Many years ago, back in the days when Windows XP was standard, I believed that portable mini computers were going to be popular. This was before netbook popularity. There were others that agreed, but it was just too early. There are mini computers that run Windows ME, but they didn't catch on. I wasn't aware of them at the time. Part of it probably had to deal with the need for a CD drive at the time. USB drives were 8MB (yes 8MB. I have one somewhere. It's probably a collector's dream), 64 MB was crazy, then the 128MB. Flash storage was expensive and not viable. The Internet was slow. Broadband was just starting to hit the market, so dial-up was still mainstream. Computers were slow, and these smaller ones were even slower. So the timing wasn't right.

I also thoguth about having everything stored online, and everyone having a computer with whatever monitor they wanted, to access all their files from anywhere. Google's cloud computing was already in the works, but I had not heard of it. I think we are a little ways away from widespread adoption because subscription fees are not desirable to online services (although upgrading to a larger hard drive is OK). Also, the Internet speeds should be faster. Waiting more than 30 seconds is too long for us. That amount of allowed waiting time will only get shorter for future generations. The local copy saved on the hard drive and update when connected is the response to that. Still, people like free. Auto backup online seems like it would be buggy.

Ok, so two things I had thought about these last few weeks included inventing a 3D video recorder. A week later, I found out that one was made already because of the success of the Avatar movie. I had saved the polarized lenses to try to make one of my own.

Another thing I thought about was having an HD mini projector for a laptop. I'm still thinking it through, but imagine a laptop without a screen, but rather a projector. A white... or even a clear... piece of material could be used as the surface it would project onto. If you wanted a smaller or larger screen, simply adjust how far away, or the focus of the lens. This would be a low cost alternative to an LED display. It would be nice simply because of the versatility in changing screen size. Another idea would be to have a projector attached to a laptop to be used a dual screen. The issue would be to create a 22" across picture with the projector on;y a few inches away and far below it. Say the unit was placed behind the screen and it projected upwards to create a projected screen above the laptop screen. But how would there be a portable stationary surface to project onto?

Well here is a pocket projector.