June 14th, 2009 | 
Author: You thought it can’t get smaller, but wait until you see the latest in computer technology! The tag “laptop” may no longer apply – “palmtop” is more like it. Laptops have indeed gone from portable to handy, literally.
Laptops were originally invented to allow for mobile computing. At its initial conception, laptops were solely meant to be portable. Though smaller than the desktop, they can still give your arm a serious work out if you lug it around often enough. So they streamlined the unit and came up with sleeker and lighter designs.
Computer companies did not stop modifying the computing machine. Major brands were soon competing on both form and function. Different models appeared that it gets one to wonder what the new generation laptops will become.
Currently we have tablets, so-called because they are small like, well, tablets (think Moses: God handed down the commandments which he wrote on tablets). They basically these look like notebooks with touch-screen interfaces. The screens can rotate 180 degrees, probably a feature added so you can show off your unit. But because the keyboard is removed, there are some functions that it can’t do.
Then there is the Personal Digital Assistant or PDA. It sounds like a robotic secretary, but despite its technological sounding name it has a limited function. The advantage is its so small it can fit in your pocket. A high-end version of the PDA is the handheld computer. Some of these even come with a mobile phone, or you can view it the other way around: a cellular phone equipped with computing functions.
Whatever the design, new generation laptops will never cease to amaze you. There’s definitely one out there that can fit your purpose – and your pocket.
Mel writes about laptops , data projector and other related topics.
Article Source: The new generation laptops
