Re: [dwm] Asustek EEE PC 1000 Atom 1GB 40G SSD Linux Black

On Fri, Sep 5, 2008 at 3:25 PM, Matthias-Christian Ott <ott_AT_enolink.de> wrote:
> Kurt H Maier wrote:
>> I have a string of thinkpads. The newest model I have is a T43, and
>> after my wife brought home an X41 on loan from her employer I
>> considered buying one. Sure, you can get a used x-series for not much
>> money, but I bought an Acer Aspire One[1] for $300 -- and it's under
>> warranty, I don't have to worry about replacing the worn-out battery,
>> and all the other things that come with a new computer instead of a
>> used one.
>
> That's stupid! Even if the battery is nearly unusable, you can still buy
> a new one instead of buying a new computer (I also heard about people
> who build their own batteries ;)). Buying a new computer if the old one
> is not entirely broken just contributes to these huge e-waste dumps in
> Africa and Asia.

FWIW, I still have my old laptop and occasionally use it, but a year
ago I got tired of walking around with this heavy thing in my backpack
all the time and bought a very cheap UMPC thing with a 7 in screen and
support for a USB plug-in keyboard. The machine is much more useful to
me because, being lighter, I no longer have to think about if I'm
going to be walking too far to want to carry the laptop, the UMPC just
automatically goes in my backpack. There are only two problems with
the new machine: boot up time, because Linux suspend doesn't work, and
because it's so small it can be difficult to use on a train/bus with
bright sunlight outside (normal laptops being bigger tend to block out
the sun better). It's an enivronmental trade-off: I'm buying new kit
but then I don't do all the driving around other people do
unthinkingly.

The screen works acceptably in a tweaked dwm which automatically
assigns a new tag to every opened window, and I can write papers and
do programming on it (at least, providing it's not really sunny!)

> I meant this seriously. I didn't touch a EEE PC 1000, but for the EEE PC
> 700 this is true. I haven't seen someone using this as his development
> computer or computer for longer works.

I work on my 7in PC (primarily using dwm & emacs), although train &
bus travel is sufficiently tiring that about 2 hours is all I can
manage. (I also zonk out at about 2 hours reading fiction books whilst
traveling.)

> Additionally I can't understand, why all people started to carry around
> laptops (what's the difference between laptop and notebook?) with
> themselves, except they are maybe professionals (programmers,
> scientists, ...) and travel a lot. I don't have to have a laptop to sit
> in an internet cafe during holidays.
> All the world seems to be busy (or at least pretend this) and therefore
> has to run around with mobile devices (mobile phones, laptops, ...) in
> order to do their "important" work. In my opinion these mobile devices
> are just modern today and people often just buy them and use them in the
> public for no reason, just to show who they are. It became some kind of
> status symbol.

I've never understood why people who drive have laptops, other than to
give client presentations, since they don't have the ability to use
them whilst travelling. But on public transport and planes they can
make sense if you've got work you can do in a relatively crowded
environment. The other minor use is that, having been stranded once
during a foreign trip -- the railway line the Eurostar trip home
passed by exploding gas cylinders -- and had to book an emergency
flight home via the web, I would have been really, REALLY nervous
about trusting an internet cafe's computers with my credit card
details.

> If your at an airport, just look at the screens of these "business
> men" - nearly nobody of them does serious work (or at least I got the
> impression). You can also observe this at internet cafes or railway
> stations.

When actually ON the train I've observed lots of people writing
reports, etc. (Of course, most reports are pointless but then you can
say that about lots of paid human activity...)

-- 
cheers, dave tweed__________________________
david.tweed_AT_gmail.com
Rm 124, School of Systems Engineering, University of Reading.
"while having code so boring anyone can maintain it, use Python." --
attempted insult seen on slashdot