In the year 2020

Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008 | Editorial

Okay, this may be old news to some, but I just found it and I think it’s 80% cool. I say 80% cool because there are things, unproven technologies, that make this a little more sci-fi than prototype. But I love the idea.

Let’s look at this critically.

The keyboard has been around for years.
Holographic data storage has been hypothesized since the 60’s, but there hasn’t been a working prototype until 2005. I’d say that particular technology is officially slow moving.
A lithium-ion battery that size wouldn’t power anything very long. While battery powered cars are going to push that technology, unless someone perfects Tesla’s fuelless generator, I don’t see how to supply this thing’s power consumption. (Lasers don’t run on wishes.)
I don’t know about lasers and infrared technology, but mini projectors are defiantly up and coming.
Bluetooth is a natural feature of anything this small.

Now, let’s look at this realistically. Yes, computers are going to get faster, but more than likely the operating system will drag it right back down. That’s the way of technology. So the idea that we will ever be able to fit a whole computer in the size of a pen that will be comparable to a desktop, or even a laptop machine made in the same generation is laughable.

May I suggest an alternative? Set the pen up to be purely I/O and have it communicate via bluetooth to it’s processor and data storage kept wherever or however seems economical; a backpack, a hip pack, a suitcase, or a perambulatory robot dog (complete with mini-printer and responsive to voice commands). Think of how much input and output goes through a Wiimote. If you shift the paradigm so that the pen is nothing more than a mini projector and laser keyboard this hypothetical idea becomes less hypothetical. In fact the I/O pen could possibly be produced by some entrepreneurial individual today.