Cylindrical Rolltop Laptops 159
akshaynhegde writes "Germany's Orkin Design has proposed this fantastic concept of a futuristic laptop. The rolltop is a 'rolled up' laptop. By using the flexible OLED and touchscreen technologies, the created concept is a cylindrical laptop which can be rolled out when it needs to be used and can be rolled up again when not used." Something tells me it will be a little while before you will be unrolling your laptop on a plane.
Enough is enough (Score:5, Funny)
Something tells me it will be a little while before you will be unrolling your laptop on a plane.
Enough is enough. I have had it with these motherfucking rollup laptops on this motherfucking plane.
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As have the FAA and TSA, who have pre-emptively banned these devices on all flights pending approval.
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Dozens? I saw a mockup of a "roll up computing device" at Disneyland at Epcot when they first opened and had a mini "worlds fair"..
1980 called, they want their roll up laptop idea back.
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Is it easier to carry a fat tube than a thin rectangle? Possibly.
No. Definitely not.
Anybody who has ever flown with a laptop (which will fit into any backpack) knows the practicality of that situation - but anybody who has ever tried to fly with any kind of tube, knows how next-to-impossible that is. The overhead bins are made for rectangular items, so is the space underneath the seat in front of you. And where do you put it after you unroll it?
What possible advantage is there to something bulky that cannot be stacked; when we've already figured out how to make it ra
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Is it easier to carry a fat tube than a thin rectangle?
If I have to start carrying a thin rectangle, I have to buy larger boxers.
Oblig (Score:2)
http://xkcd.com/875/ [xkcd.com]
Tell younger me I said "Hi".
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Rollup monitor, not computer (Score:1)
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No thanks. Roll-up keyboards are already available, and they suck.
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And therefore always will, yes.
*hugs Thinkpad*
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You can get rollup keyboards today and the keys are not flat. However, they're rubber and they compress when you roll the thing up. They are not as nice as rigid full size keyboards, but I find them nicer than rigid smaller keyboards. In this case (and only in this case :-), size matters more than rigidity.
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Yep... If the form factor is too small for a hardware keyboard, so be it... but I'm more than willing to sacrifice thickness and carry twice the weight if it'll get me tactile feedback :)
It's not a newspaper (Score:5, Insightful)
And even if it was, do you know how god damn annoying it is to read a paper after it's been rolled up?
Look, laptops do it right. The hinge? That's a crease, a fold line, and allows this thing that otherwise should not be bent to use space more efficiently. A cylinder is will have that big empty volume in the middle. Well, it will until the slightest bit of pressure to the sides squeezes it flat.
Re:It's not a newspaper (Score:5, Insightful)
This. Just because you can make something doesn't mean anyone is going to want it. There's a reason we upgraded from scrolls to books. Rolled up things are an inefficient use of space.
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There's a reason we upgraded from scrolls to books. Rolled up things are an inefficient use of space.
Could it be that we went to books because of the invention of the printing press, which was not able to print continuously on a long scroll (contrary to the more modern printers, starting with the matrix printer)?
In the fluids / beverage industry, cylindrical containers are very common. Volumes range from a few milliliters to thousands of tons. Nobody ever complained about the volume taken up by the space between the bottles or tanks.
In fact, cylindrical containers tend to be very strong, and that's a major
Re:It's not a newspaper (Score:5, Funny)
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Scrolls are sequential access documents, while books are random access. The advantages of a book over a scroll are completely unrelated to their uses as a computer screen form factor.
Codex (Score:3)
Mod parrent up.
Also, codexes [i.e. bonded books]are able to access information dynamically [flip to page x] vs. sequentially. [i.e. unbounded books]
If you want to find a good example of why this matters, look at early Christianity writings vs. Judaism writings on the same subject. Codexes were invented about the same time as Christianity was founded. The Torah is always read linearly on a scroll. The sense of time, relationships to the texts, etc. are very different.
Re:It's not a newspaper (Score:4, Informative)
Could it be that we went to books because of the invention of the printing press, which was not able to print continuously on a long scroll (contrary to the more modern printers, starting with the matrix printer)?
No. The change from scroll to book happened centuries before the invention of the printing press.
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Could it be that we went to books because of the invention of the printing press, which was not able to print continuously on a long scroll (contrary to the more modern printers, starting with the matrix printer)?
No. The change from scroll to book happened centuries before the invention of the printing press.
I blame union sheep, for their refusing to produce infinitely long hides.
Looong sheep says baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...
Re:It's not a newspaper (Score:4, Informative)
Nope, we went to books before the printing press, but nice try.
Also, while cylindrical containers are strong, they also don't repel bears very well (which has about as much to do with which is more efficient for the printed word as your beverage example).
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But if you were attacked by a bear, you could roll up your laptop to make an improvised weapon to defend yourself.
Re:It's not a newspaper (Score:5, Insightful)
They aren't using cylindical forms because they want to, but they have to to contain the pressure. Trust me, they complain a lot about the space lost due to cylindical containers.
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Could it be that we went to books because of the invention of the printing press, which was not able to print continuously on a long scroll (contrary to the more modern printers, starting with the matrix printer)?
Rotary press 1843 vs offset press 1903 vs Dot matrix printer 1964
Pretty much everything printed on a modern press for about a century before the dot matrix printer was invented was printed on "scrolls". Newspapers etc are not printed on precut sheets. Other than modern desktop laser printers, pretty much everything for the last century has been printed on "scrolls" that are later chopped into pages. I am not counting artsy craftsy stuff like silk screening tee shirts here, rather the million times larger
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Just because it's not what you're used to doesn't mean it's a bad idea :-)
Am I the only one that's sick and tired of seeing this nonsense argument? At what point did he say "It's a bad idea because it's not what I'm used to"? Your reply is completely irrelevant. I could just as easily say "Just because it's not what you're used to doesn't mean it's a good idea."
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Of course people would buy it if it had an Apple logo. People turn in to complete idiots when you put an Apple logo on something.
Re:It's not a newspaper (Score:4, Interesting)
Rolled up things are an inefficient use of space.
Not necessarily. Next time you pack for a trip where luggage space is at a premium, try rolling up your clothing instead of packing it folded flat in your suitcase/seabag. When crammed full, not only will the result produce less wrinkles in the clothing (if care is taken with the rolling), but it is easier to go through the entire contents of the luggage container to find a specific item, and then remove it without 'upsetting' other items. Just sayin'...
Re:It's not a newspaper (Score:4, Funny)
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Next time you pack for a trip where luggage space is at a premium, try rolling up your clothing instead of packing it folded flat in your suitcase/seabag.
During my trip through US Army basic training, I was told to do this. During our first excursion prep, I ignored it initially, then realized that I couldn't pack everything in my rucksack. On a second attempt, placing more emphasis on rolling my clothes, I managed to fit it all in. Ever since I that time, I roll my clothes unless there's ample space in my luggage (sometimes this has resulted in me traveling with a smaller bag).
However, back to the point, I'm not sure that you could actually gain space rol
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Not everybody think that upgrade was a good idea. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQHX-SjgQvQ [youtube.com]
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> Rolled up things are an inefficient use of space.
But it would look cool next to your Latte, and that is what sells Apples ;-)
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This. Just because you can make something doesn't mean anyone is going to want it.
That statement seems to be entirely the opposite of the concept of Apple today. "Make useless shit and instruct people that they want it" is pretty well their corporate philosophy.
Heh. "Apple makes useless products and just tells people to buy them. I know this because people tell me this all the time."
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(Was that some awesome trolling or what?)
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Just to add to your point, if you look at iPhone commercials, they all basically follow the same theme: "You can do this, this, and that." I think the 'useless' bit may have been inspired by the original iMac ads which were basically "we have color cases!" Heh.
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I do remember a sci-fi show (don't remember which one) in which the portable computers were held in one hand by a handle on the bottom and the top part could be any real shape, but it had a screen that could be rolled out of the side of the device while the device itself had the buttons for using it.
Earth Final Conflict. Global Link Communicator
http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/earth-final-conflict-global-link-closed-prop [worthpoint.com]
Earth Final Conflict Global Communicator Prop: http://www.movieprop.com/propscollectionother.htm [movieprop.com]
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/perlow/google-and-sirius-xm-build-my-dream-handheld/9233 [zdnet.com]
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As someone else pointed out, rolling up clothes is one thing. Rolling up a $1000 computer is quite another. You're not going to be able to roll the computer as tightly as you can roll a shirt.
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Agreed rolling certainly has advantages for packing certain types of object. With clothes the advantage is it makes it much easier to pack them tightly because the clothes friction with themselves contains most of the compressive force you have applied whereas with a flat fold you have to apply the force to the package as a whole (which you can do but you risk damaging other more delicate items in the suitcase when you sit on it).
With a screen the poential advantage would be that by reducing the surface are
Re:It's not a newspaper (Score:5, Informative)
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Now now, dont bring reality and physics into it.
the roll up laptop will be built with unobtanium that will not have any material memory and will roll up easily and then unroll to be perfectly flat instantly..
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Look, laptops do it right. The hinge? That's a crease, a fold line, and allows this thing that otherwise should not be bent to use space more efficiently. A cylinder is will have that big empty volume in the middle.
According to TFA, the hole in the middle contains USB ports, power connectors, speakers, webcam - basically all the PC except the keyboard/screen.
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Might want to RTFA. Or at least W(Watch)TFV(Video). The concept rolls around a detachable core, which houses the power supply / external speakers. It's a neat idea, though I have my doubts about usability/durability in the real-world.
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Why roll-up? (Score:2)
I fail to understand the entire roll-up computation field. What's the appeal? Why would I want to carry around a cylinder of material that is easy to crush (and therefore crease, likely destroying in the process) when the same item can be made flat, rigid, and slide easily into my briefcase along with other flat things that I need to carry around? Floppy items are no fun to type on. Curly things are no fun to read.
Can someone explain, please?
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I think everyone remembers too fondly Captain Picard's girlfriend's rollup piano.
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A rolled up laptop essentially decreases a dimension of space you need to worry about. Therefore it'll take up less space and/or allow for larger screens.
Since the material is flexible, it's also less likely to break when dropped etc.
When it's uncurled it should be as flat to read as a normal laptop if the implementation is decent.
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Existing flexible displays don't tolerate hard creases well. Making it a cylinder reduces the angle necessary to flex.
Now if you were willing to put up with some lines, a screen could be made of several 7" displays arranged much like a 2x2 desktop monitor array. But it would be very thick when folded and the keyboard would probably suck more than the usual laptop keyboard.
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Exactly. Instead of roll-up, why not try and come up with a way that allows you to fold a laptop multiple times.
Because it'll break.
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Because laser touch keyboards suck ass. Even more than an ipad keyboard.
Aside from the lack of tactile feedback, there is also the problem of the fact that your keyboard is now projected light which doesn't work well once your hands are in the way.
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I agree. Floppy clyinders are no fun. Sliding rigid things into cases satisfies my manly urges.
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You need a cheap netbook with an SSD my friend. You can bang that thing as hard as you want without fear of any damage resulting from your manly ways. I sometimes use mine for entertainment while having a shower, and the warm moist atmosphere hasn't caused any problems so far.
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Except then you're using a cheap netbook which sucks ass.
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Yep I am using a cheap netbook, and it's pretty decent. Ubuntu, 1GB RAM, 32GB SSD, it suits me fine. Having an ION GPU would make it pretty much perfect, since right now even my phone is better at HD video playback, but other than that it can drive my 1920x1080 display at work fine for coding, web browsing, etc.
"Pen"-size form factor (Score:2)
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Simple: A rolled up screen can be much larger than the keyboard it's attached to...
(A useful rolled up screen would have a lot less diameter than the one the "visionary" in the article is proposing)
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Based on today's CIS students.... it's a desire to at the end of the day, unroll your laptop, fill it with your favorite herb, roll it back up and smoke it.
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I fail to understand the entire roll-up computation field. What's the appeal? Why would I want to carry around a cylinder of material that is easy to crush (and therefore crease, likely destroying in the process) when the same item can be made flat, rigid, and slide easily into my briefcase along with other flat things that I need to carry around? Floppy items are no fun to type on. Curly things are no fun to read.
Can someone explain, please?
You don't carry around the cylinder on its own. The cylinder rolls up into a holder device, similar to the communicators on Earth: Final Conflict [photobucket.com]. The screen unrolls when you want to use it. Marry that with some tubes of electrorheological fluid [wikipedia.org] and you could get a flexible screen that becomes a flat, hard surface when unrolled and current flows through it.
Small and large displays. (Score:2)
I didn't care for the design shown in the link at all. It didn't provide any advantages over a laptop, yet was trying to replace one. But I have thought of it before, and I do think it would be a good idea in some situations.
First some constraints. I don't think this would work well for a laptop; typing on a surface without tactile feedback sucks compared to a real keyboard. So it is limited to tablet-type applications. It would also need a solid core (like a scroll) or even sheath (like a retractable proje
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First some constraints. I don't think this would work well for a laptop; typing on a surface without tactile feedback sucks compared to a real keyboard. So it is limited to tablet-type applications.
I'd say a decent tactile keyboard is very possible. This guy just loves touchscreens. Look at a modern laptop keyboard. The keys are not high, and arranged in rows. You could place hinges in between the rows and have the keyboard roll up with your screen. Since the keys themselves would touch the back of the screen there is no denting in the delicate and flexible screen. But then you couldn't use it the way he did: completely flat with as a drawing screen.
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In five years when everybody is unrolling/unfolding an awesome, lightweight 30" display, are you still going to be happy with your 15" laptop?
Will that be a display that actually gives me the pixels to make full use of those 30 inches or will it be a mere 1920x1080 like the better 15 inch laptops?
If it's a mere 1920x1080 then the only use I see for it would be presentations and frankly a projector is probably just as convenient for that as long as you can find a reasonably flat and neutral peice of wall. If it's higher res then I could see it being useful in a mobile office scenario.
Either way for actual use on the go I tend to think even 15 inch
I've seen these in several scifi shows (Score:2)
Yawn (Score:1)
Post about it when it is built.
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Yeah exactly. I made a wad of paper laptop once........ in Blender. So what. Rolltop is probably a 13 year old kid with no budget. Actually, the logo even looks like Blender's logo a bit.
They'll call it... (Score:1)
I can't wait! (Score:2)
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Sci Fi staple (Score:2)
Red Planet, Caprica, Killing Star, others.
Seen this before... (Score:2)
News?
I'm sure someone sent me a link to a video around two years or more ago that looked almost exactly like that. Same shape, same blue shoulder strap, everything...
Same speculation that it's coming right away...
displays are terrible keyboards (Score:3)
When are designers going to get it into their heads that touch displays make terrible keyboards!!!
I will gladly keep my rigid keyboard in lieu of the roll-up display.
Besides, I saw sketches of something similar years ago. This isn't new.
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You do know what kind of answers you are going to get, right?
[ tablet fanboy mode ] if it's not for you, then don't buy one. there are people out there who just do not need a keyboard! It's all about mobility, man! Think of all the space you can save with such a device, space you can then fill with a bluetooth keyboard, bluetooth mouse, bluetooth usb adapter, and other peripherals and ports that are standard on any basic notebook[ /tablet fanboy mode ]
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(disregarding sammyF70's joke about tablet fanboys)
You know, there are people out there who just do not need a keyboard. The keyboard is optimized to construct words in an alphabetic language. Chinese users have struggled since the beginning of computing to figure out a good method to construct words on the keyboard. The most optimal solution now is a combination of some typing shorthand + auto-completion. Chinese is a language best written by hand. For that, a touch interface is actually superior.
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Seems to me the problem is the language, not the input device.
skeptical (Score:2)
What you say may have some truth but I seriously doubt that Orkin Design had the inputting of Chinese characters in mind when designing this.
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When are designers going to get it into their heads that touch displays make terrible keyboards!!!
When people stop buying them by the 10's of millions.
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Which is to say that the first post-switch keyboards were horrible, and not just because we were used to ty
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They're not marketing to logical people who want practical devices. They're marketing to people who want cool and new things that they can show off.
Huh? (Score:2)
What's so new about that? Concept ideas along those lines have been around for years, long before OLED screens became mainstream.
Old News, Yet Still Doesn't Exist (Score:2)
They see me rollin' (Score:2)
They see me rollin'
my laptop
I know they're all thinking
I'm so white'n'nerdy
moveable parts (Score:2)
So that's a lot of moveable parts. Technically the screen is flexible but the other side appears hinged. What happens when one of those hinges bust?
One of the selling points is that the rolltop fits in any bag, but if my livelihood depends on a reliable machine that won't physically break in the airport right before I get on the plane, I'll gladly get a specialized bag for it, it's not that big a deal.
Only makes sense if you have a roll already (Score:2)
It only makes sense to use a rollable anything if you have something else already that rolls up that cannot reasonably be made to take up less space in some other way. For instance in my camping kit I have a big thermarest pad which rolls up so it only makes sense that I should carry around other stuff that rolls up, then it can all go down the center of my pack and end up pretty well-balanced with other stuff packed around it. So I pack clothes into those gigantic zip-lock bags and wrap them around it. Any
concept designs are for concepts, (Score:2)
Yet another design concept (not a product) (Score:2)
I'm tired of reading about rollup screens. This article is more about a design than an actual device (the video is computer generated). I might just as well be watching Terminator 3 to see how control over fluid metal could look.
I've seen articles and concept designs of folding and rolling of displays for the past 10 years at least. It's time that this stops making news. The next time this should show up is when someone actually builds one.
The end of newspapers (Score:2)
There was always one thing you could do with a real newspaper that you couldn't do with an iPad or a laptop, and that's train a puppy with it. With these rolled-up laptops, that limitation is gone.
"Rolltop" is a stupid name (Score:2)
Are the screens made of plastic or metal? (Score:2)
If so (of course they are), enjoy having them break and/or warp due to repeated fatigue on the materials.
Gentoo ricers (Score:2)
"Germany's Orkin Design" (Score:2)
Well, at least we know their design doesn't have any bugs. [orkin.com]
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Has this been verified by Al Gore???