Thumbing my nose (well not yet).
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It's going to be a couple of more weeks, but I will soon be mucking around with the OQO. If you haven't caught wind of this device yet, let me just run down some of the specs real quick. The latest model released just this year includes the option of purchasing a configuration with 120 GB hard drive, or a 32 GB solid state drive, or 64 GB solid state drive. As far as processor goes, it comes with a 1.6GHz VIA C7M ULV and also sports 1GB memory, which incidentally, is the maximum expansion capacity. It ships with either Windows XP or Vista, and starts out at $1,299 and can go as high as $3,500 (including warranty). A bevy of accessories can get that total much higher too, for those executives really looking to blow some company money. As of now, the OQO does require its fair share of accessories. A case for one thing, and equally important, a docking station, both of which are sold separately. Anyway, the whole thing with OQO is that is a legitimate PC, but it's within a form factor about the size of a cell phone from the 1980s. Well, maybe a little more compact than that. Bob Rosin, the San Francisco-based company's senior VP of marketing and alliances, says the idea is you can finally never be away from your computer, if that's your thing. My immediate thought was, that's cool dude, I see what you're saying: We've all become a bunch of Web-obsessed workaholics who just might want to work on a PowerPoint presentation while waiting in line to buy movie tickets, or something such as that. Being a hand-held computer, use of the keyboard requires you to be a master of the thumbs, and my main point of contention with this device (at least coming out of the gate) is who really will be inclined to use the OQO for three to six hours. Who the heck can type with their thumbs for that long a period of time? I know I wouldn't, but I am incidentally the slowest texter in the world. However, I also recognize that I am the minority, at least for my age group, and especially among those younger than me, and when I say that, I am truly referring to teenagers. My bus route takes me by a high school in the morning, so I spend at least a few minutes with them everyday, watching in awe as they practically text term papers into their cell phones. Gosh, maybe my good ol' desk keyboard will be nothing more than a Royal typewriter in 10 years. Ha! I mean, 5 years. And if it does, and mobile devices such as the OQO come down in price, will the death of my keyboard, mean the death of my office, or at the very least, a significant downsizing of the space. Not to be too esoteric (though I am afraid it's too late) I like to think of what my office would look like if the day of the desktop, well, stopped, and if my coworkers and I would just be huddled on couches, thumbing away. Would I have wood paneling, instead of fabric-covered magnetic cubicle walls? And would it become even harder for supervisors to see what their employees are actually working on? |
