Newer, lighter, nicer

I want a new computer. The new solid-state jobs look great; now I just have to justify the purchase. My biggest problem is my current machine, a beautiful Macbook Pro. It works too well.

I love my Macbook. The apostles of Bill Gates & Microsoft may goggle at this, but they're just easier. Yes! Quick eg: You want a new application. Step 1: copy into the Applications folder. Finish. That's all you do. To remove: delete it. That's it. And I've got Windows running simultaneously on a "virtual machine" platform-in-a-program. Why on earth? Work needs it. But back to solid-state computers.

The Register has an excellent article on small, cheap computers. One of their recommendations is the Asus eeePC. (I'm so glad they agree with me!) It's got a 9-inch screen, it weighs less than 1kg, it's about half A4 in size, and the battery lasts up to 8 hours. The secret is the hard disc... it hasn't got one, just a row of flash-memory chips. Yours for about $A500.

Imagine a school of these, connected wirelessly. Students carry them easily, they're economical, light & sturdy, batteries last a school day. Web, word process, spreadsheet, all there, & more. The money saved buys a Photoshop computer, a video edit computer for each class, and employs a local techie.

The computer, with the help of the Read/Write Web, becomes a tool, to do something wonderful with.