Smaller and Better?

From PC’s to laptops, and now there’s mini’s. Just when you think it can’t get any more convenient for writers, technology takes another step forward. A lot of my writing acquaintances are really excited about the new personal mini-notebooks, or net-books, that fit into their palms. Now available for just few hundred dollars, these mini’s boast document programs and keyboards small enough to make them usable at coffee shops and on the go. Maybe I’m hard-headed, but I’ve gotten so used to my laptop I don’t think I’ll ever be able to upgrade. Or is it downgrade? How small can a writer go?

As a reader, I love my i-phone and use it to read e-books with all the time, not to mention e-mails. It’s a great tool but it doesn’t take the place of sitting at my own computer tapping away with a big screen right in front of me. I could not write a book on my i-phone. Maybe one of the perks of having a smaller computer would be the benefit of lying in bed and writing, but I’m amazed anyone can do that. It all comes down to comfort doesn’t it? I don’t know many writers who don’t have some type of issue with their necks, backs, or backsides, not to mention eyesight. I can’t see that lying in bed squinting at a small screen would be that conducive to creating. Sure, it’d be great to have something smaller to shove in a tote when I’m on the go to jot down some ideas, but again, it begs the question of how much technology do we need in our lives? With homes full of video game consoles, wide-screen televisions, personal computers, laptops, cell phones, i-pods…where does it stop?

I guess time will tell if these new advancements being pushed by such companies as Asus and Dell will find their own market niche. I for one, am going to hang on to my laptop a little longer. And my Wii. Cell phone. Boob tube…