Thursday, December 21, 2006

John's Mainframe Laptop

I want the power of a mainframe in a laptop computer.

Doesn't everyone?

I'm posting this description of my next dream-machine, because it's already technologically possible, I think there would be a great demand for it, and I want one or more of the cheap-laptop developers (E.g., Lite Appliances) to read this and BUILD ME ONE!

Now, I'm not talking about a laptop that has the instructions-per-second or amount of memory of a mainframe from 10 years ago... today's laptops are already way past that. And obviously I'm not talking about today's supercomputers shrunk to laptop-size... that will take too long.

Nope, I'm talking about building in automated connections between a very light-weight, inexpensive laptop and a high-performance laptop server, so that the laptop server can provide the best features of mainframe computing to an ultra-portable PC.

Here are the specifications:

The Laptop

  • Can run applications locally when off-line
  • Typical laptop Monitor-Keyboard clamshell form
  • One or more built-in pointer (touchpad/j-stick/thumbtrack/etc)
  • Operating System
  • RAM for the operating system and applications
  • Flash-RAM for storing current state, loaded applications, and the user's files
  • Automatically synch/backup files to Laptop Server
  • Both Wi-Fi and Cellular wireless links to both the Laptop Server and directly to the Internet
  • Applications can process locally, but when connection is available, they can also off-load large processing tasks to the Laptop Server
  • USB ports for local printing and accessories
  • Video output for single or dual desk monitors or projectors
  • NO built-in hard disk drive (HDD only by attaching via USB cable)

    The Laptop Server (LS)
  • Support for multiple laptops
  • Web-based remote desktop
  • Provides roaming profiles (Just throw-away a busted laptop, connect a new one to the Laptop Server, and it will download the same configuration as the last one, including the user's files)
  • Multi-threaded processing
  • High fault-tolerance hardware for business
  • Highly fault-tolerance system for home use (internet based backups)

    The System
  • Can swap applications on and off the Laptop from the Laptop Server to conserve Flash memory
  • Application swapping can be scheduled by the user
  • Backups of Laptop to Laptop Server occur automatically while connected
  • Applications can automatically shift heavy processing to Laptop Server while connected
  • All data transfers between Laptop and Laptop Server support intermittent rather all-at-once transfers

    Okay, system developers, there it is in a nutshell. If you need more details, call me. If you need market research, call me. If you need someone to buy the first one, CALL ME!

  • No comments: