This is going to make laptops almost unbearable to work on. The labor is going to make it impractical, economically, to repair a unit. Hope they price these in the throw away price range? The only way to build any smaller is robotically. The same applys for repair. Which probably isn't a bad idea for a new business? Let 'RoboPhix'™ cure your laptop! http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/07/15/Intel_to_shrink_Centrino_2_chips_for_thinner_laptops_1.html
only problem I really see (not being in the repair industry) is heat failure. Some of the laptops I deal with (including the one I am on) is processor heat. Craig
The people I have sold laptops to use it as a primary or secondary computer at their primary home, secondary home, or away from home (hotels, etc.). They want to be able to take it from room to room in their home, or travel with it, or have one for their kid(s) for schoolwork or games. Handheld devices are limited in one way or another. Very small screens and keyboards (if it has one at all), DL/UL speeds and limitations, signal coverage, expense of plans, and so on. There is plenty of room for sales of older, used, less expensive laptops.
I think the handhelds have a good chance at dominating the market. If you look at what the "Y" generation is growing up with it's 'handheld'. There's going to be a lot of blind people in the future from viewing 2" screens during their youth.:lol:
I have a palmtop (Toshiba Libretto 100CT - 8¼" x 5") and the 7" diagonal screen (6-1/8" wide x 3¾" tall) isn't too bad but the keyboard is somewhat difficult to type on. Imagine how much of a pain something 3x smaller is. The Nextel phone with Internet and GPS a friend of mine had was painfully slow, had a small screen that required constant and lengthy scrolling to be able to read anything, and was a pain in the buttocks to type anything in (not a full QWERTY keyboard).
