NEW PC ABILITY MAY BE A NEW TREND
Toshiba just unveiled a new laptop in their line of computers. But new laptop models are being rolled out frequently these days so what's the big deal? That was my first thought when Toshiba's press release came across my desk. Did it perhaps have a bigger screen, larger capacity hard drive or better keyboard? And even if it did, that's really not big news as it goes. So I was about to toss it in the pile along with all the other new computer models until one particular feature caught my eye. And after thinking about it for a while, I began to really sit up and take notice. You see it wasn't what the feature did that I found to be intriguing, but rather what it didn't do.
The Toshiba Qosmio comes with a 15 inch display, 80 gigabyte hard drive, DVD / CD combo drive along with a host of other features typically found on models in the over $2500 price range. It also has an integrated TV tuner so you can watch television programming on the screen. And like other systems with a TV tuner, you can display the TV image within a window, freeze the action, save it to disk and more. But what makes the Qosmio unique is that you can use the TV tuner without having to turn the computer on.
Think about that for a moment. You can open the laptop and turn on the TV without having to boot up the Windows operating system to do it. Every laptop or desktop model in production today that I am aware of requires you to have the operating system turned on before you can do anything with it. You can't print, you can't go online, you can't play music files, you can't do squat without the operating system running. Without the OS, your computer is pretty much a dead hunk of metal, glass and plastic. But now there's the Qosmio. You can use it like an ordinary TV set. It even comes with a full-featured remote control. What a brilliant idea. In fact, two other manufacturers have already announced similar features coming out, but it's the Qosmio that has done it first.
So why am I so jazzed about this entire concept? Because I believe that this could be the start of a whole new trend in the world of personal computing. Bill Gates recently spoke about how he envisioned a day when computers would not have to boot up but rather instantly turn on and begin working. And while the Qosmio isn't exactly what he had in mind (I don't think he'd like to see his beloved Windows cut out of that vision), I think it's a step in that direction. Today, it's the TV tuner that you can activate without the OS. So what about the CD drive playing your CDs without having to first turn the computer on? Have a CD, drop it in the drive and begin listening. Or how about the DVD player being able to display DVD movies on the screen, again without having to turn on the OS? The list goes on and on. It's possible for many other computer abilities and peripherals to be able to operate independently of the OS while still being a part of the computer itself. I think that computer manufacturers are going to get really creative on this one.
Just a note about the Qosmio's TV ability. Without Windows, you can only use the notebook as a TV set. If you want to save the images to disk, do a picture-in-picture, or any of the other specialty controls with the TV image, you have to have the OS running to do so.
So I say take special note of Toshiba's Qosmio. I think it may herald in a whole new way of how we actually use our computers. We are already beginning to look upon the computer as an everyday appliance. If this instant on ability continues to be endowed upon more and more of a computer's components, the computer could evolve into a truly multifunctional everyday appliance.
www.qosmio.com |
