I.B.M.'s MetaPad

February 9, 2002 6:12 PM

I.B.M.'s MetaPad (NYTimes link) is a slender black rectangle, that works as a PDA and a PC. Best part it's non-OS-centric. In desktop mode it uses Windows XP, in PDA mode it uses Palm OS, also should work with Linux. Not to be confused with Metapad. [Via SVN]
posted by riffola (19 comments total)

Remember how in the fifth Hitchhiker's book "Mostly Harmless", there was new version of guide, one that made the leap from the simple ethernet PDA-like device that the original guide was to a quasi-magical quantum singularity based device that adapted to it's user almost like a witch's familiar and offered as yet unheard off insight into the nature of the universe?
Yeah, well this is nothing like that. It's another PDA. Whoopie.
You'll bet setting your mug on it to spare your shitty formica desk from IKEA another coffee ring in six months.
posted by dong_resin at 6:47 PM on February 9, 2002

That reads back a little angry, doesn't it.
I just want my flying car, people.
posted by dong_resin at 6:54 PM on February 9, 2002

This thing rocks, seriously. I got to play with an early beta of it a few months ago and it astounded me.
posted by Nothing at 7:38 PM on February 9, 2002

You know what strikes me? It's that the design of this thing couldn't be any more boring. I mean, I don't need a big hunk of useless iMac plastic in a rainbow of colors, but how about a little creativity and ergonomics?
posted by UrbanFigaro at 8:08 PM on February 9, 2002

Yeah, but can it make pancak-
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posted by brownpau at 8:11 PM on February 9, 2002

Urban,

All you're seeing is a prototype of the technology. IBM doesn't even plan to sell the hardware.
posted by glenwood at 8:15 PM on February 9, 2002

So this is just IBM's concept model for future mini-PDA/PC's?
posted by brownpau at 8:22 PM on February 9, 2002

Also, UrbanFigaro, it's intended to be plugged into a larger unit for desktop use, so rectangular is kind of necessary. When you're done at the office you unplug the little black box, which contains your HD and processor along with it's LCD and stylus, taking it home or on the road as a PDA, and when you get home you can plug it into your own desktop unit and have all your stuff from work, open windows and everything. Like I said, very cool, and amazingly fast. What really amazed me though was the screen, the one I saw had a prototype ultra high res LCD and it was beautiful.

It's sad they won't be making it, production cost got too high.
posted by Nothing at 8:54 PM on February 9, 2002

Yeah, I know it's a prototype, and I know that it's supposed to be plugged into a larger unit, but that doesn't mean that it has to be a boring black box. Just my opinion, of course.
posted by UrbanFigaro at 8:58 PM on February 9, 2002

The obligation for a razzmatazz exo is directly proportional to the product's dispensability.
posted by Opus Dark at 9:04 PM on February 9, 2002

Imagine an artist being able to walk around a city, sketching what he sees on his MetaPad, and uploading it to the web instantaneously, as he's walking down the street. That's just one cool application something like this could have.

Also, people will be able to blog from anywhe.... wait a damn minute, this things gotta be stopped!
posted by insomnyuk at 9:11 PM on February 9, 2002

Immediacy is an overused justification for mediocrity. (Sorry, my auto-aphorism soft is pegging.)
posted by Opus Dark at 9:33 PM on February 9, 2002

"Cynicism is what passes for insight among the mediocre."
posted by benh57 at 10:00 PM on February 9, 2002

I'm not sure what that means, but you sound like a liar.
posted by dong_resin at 10:07 PM on February 9, 2002

Okay kids, it's use your imagination time. While IBM's prototype is certainly destined for the circular file, so too is that beige behemoth noisily humming beside you. It's not the implementation that's cool, it's the concept.

Who among us hasn't dreamt of carrying our digitized existence with us into the big room? Evolution is incremental by nature, and this is merely another baby step toward ubiquitous digital society.

I look forward to the day when secure, reliable, Cray-level computing is just another cheap, recycleable commodity that fits in my wallet. Hell, becomes my wallet. And my cell, and my PDA, etc. The future would get here a lot faster if we'd all quit dragging our feet.

That said, I'm with dong_resin; where's my effing flying car?
posted by johnnyace at 12:32 AM on February 10, 2002

Someday they're going to build cities aro-
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posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 1:09 AM on February 10, 2002

Here's a C|Net video clip (Windows Media) showing the MetaPad in action.
posted by riffola at 11:53 AM on February 10, 2002

Imagine an artist being able to walk around a city, sketching what he sees on his MetaPad, and uploading it to the web instantaneously, as he's walking down the street.

Wasn't patience once a virtue?
posted by HTuttle at 1:53 AM on February 11, 2002

But isn't virtue a grace? And wasn't Grace a little girl who never washed her face?

Exactly.
posted by nedrichards at 7:09 AM on February 11, 2002