The personal portable server cont.

I have been thinking about a personal portable server. A couple I have seen lately are based on these USB flash memory devices, sometimes with a thumb print device. Most don’t have software to truly sync, or enough capacity.

My friend Troy sent this which is a major step forward if it is made:

MetaPad is an ultraportable PC HD and CPU capable of docking to any number of input or display devices. The concept solves data synchronization problems, doesn’t make you buy a brand new PC for your PDA, and is much more convenient than hauling a laptop or being limited to a handheld. Take the 3x5x.75“ core, dock it anywhere.

I saw the initial announcement, then heard IBM wasn’t going to develop it. http://www.research.ibm.com/resources/news/20020206\_metapad.shtml
http://www.popsci.com/popsci/bown/article/0,16106,388085,00.html

but these folks licensed MetaPad from IBM: http://www.antelopetech.com/en/index.aspx?view=i-products\_theVision.htm

Having an ultraportable chassis (9“), a fat notebook chassis (16“), and a desktop chassis could hit mainstream affordability. The display is about half the cost of a laptop, so given $1100 laptops, we could see $500
(incremental cost) for a new form factor.

Troy