... we'll still be theorising about convergence. It will never happen to any commercial scale while there's still money to be made out of selling us the same thing two or three times over.

It's bad enough netbooks have terrible keyboards, but I can only imagine how useless the MID input devices will be. No, a stylus (or greasy finger) is not a replacement for a keyboard. Neither are thumbs. Those are only tolerable on phones because they're made for light use.

However, MIDs fit into a deadzone that is nearly as useless as a Newton. Not small as mobile phone, nor big enough to function as a usable computer. A bastardization of both will fill a niche nobody cares about. Not even Apple can help this category of computing devices.

It's bad enough netbooks have terrible keyboards, but I can only imagine how useless the MID input devices will be. No, a stylus (or greasy finger) is not a replacement for a keyboard. Neither are thumbs. Those are only tolerable on phones because they're made for light use.

However, MIDs fit into a deadzone that is nearly as useless as a Newton. Not small as mobile phone, nor big enough to function as a usable computer. A bastardization of both will fill a niche nobody cares about. Not even Apple can help this category of computing devices.

the late seventies when microprocessors brought
nearly mainframe-like power to the desktop.

Oh, please. A seventies-era "personal computer" had more in common with the dumb terminals people were using to access the mainframes.

Unless you were one of the lucky few in Xerox using an Alto, in which case you were travelling in minicomputer class.

"the Cool-er is about the size of a slim paperback, easy to pocket and easy to read."

How many of us have pockets big enough to fit a paperback in? Anything bigger than an iPhone or Blackberry is too big for a pocket. If it has to be carried in a bag it might as well be notebook size, and have a screen that's pleasant to work with. Unless some radically new form of display appears (like something that stretches from iPhone size to page size on demand) this basic problem is going to be a blocker.

By having larger device that dosn't fit well next to ear, cancer risks similar to that took kennedy life are Greatly Reduced. Heck, if video phone be thy guide, makes looking from foot away nessesary.

LG wrist Watch will have similar benifits. Just Keep Microwaves Out of Your HEAD.

Signed:PHYSICIAN THOMAS STEWART von DRASHEK M.D.

The need for a good keyboard to type on is a must and the fact that a notebook closes and opens (smart huh) will keep it alive for the foreseeable future.
If Apple does do a over sized iPod touch it may find a market but I just hope Apple puts in WiFi and not require you to go 3G and allow some phone company milk everyone to get an Internet connection.

Oh yeah, PDAs were supposed to be the end all once they got a web browser. Let's see how that worked out.

Notebooks? Still alive and doing fine.

I don't need to squish windows to program. I need a laptop with a full size keyboard and a high resolution screen. No MID can do that.

What I want is a phone about the current size of an iPhone which plugs into the back of a 10 inch touch screen. That way, I've got a phone when I want it and I can just click it into a screen when I want something bigger. This new class of peripheral is a zombie because it has no brains - you need to plug something in.
This way I can have a 10 inch ePrint display or another screen which is a conventional LCD.

i want it, now!