

Smallest Linux desktop PC, smaller than an apple (fruit) - superberliner
http://www.handlewithlinux.com/smallest-linux-pc

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ssp
The image of the setup with the keyboard and the monitor gave me an idea: Open
a coffee shop/internet cafe type place where people could bring tiny computers
and/or cell phones in and plug them into a docking station attached to a
keyboard and a monitor.

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rsheridan6
I'll bet that's the future of the desktop/notebook, when cell phones become a
little more powerful.

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mooism2
The hard bit isn't even the hardware. It's the ui. Phone ui and desktop ui
going are always going to be different, so how jarring is it going to be to
have two different uis on the same machine?

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stcredzero
If you have a Mac and an iPhone, it's all OS X. Just have the system start up
the "Desktop" window/UI management system when you dock the phone. Lots of
Linux users are familiar with the same machine, with the same OS having 2, 3
or a dozen different window managers.

People are already used to having one set of UI conventions on their phone and
another on their laptop/desktop. Doesn't seem to jar too many from where I'm
sitting.

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stcredzero
You can get this thing for $200. Not quite as small, but it has a 1.6 GHz Atom
and it will handle streaming of HD video.

<http://amzn.com/B002O3W44Q>

If I were Apple, I'd be releasing an upgraded Apple TV using the tech that
went into the iPad. (But trade off a bunch of speed for efficfiency.)
Otherwise things like the Acer AspireRevo are going to eat away at sales of
the Mac Mini and Apple TV.

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icefox
Speaking of the Atom I have noticed that just about everyone had put out
little mac mini type computers except that they use the Atom. The mac mini on
the other hand is pretty much a laptop in a box. It uses a mobile core 2 duo
which results in better power usage and _way_ better performance. Why hasn't
any manufacture out there created a mac mini clone? I spent last weekend
trying to find one to buy, but in the end it looks like I will be buying a
mini to put Linux. The closest I came on the PC side was to get a laptop and
turn off the screen.... I was honestly expecting it to be easy to find a PC
version of the mac mini.

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stcredzero
The thing is, a modern laptop in a box is _way_ more power than lots of
typical users need. If you're not a gamer, all you really need is something
like an Atom and some hardware assisted video decoding.

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rbanffy
_desktop_?

You know... You could hook up VGA and a couple USB ports to a microcontroller,
run Linux and call it a desktop computer, but you would be lying.

~~~
jrockway
Yeah, because how could anyone use a computer without wobbly windows!?

(Go back in time 20 years, and multiuser timesharing systems had lower specs
than this. And a lot of good CS work was done on these systems; UNIX written,
Emacs written, Vi written, gcc written, etc.)

~~~
dagobart
Well, and then there was Firefox. Which simply won't run on old hardware, at
least not in a current version. And not at all to mention YouTube or anything
a more powerful computer requiring site. (GMail anyone?)

As much as I love keeping old computers alive using Linux, the nowadays common
way using the web puts the spoke into the wheel.

~~~
jrockway
_the common way using the web puts the spoke into the wheel_

Wheels fall apart if you take the spokes out. Pretty sure this was not the
analogy you were looking for.

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jws
It says "300MHz Atom", which would be a nonsensical clock rate, the
manufacturer's website says it is actually a 300MHz MIPS cpu. That isn't a lot
of horsepower by desktop standards of even a decade ago.

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mark_l_watson
I like these small devices, but as a practical setup, a good choice is just a
very small Ubuntu laptop with a large external monitor for when you happen to
be working at your desk. Inexpensive, not a lot of wires, and portable when
you need it.

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known
<http://www.linutop.com/index.en.html>

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johnohara
Looks like the wearables.stanford.edu stack from a few years back.

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whatwhatwhat
That's pretty funny

... but basically useless

