
Tiny computer or huge Palm III PDA: $25 - mbrubeck
http://www.howtospotapsychopath.com/2012/03/24/tiny-computer-or-huge-pda-25/
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silentscope
I remember those from elementary school! They were a huge fad and all the cool
kids had em. They quickly got replaced by the palm pilot (in coolness). Funny
how middle school fads and tech seem to have so much in common...

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quinndupont
If the keyboard is good, it seems like it would make a great distraction-free
writing device.

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nullflux
How are these relevant with the dawn of tablets and ultraportable, cheap
laptops? Is it just price, or am I missing something?

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smacktoward
1) Extremely long battery life -- the newer Neo model can be used for months
on a pair of AA batteries (see
[http://www.williamlanday.com/2009/05/29/things-i-love-the-
al...](http://www.williamlanday.com/2009/05/29/things-i-love-the-alphasmart-
neo/#.T24Ok9l5JxQ))

2) Can run on commodity batteries -- AAs are cheap, user replaceable, and
supplies are easily available worldwide

3) More rugged -- can be dropped without fear, no need for aftermarket
cases/screen protectors

4) Keyboard included -- no need for aftermarket add-on, unlike most tablets

5) Cheap -- you can buy one for an order of magnitude less than the cost of a
tablet, or even more less than the cost of a notebook

Which isn't to say devices like these are better _for everyone_ than a tablet
or a laptop would be, just that those devices don't automatically make these
irrelevant for their niche.

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lysol
Reminds me of an Apple Newton eMate, a little.

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sp332
I think I prefer my eMate 300, to be honest. The touchscreen is bigger. It's
got good handwriting and drawing recognition. My keyboard is a bit too small
though. And to be honest, I have no idea how to transfer data to or from it!

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jpalomaki
Modernized version could be interesting. A writing device with good keyboard,
designed to work together with smartphone - but not just an external keyboard.
Priced at 50 bucks, maybe bluetooth for connectivity, small display and great
battery life.

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zokier
I was thinking RasberryPI duct-taped on a small keyboard (eg happyhacking) and
some transreflexive display. Although I'm not sure if RPI would be exactly
fitting for this kind of usage. Something which could drive the display
directly would be more useful.

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moylan
fingers crossed somebody releases a case with a lcd screen, battery and
keyboard that will accept the raspberry pi. even a build your own kit could be
interesting considering the cost of the raspberry pi.

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fumar
The Dana, was a great machine. I feel bad I forgot about it. I will probably
buy one. Then eventually sell it when I remember I outgrew it.

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Luc
There's a few retro computers that are a lot like this. The Amstrad NC-200 and
the Cambridge Z88 come to mind.

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smacktoward
And the TRS-80 Model 100 (<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRS-80_Model_100>),
which arguably pioneered the concept.

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technomancy
It annoys me to no end that the mess that is Bluetooth killed the much more
robust, useful, and foolproof IrDA.

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moylan
this. beaming between palms and psions with irda was childs play compared to
swapping via bluetooth on later devices. searching, pairing, authorising. and
that's assuming the other recipient knows how to use bluetooth. these days i
swap more info with qr codes than with bluetooth. convert info to qr code,
have their barcode app read qr code. line of sight was so simple.

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zokier
NFC seems promising for temporary connections such as sharing vcards etc.

