No thanks. Bad idea to replace the keyboard and have to carry a separate thing. There is a reason why the current laptop format is popular. That said, why do I have a sinking feeling that this is going to be widely popular? People will buy this like there is no tomorrow. And then, 10 years later, physical keyboard will be a new reversing trend.
> There is a reason why the current laptop format is popular
Because Apple invented it with the PowerBook 100 series and no one has come up with anything better?
That doesn’t mean there isn’t something out there. PC makers have tried. Apple tried. Nothing has stuck as well.
This may be the thing that does it. We’ll have to see.
That said I kind of doubt this thing works. I wouldn’t be surprised if it gets delayed. If it doesn’t I bet it has serious problems like the first Samsung folding phones did.
Whether this is THE new successful design or not, I can’t imagine someone hitting it out of the park with the first try.
> Because Apple invented it with the PowerBook 100 series and no one has come up with anything better?
No, I think it's because laptops have 2 primary things going for them:
1. They're portable
2. They're all-in-one (primarily, there's still the charger)
I agree with the GP post, the folding screen seems more like a novelty at this point given it forces you to sacrifice (a) an included keyboard and (b) with the keyboard separate, you are limited to the places you can actually use the laptop (I know I'm probably rare but I actually use my laptop on my lap on the couch).
I think that's also why tablets are successful, they're even more portable and they're still all in one. I think a portable computing device that doesn't satisfy those characteristics is going to have an uphill battle.
With the PowerBook 100 series reference I was referring to the way the laptop was laid out.
Obviously other people made things that look like laptops before. It didn’t take people long to figure out the screen goes on top and the keyboard goes on the bottom.
But other than that things weren’t exactly standardize the way they are today. Much of the time the keyboard was near the bottom of the case instead of the top, so there was no wrist rest area. And then you had the problem of the mouse which was just starting to get popular. Some laptops had a little tiny joystick/control pad thingy next to the screen in the bezel. Some, like Compaq, offered a track ball that would mount onto the side of the computer. Or people put a little tiny track ball up next to the screen. One very creative company had a little tiny pop out mouse.
But Apple was the first one to put the keyboard near the back, giving you wrist rests upfront, and put the trackball (later trackpad) in the middle of the front. The layout practically every laptop uses today.
The only real serious attempt at changing things I’m aware of would be machines where you can either turn the display around to use it like a tablet, or remove the keyboard all together like the Surface.
> No thanks. Bad idea to replace the keyboard and have to carry a separate thing. There is a reason why the current laptop format is popular.
My daily driver is a tablet style x86 computer plus a Lenovo bluetooth keyboard. I feel so bad for people on laptops. It is so so so excellent to be able to raise my display up to eye level at a coffee shop or office (with a tablet arm, or just pile of whatever), and have my bt keyboard wherever I want.
The built-in folio keyboard is fine for couple hour sessions on a sofa or what-not, if there's not a good place for mounting the arm. But the gooseneck tablet arms are quite flexible & capable, so often I can find something to mount onto & don't need the folio keyboard.
In general, I find it kind of condescending to assume we're all doing it right already, to rule out change. I don't think many people have tried other ways of working. I field ~2 questions/hour about my setup most places I go- people see it & are blown away, they have to know. It's obviously much better, far better ergonomics & freedom, to separate the screen and keyboard. The conventional laptop form factor makes one stare semi-near-by where your hands are, and that coupling either a) leaves your hands weirdly high up or b( your eyes lowered / neck craned. The typical laptop is quite the usability compromise.
I've been using a "screen" keyboard (the Lenovo Yoga Book) for ~5 years now and it's a big initial adjustment, but one you eventually stop even thinking about. Being able to free up your keyboard space for more screen space (or, for the LYB, use alternative inputs) is actually incredibly freeing for your device and workflow, IMO.
If this laptop is priced right, it'll be an instant-buy for me to replace this old boy. I might even start carrying around a small Bluetooth keyboard so I can get an even bigger screen sometimes. Being able to decide whether you want smaller, more portable devices and/or huge screens to dive into seems to be a trend with most foldables; I can't wait to see it (hopefully) become an option in laptops, too.
I'm both a coder and an author, so I'd say I'd type a LOT (I have a little under 2.5 million words written in my Grammarly total over the past few years and I wrote 50k in 30 days a few months ago for National Novel Writing Month, but I'm generally pretty much always coding and/or writing).
I don't look at the keyboard. There's a few spots you can touch-anchor with on the LYB (both with fingers and e.g. wrists) so you don't really have much problem with drift, which was my main issue at the start. It's a slightly different stance than the typical only-fingertips-touch one I use on "real" keyboards and you need a little bit of the muscle memory you have on e.g. hitting multiple physical keys at once and making sure they register in the correct order, but I type roughly 120WPM on touch and ~130WPM on tactile. The convenience factor for the former makes it so much more worthwhile for on-the-go writing IMO.
The upside is a choice of keyboard (if Bluetooth and not proprietary) and removes an avenue of repair costs. This and we all know that keyboards are like magnets to liquids and snack crumbs (even if you don't eat snacks).
It kind of looks like you close the screen around the keyboard such that you carry a single 3 layer book. This would also improve the crease in an interesting way as the fold can be much wider.
