Re: [tlug] Netbooks

[Curt Sampson <cjs@example.com>]

On 2010-02-01 11:16 +0900 (Mon), Nikolay Elenkov wrote:

> 2010年 2月 1日（月）9:58 am に Darren Cook さんは書きました：
> 
> Wait a bit for the iPad? Or any other (Android!) tablet, those are bound
> to pop up pretty soon.

>From what I have seen, the iPad is just an iPod touch with a larger
screen. While it may or may not make a fine reader (I'm guessing that it
will, though we'll see how easy it is to load non-DRM stuff on it) and
otherwise fun toy, it is in no way a general-purpose computing device.

I suspect it will do ok for A4 scientific papers, assuming it works as
well in landscape mode as any laptop with a 1024x768 screen and you
don't mind seeing only half the page at once. Portrait full-page view
will probably not be terribly comfortable with 9-point text.

On 2010-02-01 12:10 +0900 (Mon), Ian Barwick wrote:

> I'd be wary signing up to emobile just for the "cheap" hardware;
> apparently the maximum limit is easily maxed out [1] and that works
> out more expensive than a normal emobile flatrate (I pay about
> 5,000 yen a month, on a yearly contract through my ISP). Those
> hardware subsidies have to be recouped somehow...

Oh, very interesting! That explains it. And note that if you're
interested in only occasional use, but it's likely to be heavy use
when you do use it (e.g., as a backup for failed land lines) they have
an option that's about 1,600 yen per month with little to no use, and
increases with traffic used during any particular month up to something
around 6,000 yen for unlimited traffic.

cjs
-- 
Curt Sampson         <cjs@example.com>         +81 90 7737 2974
             http://www.starling-software.com
The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism
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