Size Ma ers?

I have a keen interest in the evolution of personal computing. We literally have super computers at the palm of our hands in the form of our smartphones. And they’re getting larger by the generation. Think about it. We don’t even use the term ‘phablet’ anymore, because even entry devices today are phablets in size. Just like a Starbucks beverage, your smallest option is already a ‘Tall’.

On the ip side, for PCs, every conceivable development for nearly the past decade has been miniaturization. Think of Intel’s initiatives like the Netbook, NUC and Compute Stick. The only problem is that these are low powered devices. High performance, gaming-grade PCs have traditionally resisted attempts at slimming down. Like muscle cars, they pride themselves at being loud, bulky gas-guzzlers.

But that mindset has been changing. Performance is no longer valued at the expense of all else. The race is on to be the slimmest and lightest. Aesthetics have also become a key design consideration—though we’d probably all go blind in another year of RGB lighting on everything.

In all of this, we’ve been at the threshold of convergence between mobile and PC for a few years now. We’ve seen smartphone docks and desktop modes by mobile makers, and convertible laptops with tablet modes by PC makers. It’s clearly not a limitation of performance, or the lack of, but each camp hasn’t been able to breach into the other’s territory...yet.

What exactly am I rambling on about?

I eagerly await the perfect form factor of the ‘One’ device to be found, because I’m quite tired of having to carry around and charge so many things every day.