Walter Boza (Editor: Rachel Chertkoff)

Productivity seems to be the key indicator of success in today’s competitive environment; corporations and individuals need to work faster and more efficiently in order to keep up with the market. This, combined with the globalization process we are witnessing - where businesses are spread out almost worldwide - has raised a new breed of executives, ‘nomad’ workers that must be available to perform almost anywhere and anytime.

Technology used in this new environment must then provide the freedom and flexibility required, and one of the ways to achieve this is by building mobile equipment. As with cellular phones, portable computers are such devices, they provide a similar service to that which already existed in stationary technology, but added the mobility feature.

SIZE MATTERS

Portable computers provide users with many of the features in a desktop computer, but instead of separating its main components - monitor, keyboard and CPU - portables include all of them in one piece of equipment. A portable computer usually weighs no more than 10 lbs. and has the dimensions of a small briefcase (approximately 11"x 9"x 2"). As a matter of fact, portable computers look like briefcases, where the monitor serves as a lid while the keyboard and CPU make up the base.

Although the engineering for building portable computers is quite similar to that required in a desktop, some basic changes must be performed in order to reduce size and weight to convenient levels. Some of the major differences are:

Display: the display device for personal computers is the monitor. However, while desktops may use a larger screen (usually about the size of a small TV set), portables rely on flat screens based on LCD (Liquid Crystal Diode) technology, which represent one of their most expensive parts (approximately $600-1000 of the system's value). There are currently two types of LCD display: (1) Passive display, which is the cheapest, but compares poorly to the quality of a desktop monitor. Usually limited to 256 colors, each row or column of picture elements (pixels) is controlled by a transistor, and the commands sent to the display are drawn line by line.

(2) Active, which is more expensive, but picture quality is comparable to a desktop monitor, representing the best available option for a portable equipment. It allows a wider viewing angle and the screen updates quickly since the display is controlled by the pixel (picture element) rather than having a transistor control an entire column of pixels (as with the passive).

Processors: chips in portable computers are designed to perform with less power than those in a desktop. There are two reasons for this:

(1) The amount of power needed to operate is directly related to temperatures inside the equipment, and high temperatures tend to compromise the equipment’s performance.

(2) Less power also means longer battery life. Because of space limitations, some processor manufacturers, such as Intel, design packaging solutions that enable chips to be mounted flush with the motherboard. Processor’s speed s(expressed in Megahertz) are a useful indicator of the computer’s performance. By the first half of 1998 the highest processor speed for a portable computer is 266 MHz, still quite slower than the fastest desktop processor (PentiumII 333 MHz).

Keyboards and pointing devices: keyboard size reduction is limited because keys and spaces between them have to be large enough to be easily manipulated with human fingers. However, overall keyboard size in a portable is quite smaller than in a desktop. One of the ways this has been done is by making function keys smaller and by eliminating the numeric keyboard. A mouse can be adapted to a portable computer, but all of them are provided with an alternative pointing device, which is integrated either in the keyboard (such as the trackpoint) or in a small pad below it (touchpad). Whichever the case, again the idea is to save space.

Hard drives: size limitations affect the portable’s storage capacity. While bigger desktops can hold hard drives of up to 8, 10 or even 20 Gbytes, the most sophisticated laptops are still around 5 Gbytes. However, some portables now come with removable drives to overcome this limitation.

Power supply: when there is not a wall socket available as energy source, portable computers can run on battery power. Since mobility is one of the key issues for the portable, battery life becomes one of the most important features1.

Most portable computers come with an integrated CD drive, floppy drive and fax/modem card. Features for these components are similar to those in a desktop (modems of download speed of up to 56 K and CD-ROM of up to 20X), since they usually do not take much space. However, in order to save even more space some manufacturers prefer to separate CD and floppy drives from the main body; they must be attached when the user needs them.

Saving space and weight means higher prices. Portable computers are more expensive than desktops of the same brand and pretty much the same features, one drawback to portable technology (discussed below).

In the late 1970s Intel Corporation was contacted by a client that needed processors for a calculator. Intel engineers, instead of using the multiple chips of earlier designs, decided to build a single and programmable chip. Besides its use in portable calculators, it would be powerful enough for computing applications. The Intel 4004 was then a major step in personal computing evolution, both for desktops and portables.

In fact, many of the early models of personal computers were somewhat portable because they were relatively lightweight, but were not integrated pieces of equipment (monitor, keyboard, powersource and CPU) since they needed a TV sets as the displaying device and to be powered form a wall socket (i.e. Sinclair ZX80 and Commodore’s Vic 20). The first integrated portables appeared in 1981, when the Osborne 1 hit the market; although it was not quite a notebook sized equipment, marketing strategies used to sell this computer are still used today (integrate a package of software with the equipment).

Those were the days of only-character text, when speed and performance were not as demanding as these last years of the 20th century. The market seemed prepared for more powerful computers which could provide better performance and more mobility. Manufacturers incorporated faster processors, more memory and floppy drives to make them even more similar to desktops. A big breakthrough here was the appearance in 1991 of color LCD screen, which was necessary because of the increasing demand for color graphics and the introduction of Windows 3.0. As seen, technology has come a long way until it reached today’s level described in the previous section.

Most desktop manufacturers also participate in the portable’s market, which helps to explain the closing gap between these equipments. They can be classified in two broad groups: 1) major manufacturers, which usually are brand name computer makers. These not only build equipment but also work on research, development and design. Since most of them are large multinational corporations, products are covered by a worldwide service. In this group are included IBM, Compaq, Dell and Toshiba among others. 2) Minor manufacturers, which basically ‘put together’ parts to build computers, and do not participate in research, development and design. Their prices are much lower, but the parts used are not necessarily of the best quality.

Processors’ manufacturers play also a key part in the industry. Intel has a leading role here, building faster chips that use less energy. The latest and more expensive models include a Pentium 266 MHz with MMX technology, which is the top of the line for portables, making a more efficient use of space to provide higher processing speeds.

Finally, prices for portable equipment today (March 1998) can go:

1) from the low $1000s for earlier models with processor speeds of 100 or 120 MHz, passive display screens and less than 2 Gbytes of hard disk, and are usually heavier and bigger.

2) Around $1500 to $2500 for new models with mid-range capacity (150 - 200 MHz processors and 2 - 3 Gbytes hard drives among other features).

3) Up to $4000 and $5000 for top of the line technology, which also represent the lighter and smaller models.

The price difference is based on type of processor, screen, memory, battery and size/weight, among other features.

Word processing, spreadsheets and graphic design are the primary applications of personal computers, mainly because they make our work more time and cost efficient. But personal computers have also become communication devices; with the use of modems, computers are able to receive and send data through telephone lines. Internet, the WorldWideWeb and e-mail have given a big push to the use of computers as communication devices.

Portable equipment provide all these applications, adding the convenience of mobility. This has helped to increase productivity for corporations and individual entrepreneurs, since there is no need to be limited to a specific physical location (the office). Executives can now travel with their portable equipment and work while on the plane or in hotel rooms, and still have access to information that is ‘back at the office’ using the communication capabilities.

The use of portable computers in presentations has proven to be a major application. By connecting it to a specially designed projector (such as a DataShow), presentations become more attractive (there is no loss of quality in printing) and less expensive (there is no need to print).

Two key factors regarding the today’s competitive environment are driving portable computer technology: (1) demand for more productivity, and (2) globalization. The first implies that executives extend their working time from the usual 40 hours per week to be available almost 24 hours per day; the latter means that executives get to travel more often since businesses are international. Portable computers provide both an increase in productivity capabilities and mobility.

Technological development plays also a major role in the expansion of portable computing. On one hand the development of the Internet improves drastically the ability to use computers as communication devices, which is especially important in this global and competitive environment. On the other, there is the increasing ability of manufacturers to build smaller but more powerful pieces of equipment.

Fast technological changes can be considered as a disadvantage for some users that want to keep up with technology, since they would have to buy a new equipment at least twice a year. However, manufacturers are building upgradable systems to deal with this; newer portable computers enable to upgrade processors and memory without major inconvenience.

Another problem this technology faces is the high cost that owning a portable computer represents (this is called the Total Cost of Ownership or TCO). Portable computers are not only more expensive than desktops in terms of the selling price, but also in terms of the cost of maintenance. The explanation for this is that portable computers are built with more complex engineering, as stated in previous sections.

WHERE IS PORTABLE COMPUTING HEADED?

So far the tendency has been an increase in performance while size and weight decrease. It is true that prices for top of the line computers stay pretty much in the same range, but while new models keep appearing, prices of ‘older’ equipment are pushed down. Another key point here is the fact that manufacturers are building upgradable equipment, which means that owners can increase the equipment’s capacity by just adding more memory or a faster processor, that is, they keep up with technology without buying a whole new computer.

New technology has also enabled manufacturers to come up with Mini notebooks and Palmtops, which are smaller and lighter than notebook computers, but have a much more limited capacity. However, this equipment can be plugged into a ‘full-size’ computer or to the Internet to share data, which makes them very useful when very limited space is available.

Finally, it must be said that while keyboards are needed to type characters and monitors to view information, size reduction is limited to what is comfortable enough for human hands (keyboard) and sight (monitor).

1: There are three types of battery: 1) NiCad (Nickle Cadmium) provide less usage time but also represent the least expensive alternative. 2) NiMH (Nickle Metal-Hybrid) are somewhat more resistant to misuse than NiCad and provide about 10% more power time. Their price is slightly higher than NiCad. 3) Li-Ion represent the latest technology and provide longer usage time, but are also more expensive. Most manufacturers are taking advantage of this technology to provide same usage time but taking less space and weight.

Brownstein, M. (1998) ‘The portable computing history: how we got from here to there’, PC Portables, March.

Earthlink Notebook Connection. Available at: http://home.earthlink.net/~inetdevco/notebook/services.htm

Intel’s web page. Available at: http://www.intel.com/.

Kirkpatrick, K. (1998) ‘More for less’, Mobile Computing and Communication, March.

Korzeniowski, P. (1998) ‘Tallying up portable purchases’, PC Portables, March.

Portable Computing Center. Available at: http://www.enteract.com/~epbrown/.

Schwartz, K. (1998) ‘Toward a tamer TCO’, Mobile Computing and Communication, March.

Toshiba’s web page. Available at: http://www.csd.toshiba.com/.

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