Right Answer: Treo, Ultra Portable, or Laptop

Based on my last post, Paul C thought I was carrying a lot of junk. It’s really quite small considering the SD card goes inside the Treo and I’ve added a charge/sync cable. Click the picture to see an actual size image.
Treo kit

For me, this is a compliment to a laptop, with the minimum capabilities I need in a very mobile form. I don’t want to regularly bring a laptop to lunch, use it in parking lots, or stores, but the Treo is perfect for all that and takes calls too.

With the 2GB card I have 1GB+ to spare after loading Gaim, Firefox, Thunderbird, N-vu, and other junk. Plenty of space for transporting the equivalent of a CD-R or two inside my phone if I need to transport data. When I need a laptop, I want the ability to drive one or preferably TWO 1600×1200 displays. That is called for when working on training for avionics displays that run natively at 1280×1024. I really want a desktop-peer, a "luggable", when I want a computer.

For Paul, he probably wants more capabilities than the Treo + PortableApps can offer- a better keyboard, bigger screen, "real" apps, no worries about the OS or configuration issues on "other" machines and so on. A 7 lbs. dreadnought Dell, tank-esque ThinkPad or overweight Alien craft would break his back more than bring "on-the-flyweight" mobile productivity like his Sony TR.

I actually considered all of the computers just listed, and think they all have their merits.

The right answer? D) All of the above. Needs vary too widely for anyone to prescribe universal solutions.

About Tom King

Tom King has a master's degree in Instructional Design and 15 years experience developing and managing elearning materials. Tom has been active with many elearning technology specification groups, including ADL SCORM, AICC, IEEE LTSC, and others. He served as AICC Communications Chairman and workgroup leader for the PENS specification. Tom was instrumental in early implementations of LMS specifications for LAN and web-based systems as an early AICC advocate and founder of Solis, maker of Pathware (acquired by Macromedia and later transferred to IBM as LearningSpace 4). Tom continues to collaborate with colleagues from a variety of companies offering enterprise-class elearning solutions.
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