2012-02-08
post/17271413736
NY Times: In Data Deluge, Multitaskers Go to Multiscreens.
I recently switched from a single 15” 1440×800 MacBook Pro display to three screens: the MBP and two external 1920×1080 monitors (whose diagonal sizes I’m uncertain of, but let’s say 21”). I think it’s helped, especially with having editor, browser, and dev tools on screen at once, with less important stuff glanceable at one side.
I suspect my next home setup will be an Air with a 27” Thunderbolt display acting as a hub. I’m looking forward to it.
Having said all that, 10 seconds for every five minutes of work? That seems like a micro-optimisation.
2011-03-02
post/3606177424
Or: you can just fucking deal! ”
2009-07-02
post/134097443
Battle between ZX Spectrum and BBC Micro to be BBC4 comedy drama, reports the Guardian.
For anyone thinking there’s no drama in this story, or that the Spectrum and Model B weren’t rivals, here’s a story from Sinclair User in March 1985:
THE RIVALRY between Sir Clive Sinclair and former employee Chris Curry, now head of Acorn Computers, developed into open warfare over the Christmas period.
Having commissioned a survey on the reliability of micros which appeared to demonstrate the superiority of the BBC over the Spectrum, advertisements were placed in two national newspapers on behalf of Acorn, implying that Spectrums bought as Christmas presents would soon be taken back to the shops, and their owners would do better to buy BBC computers instead.
The advertisement so angered Sir Clive that he attacked Curry in the Baron of Beef, a Cambridge pub where both are regular customers. Sir Clive walked up to Curry and slapped him about the head, then argued with him about the advertisement. There was some shoving and jostling, and the two men later began fighting again in Shades, an upmarket Cambridge wine bar.
2009-04-19
post/97781220
43,000 people and 2,000 vehicles an hour: why Oxford Circus is being re-built | Architects Journal (via)
More on the Oxford Circus junction redesign, including some pretty pictures of people simulations:
2008-08-11
Laptops- the new desktops
Ars Technica posted a commentary piece over the weekend about how laptops will replace desktops, which provoked a certain amount of bafflement. That’s not because the argument’s bogus (it’s not), but instead because it’s pointing out the obvious, and the trend is well beyond the point where it’s worth commenting on. 2lmc are, admittedly, kind of leading edge in stuff like this, but crumbs, laptops started outnumbering desktops as primary machines in the house somewhere around 2003.
(Admittedly, this is for personal machines. I’m sure that business still prefer cheap desktops, for most staff anyway; laptops are also seen as status symbols. I don’t care too much about corporate computing though, and for personal use, I’m sure laptops outnumbered desktops in machines sold last year).
No, the real trend I’ve noticed after the last year is how laptops are becoming increasingly tethered to desks, while the new breed of Eee-class laptops are going around and about. For example, the two trips candace has taken this year have both been accompanied by her Eee, while I left my 15” laptop behind on the first and lugged it around for the second. Meanwhile, her MacBook rarely moves further than from her study to the bedroom. Somehow, I doubt she’s unique in this.
Now, some people will find that their mobile phone - especially if it’s got a screen like the iPhone’s - is fine for reading (if not writing) while on the move. However, the market for 7”-10” laptops as truly portable devices is bound to get bigger.
Meanwhile, I’m sure people will still choose laptops over desktops for the home; they’re more sociable (you can sit and watch TV on a laptop) and, as the Ars article noted, they’re less underpowered than they used to be. (On the Apple side, especially, given two of the three desktops - the iMac and Mac mini - are effectively portables inside). Oh, and the only people who need a desktop for gaming any more are irredeemable FPS nerds.
So when I say that “Laptops are the new desktops”, I mean that they’re replacing them in many ways, while they themselves are replaced by smaller devices. Maybe in another ten years the cycle will repeat again, but with wearable computers. That seems a little unlikely, though.
(While we’re on the subject of small laptops, is there a better name for them than “webtops”, which is a bit silly, or “ultra-mobile PCs”, which ignores the fact that the same name is applied to ridiculously expensive (but very thin) full-screen-size laptops (why yes, I am thinking of the MacBook Air and various Sony devices)? No? OK, I was just wondering.)
