Byrnesys Blabberings

There has been many thoughts that the macbook air has brought in many of the good thing about a ultra-portable such as external optical drive (a feature which seems to be getting a lot of bad press, but Im for it!), 3lb weight, 0.16" thin (at its thinnest) while keeping the relatively large 13" widescreen display. I guess mac were trying to go portable while keeping the display large for their designer "on the move" niche.

In essence it seems people wanted a super slim re-make of the 12" powerbook G4 and the macbook has made trade off’s in both direction which may leave many continuing to put their money in the direction of macbook and macbook pro’s. That being said their will undoubtedly be a good sales rate for the macbook air as it will have delighted some upon its release as their perfect solution and others as their perfect status symbol.

This morning I was wondering what innovations we might see on a the re-release of the macbook air (I know probably a little premature, but I can dream!) and read Stephen Fry’s excellent column Dork Talk, who was reviewing the new motorola U9, in my opinion a hidiously ugly thing, yet including OLED screen technology which is dubbed the replacement for LCD/Plasma. Could OLED redefine how ultraporable laptops are made in the future, quite possibly, can you imagine a roll-up monitor, read below for an intro to OLED.

"OLED, which sandwiches stacks of light-emitting layers of polymers to form ultra-thin displays, has the remarkable potential to be incorporated into fabric and the lightest of materials, famously raising the prospect of roll-up monitors, a new generation of electronic paper, and a world in which displays can be seen everywhere, in coffee mugs, handbags and neckties; in underwear, shop counters and car doors. OLED, which doesn’t need a backlight, has the advantage of being bright enough to be readable in sunlight, while using less power than LCD. Applications range from holography to 3D video by way of every kind of display currently using LCD, LED, Plasma and CRT. It is even viable as a solid, low-consumption light source. Combine it with the accelerometers that have given the iPhone and the Wii such cachet this year, and a whole new world of human interface possibilities dances in our delirious imaginations.

There is a long way to go yet: OLED technology, although hardly in its infancy, faces problems. Typically the displays last a fraction of the lifetime of LED and LCD, and the patent issue continues to hold back some developers and corporations. But good on Motorola for coming up with a touch-sensitive OLED consumer mobile at this stage of the game." – Stephen Fry