June 21, 1999
Have PCs gotten too small?
By Bob O'Donnell
One sure way to make a compelling point
is to provide side-by-side physical comparisons of similar devices. This
is particularly true in the computer and electronics industries, which
continue to work under the general principle that smaller is better. Haul
out an old luggable, suitcase computer and place it next to today's
ultrasleek notebooks, for example, and you can't help but be impressed at
how far we've come.
But I'm starting to wonder if we've reached a point of diminishing
returns, where we've shrunk devices beyond the point of usefulness. And
not just in notebook PCs but desktop computers as well. Two recent product
introductions --
IBM's
3-pound ThinkPad
240 portable and
Gateway's
new Profile
integrated desktop -- really bring the point home.
The ThinkPad 240, like
Sony's
Vaio Z505 and
Toshiba's
Portege line before it, is less than 1-inch thick and less than 3 pounds,
putting it into the ultraslim, ultralight notebook category. On the one
hand, I'm really drawn to these types of devices because I've grown tired
of hauling around 7- to 8-pound notebooks that seemingly don't provide any
benefits over the smaller devices. I also appreciate good engineering and
am very attracted by the lightweight device's slick designs. However,
having used these types of notebooks before, I'm also frustrated by the
fact that none of them include an integrated floppy or CD/DVD-ROM drive.
To get anything into or out of them you have to attach some other external
device, which gets old very quickly.
Now, why someone hasn't figured out how to integrate a tiny CD- or DVD-ROM
drive (preferably rewritable so that the drive would be multipurpose) into
which you simply slide in a disc, a la a car's CD audio player, is beyond
me. But, until something like that happens, it seems this ultralight
notebook form factor has simply gotten too small. Plus, when you throw in
the typically reduced keyboard sizes that these devices feature and their
questionable durability (it's a lot easier to toss around a lighter
notebook than it is a heavier one), then it would seem you have a real
problem.
In the case of desktops,
Gateway's
new Profile, like
Sony's
SlimTop line, is a very attractive computing device. By integrating a
flat-panel monitor and motherboard into a single, lightweight unit,
Gateway
has created a sleek, futuristic-looking PC that fits into a much smaller
space than the typical desktop computer. The problem I see here, however,
is expandability. While the Profile integrates a floppy and CD- or DVD-ROM,
as well as a V.90 56K modem and 10/100Mb Ethernet port, it doesn't offer
any full-size expansion slots. Like a notebook, it includes two CardBus-compliant
Type II PC Card slots, but you won't find any PCI slots. While I'm
confident that in a few years just about any type of expansion device
you'd want for a PC will be available in PC Card format, that isn't
necessarily the case today.
Plus, while the 400-MHz K6-2 processor driving the Profile may be great
for now, it may not feel that way two or three years out. Unfortunately,
there doesn't seem to be any way to keep using the nice 15" screen
when you reach that point (and desktop monitors typically last through
several generations of desktop CPUs). So, the question becomes, is the
small size brought about by the continued evolution of PCs really worth
it?
Given the interest both in the ultraslim notebooks and these new types
of desktops, my guess is that the market will say yes, despite my
concerns. But it seems clear to me that while these small, new computer
designs are technological steps forward, they bring with them some fairly
serious compromises that suggest we're reaching the end of this particular
evolutionary path.
Do you think PC designs have reached a point of diminishing returns?
What other developments would you like to see happen? Share your thoughts
in my forum.
On a personal note, I'm very pleased to officially announce the release
of my new book, Personal
Computer Secrets, published by IDG Books. The 936-page tome is meant
to be all-in-one reference to just about anything and everything you'd
ever want to know about buying, using, upgrading, networking, and
troubleshooting personal computers. You should be able to find it at all
of your favorite online or brick-and-mortar bookstores (as well as on my Web
site). I encourage you to check it out and let me know what you think.
©
Copyright 1999, by InfoWorld Publishing Corp., a
subsidiary of IDG Communications, Inc. Reprinted from InfoWorld,
155 Bovet Road, San Mateo, CA 94402. Further reproduction is
prohibited.
