A personal jet-pack for the 21st century

[james_davis_nicoll]

Shorter John Siracusa: e-books' coming domination of publishing is inevitable, do you hear me? Inevitable!

Nicked from Charles Stross, who pretty much would have to be more positive about e-books than I am.

Comments

[heron61.livejournal.com]

That would be wonderful, if and when I can fit a laptop in my pocket. This is why the current fad for netbooks baffles me, they aren't pocket-sized. OTOH, the new MIDs are looking promising - if they boost the battery life a lot (epaper or OLED screens will help lots) I'm sold.

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

I haven't been able to fit a paperback in my pocket since the '70s -- too thick. The current Netbook is about the size of a trade paperback.

But for small size, you won't beat a smartphone --- see comment about chewing up from the bottom.

[avram]

This is why the current fad for netbooks baffles me, they aren't pocket-sized.

But they're man-purse-sized, which is good enough for a lot of people. And cheap. I could buy a whole netbook for less than it would cost me to get the screen on my PowerBook repaired if it broke.

Actually, the smaller Asus EEEs can fit in a biggish jacket pocket. I saw someone pull one out at Worldcon last year.