Comments on: Why Desktop Computers Matter as Laptops Speed Up

By: mirv

mirv — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 10:24:44 +0000

Multiple LCD screens with matrix screensavers, bunch of old cheap clustered boxes stacked unceremoniously with side panels removed (don’t need central heating anymore), cables everywhere, status indicators blinking on various peripheral devices, decent sound system, bash, apache, ssh, gcc, bowl of skittles etc… maybe you just have to be a geek to truly appreciate the aesthetic appeal of desktop computers :)

By: Embracing Chaos » Blog Archive » Heavy laptops: there’s no excuse - Leo Parker Dirac on Business and Technology Trends

Sat, 10 Apr 2010 19:10:42 +0000

[...] are great because they’re portable. Their processors might be a little slower, but local processing power rarely limits what you can do with a computer these days. And unless you get a really tiny laptop they’re hardly slower. If you do get a [...]

By: Embracing Chaos » Blog Archive » Can’t Gmail just POP my Inbox? - Leo Parker Dirac on Business and Technology Trends

Sat, 10 Apr 2010 19:06:36 +0000

[...] the ones that are filtered out of the inbox. This means that my phone which has much lower HCI bandwidth gets cluttered with all this list-mail that is less useful to me. I’ve configured gmail [...]

By: refurbished computers

refurbished computers — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 13:11:59 +0000

Desktop units are much faster and laptops and they are long lasting too.

By: Neal Walters

Neal Walters — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 10:03:20 +0000

I can stick a cassette tape in my desktop and turn it into an mp3 file. Some odd devices like that just haven't gone USB yet.

By: leodirac

leodirac — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 00:09:23 +0000

If you think this demonstrates second rate thinking, you should read the drivel I write when I'm waxing philosphical instead of talking about technology!

By: cam

cam — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 03:03:03 +0000

riding on your grandfather's coat tails won't hide the fact that you are second rate thinker

By: ASG

ASG — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 10:53:10 +0000

Leo – back @ HMC I used to joke that certain classmates went back to their rooms and "plugged in" a human I/O (pinky finger) – joking that they had better relationships w/their PCs than w/their classmates. Now that you've outlined the Human I/O as the bandwidth limiter, when do you expect we conquer this interface challenge? Direct brain/computer I/O??

By: leodirac

leodirac — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 00:41:13 +0000

Toby — it's true that there are markedly faster computers out there for reasonable prices. But my main point is that I very rarely wait for my local CPU to do anything. Loading Excel and running unit tests each take about 5 seconds, which is about as long as I wait for anything. Most everything I do with a computer is limited by other factors.

By: leodirac

leodirac — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 00:29:39 +0000

Mars -- Two displays are useful for all sorts of tasks...
Homework: assignment on left, essay on left.
Complex docs: Word on left, Excel on right.
Anytime you're building new content from existing content (i.e. research) it's great to have them in separate places.

When writing code, 3 displays are great for:
1. Code
2. Reference material
3. Running app / logs
and if the app is complex enough, #3 might want even 2 displays.

I've heard of financial traders running normally with 6 screens.

With multiple displays, context switching is as fast as moving your eyes -- tens of milliseconds. Swapping windows to fit on available screens is much slower -- often several seconds, and never better than a quarter second or so.

Multiple screens gives me exactly what I want -- a physical location map of ideas and instant context switching.

By: Toby Segaran

Toby Segaran — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 12:01:21 +0000

I have a docking station for my Laptop (Latitude D610) which has a DVI and VGA out. These can be used simultaneously, and I have 24" and 20" monitors attached to them. That's definitely as much screen space as I can handle.

The advantage of desktops is that they still are much faster than their laptop counterparts. Sure, your Macbook Pro is the fastest thing you've ever owned, but for the same price you can get a Quad-Core Mac Pro which will have much higher performance.

By: Mars Saxman

Mars Saxman — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 11:04:02 +0000

"Just two displays"? Your world is a bit farther into the future than mine. What do you use the second display for, and why not just get a bigger single display?