5 ms·

Actually, this just gave me a crazy idea... what if laptop manufacturers included something low powered like a boogie board device on the outside of the screen,

Actually, this just gave me a crazy idea... what if laptop manufacturers included something low powered like a boogie board device on the outside of the screen, which could write / save directly to some small internal storage of the laptop, and then the resulting notes could be accessible via the laptop when turned on? Kind of like.. a poor man's tablet on the outside of a laptop? I wonder the cost of that vs. touch screens / digital pens.

SteveNuts 10y ago
And to erase it you could... shake your laptop?
- nickff 10y ago
  The Boogie Board is erased by pressing a button.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
- ChristianGeek 10y ago
  And have a mode that lets you tilt the laptop to draw!
- ReverseCold 10y ago
  I don't really see a problem with that. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the only moving parts in higher end laptops are fans. Nothing will break, so why not? I mean, it's annoying to do I guess, and requires hardware to detect shaking, but it's not terrible.
JoshTriplett 10y ago
I've seen some prototype laptops with a bistable e-ink touchscreen on the back, that could retain its image with the laptop turned off. http://www.computerworld.com/article/2604775/intel-pastes-second-screen-on-prototype-laptop.html http://www.computerworld.com/article/2604775/intel-pastes-se...
- johnhattan 10y ago
  I know it's low-tech, but I just keep a pad of sticky notes in my laptop bag. If I write a note, I can stick it to the screen when I close the laptop, and it's there to remind me when I get back to the office. And my cousin is a sales rep for a drug company, so I have a whole crate of logo-ed sticky notes.
sumitgt 10y ago
But, in that case, how would it be different from just drawing on my Surface with my surface pen? It's kinda exactly what you need.
- brians 10y ago
  Latency and n-way multitouch.
- ageofwant 10y ago
  About $1000 dollars last time I checked. Add to that the cost of mental health issues associated with the use of Microsoft products and its a non-starter.
  - mb_72 10y ago
    What experience do you have with using Microsoft products and resultant mental health issues? I'm guessing none, and it's just another throw-away remark that is anti-Microsoft, ignorant of the interesting and - in my experience at least - pro-good-mental health work they've been doing recently.
  - reachtarunhere 10y ago
    I used to dislike Microsoft till recently. After using OneNote (on Wine) and their keyboard (Natural 4000) I am now a fan.
  - jaxn 10y ago
    I switched from Windows to Linux in 2001, from Linux to Mac in 2004, and from Mac to Windows in 2016. The Surface is a great machine and Windows 10 is a good OS.
- tedmiston 10y ago
  One upside of the Boogie Board approach is trivial battery usage.
  - Waterluvian 10y ago
throwaway982749 10y ago
Some previous attempts at this kind of second-screen/low-power interface that never really caught on: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_SideShow https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_SideShow http://www.laptopmag.com/articles/intel-second-screen http://www.laptopmag.com/articles/intel-second-screen
wattt 10y ago
Or you could have a touchscreen and launch an application to do the all the things you want. Plus other things!
shade23 10y ago
You seem to be referring to something like the yota phone. https://yotaphone.com/ https://yotaphone.com/
- qarioz 10y ago
  I do wish there's an android phone with just e-ink screen. Don't care about latency as long as the battery life is great.
agumonkey 10y ago
Here http://www.cnx-software.com/2017/01/28/lenovo-yoga-book-2-in-1-hybrid-laptop-features-a-drawing-pad-instead-of-a-keyboard-ships-with-windows-android-or-dos/ http://www.cnx-software.com/2017/01/28/lenovo-yoga-book-2-in...
lugus35 10y ago
Do you know you could have a X230t for 160$ on ebay ? http://www.ebay.com/bhp/lenovo-x230t http://www.ebay.com/bhp/lenovo-x230t http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/x-series/x230t/ http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/x-series/x230t...
walid 10y ago
The price seems steep but I like the idea of merging these 2 technologies: http://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2016/12/2/13818796/remarkable-giant-e-ink-tablet-paper-notebook http://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2016/12/2/13818796/re...
seryoiupfurds 10y ago
You want the IBM TransNote. http://transnote.info/ http://transnote.info/

SteveNuts 10y ago

And to erase it you could... shake your laptop?

nickff 10y ago
The Boogie Board is erased by pressing a button.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
ChristianGeek 10y ago
And have a mode that lets you tilt the laptop to draw!
ReverseCold 10y ago
I don't really see a problem with that. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the only moving parts in higher end laptops are fans. Nothing will break, so why not? I mean, it's annoying to do I guess, and requires hardware to detect shaking, but it's not terrible.

JoshTriplett 10y ago

I've seen some prototype laptops with a bistable e-ink touchscreen on the back, that could retain its image with the laptop turned off. http://www.computerworld.com/article/2604775/intel-pastes-second-screen-on-prototype-laptop.html http://www.computerworld.com/article/2604775/intel-pastes-se...

johnhattan 10y ago
I know it's low-tech, but I just keep a pad of sticky notes in my laptop bag. If I write a note, I can stick it to the screen when I close the laptop, and it's there to remind me when I get back to the office. And my cousin is a sales rep for a drug company, so I have a whole crate of logo-ed sticky notes.

sumitgt 10y ago

But, in that case, how would it be different from just drawing on my Surface with my surface pen? It's kinda exactly what you need.

brians 10y ago
Latency and n-way multitouch.
ageofwant 10y ago
About $1000 dollars last time I checked. Add to that the cost of mental health issues associated with the use of Microsoft products and its a non-starter.
- mb_72 10y ago
  What experience do you have with using Microsoft products and resultant mental health issues? I'm guessing none, and it's just another throw-away remark that is anti-Microsoft, ignorant of the interesting and - in my experience at least - pro-good-mental health work they've been doing recently.
- reachtarunhere 10y ago
  I used to dislike Microsoft till recently. After using OneNote (on Wine) and their keyboard (Natural 4000) I am now a fan.
- jaxn 10y ago
  I switched from Windows to Linux in 2001, from Linux to Mac in 2004, and from Mac to Windows in 2016. The Surface is a great machine and Windows 10 is a good OS.
tedmiston 10y ago
One upside of the Boogie Board approach is trivial battery usage.
- Waterluvian 10y ago

throwaway982749 10y ago

Some previous attempts at this kind of second-screen/low-power interface that never really caught on: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_SideShow https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_SideShow http://www.laptopmag.com/articles/intel-second-screen http://www.laptopmag.com/articles/intel-second-screen

wattt 10y ago

Or you could have a touchscreen and launch an application to do the all the things you want. Plus other things!

shade23 10y ago

You seem to be referring to something like the yota phone. https://yotaphone.com/ https://yotaphone.com/

qarioz 10y ago
I do wish there's an android phone with just e-ink screen. Don't care about latency as long as the battery life is great.

agumonkey 10y ago

Here http://www.cnx-software.com/2017/01/28/lenovo-yoga-book-2-in-1-hybrid-laptop-features-a-drawing-pad-instead-of-a-keyboard-ships-with-windows-android-or-dos/ http://www.cnx-software.com/2017/01/28/lenovo-yoga-book-2-in...

lugus35 10y ago

Do you know you could have a X230t for 160$ on ebay ? http://www.ebay.com/bhp/lenovo-x230t http://www.ebay.com/bhp/lenovo-x230t http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/x-series/x230t/ http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/x-series/x230t...

walid 10y ago

The price seems steep but I like the idea of merging these 2 technologies: http://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2016/12/2/13818796/remarkable-giant-e-ink-tablet-paper-notebook http://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2016/12/2/13818796/re...

seryoiupfurds 10y ago

You want the IBM TransNote. http://transnote.info/ http://transnote.info/