look at the screen easily, it's awkward to type. And forget about
two people looking at the screen at the same time while one of
them is typing; there's just no way to do that comfortably.
Proposed solution: Mount the screen on a flexible neck that
can be extended from the base. In order for the neck to be
strong enough to support the screen at a comfortable height
without wobbling, it would probably have to be too thick to fit
into the really ultra-thin laptops, but what's a little extra bulk
for the sake of comfort?
The only real problem I can see with this idea is that
extending the screen would raise the laptop's center of gravity
and make the whole thing liable to fall over. This could be
solved by putting extra weight in the keyboard, but that might be
taking things too far.
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Perhaps a set of stablizer legs that would stick out
the back of the goose-neck -- that might keep it from
falling over. Or even a mini-tripod attached to the bottom
of the screen. I have one for my camera that's about
6 inches long and weighs about a half-pound. |
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...or we could all just give in and follow the wearable computer 'wave of the futre.' What interests me most about those crazy gadgets are the displays that are set into a pair of eye glasses. When wearing your glasses, a 'screen' appears to be floating about a meter or so in front of you. Just link your headgear to your notebook and you're in buisness. |
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And, to tie in the 'security laptops' thing, you don't have to worry about someone reading your laptop screen over your shoulder. |
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What about a wireless screen on a tripod, you could have the keyboard/CPU in your lap, with the detached monitor sitting at eye level, it could be transmited on the 900mhz freq. so you could also use this in a wireless network. or if wireless is too much, maybe just an extended cord so you can put the screen some place other than where the keyboard is. this would keep it small and lightweight still. |
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Part-baked! Amstrad e-M@iler! |
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3 hinges instead of 2. left and right could unbuckle, middle hinge could serve as 'master' hinge which contains wiring connection to video card, etc. and pivots unidirectionally. |
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Good in bed, on planes, in the bath (read the pages), etc - if there was a cable to connect the screen to the rest of the computer unit. |
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compaq once produced a model ("concerto") where the screen actually WAS the computer, and the keyboard attached with a cable. about five years ago, it was discontinued. problem was that the stand they attached to the display-computer-unit was not stable enough, and the thing fell over easily. oh, and you also could completely disconnect the keyboard and write on the display with a pen. not that technology was advanced enough for this to be really useful, at that time, though. |
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Technology is at a place now where you could just have a clip board-sized/shaped unit and a pen. If you really wanted to type you could bring along your foldable keyboard and prop up/hang you clipboard where it was easiest to see. You could even redirect the video to you specialized glasses wirelessly. |
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even with the glasses laptop of 'tommorrow' MI5 agents would still lose them. |
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Maybe a Z-shaped linkage at the hinge so that the screen could be pulled up from the keyboard some distance above the keys on the keyboard. Then stablize the now top-heavy configuration by flipping up two thin, telescoping legs from the front of the keyboard, based at each front corner of the keyboard. Now your hands are typing under the tripod formed and it still might be tippy, but if you are in close quarters (cross-country bus seat, car seat) the seat in front of you will stop it. Might work best if you use the Dvorak arrangement of the keyboard, so that typing is not akin to some Marcel Marceau mime hand exercise, as it is with the QWERTY keyboard. Might be able to velcro the keyboard to your knees. |
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The Toshiba Satellite 1955-S801 has a detachable keyboard on their laptop giving the same result. |
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http://www.zdnet.com/supercenter/stories/overview/0,12069,562180,00.html |
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I was about to post an idea but did my due diligence first and found this already existed. I was thinking 'scissor lift', with something Dr Seuss-ish in mind. Not even slightly practical. |
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I suspect laptop posture is a health hazard; not only bad for your neck but also by keeping your chin down and encouraging shallow breathing. Trouble is, in this internet-cafe-centric world, if you jack your screen up then you're end up encouraging everybody to gawk over your shoulder. |
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Some annotations seem dated in the context of what technology has appeared in the two intervening decades, and yet I'm still motivated to come here looking for a solution! |
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