Size & Weight

The size and weight of laptops have significantly decreased over time. As one may have noticed from our visual history of laptops, the earliest laptops were large and bulky, weighing an average of 20 pounds. Some of them were so large and bulky, that they were not really mobile. In the early stages of laptop design, laptops were the size of large brief cases and were designed to be carried as such. Many were also designed to be stowed away under airplane seats for travel. These early laptops were known as "luggables" because of their suitcase like design. Some early laptops were designed like a calculator and were very portable. The Kyocera Kyotronic 85, a laptop that has a similar design to a calculator, was very popular among professionals because of its compact size and lightweight, two features that contributed greatly to its mobility. Some early laptops, like the GRiD laptop, had the clamshell design from day one and were more portable and light than "luggables". The clamshell design became a standard after a while, because it allowed designers to create lighter and smaller laptops than the "luggable" design. In general, laptops have evolved from suitcase-sized computers to compact machines, small enough to fit in one's suitcase or backpack with minor or little inconvenience to the user.

Although, the trend of designing lighter and smaller laptops continues, there are limitations and constraints such as a minimum screen size, which prevents laptops from being too small and creates a need to significantly reduce features or completely eliminate features with ultra light laptops. Aware of this trade-off and people's different needs, computer designers have created laptops to cater to people's specific computer needs and size and weight desires. For example, laptop users who desire a desktop replacement laptop are able to easily purchase one, but at the expense of size and weight, as these fully equipped and powerful machines tend to be bigger and heavier than average laptops. Laptop users who desire an ultra thin and lightweight laptop may easily purchase one as well, but at the expense of computing power and built in accessories, as these machines tend to have the bare essentials; long battery life but low end processors and sometimes do not have a built-in optical drive. Average users may purchase laptops that have an even compromise between size, weight (6 pounds on average) and computing power.

Wireless: An Enabler for Mobility

Wireless as it is commonly perceived as today is a type of communication that transfers data between devices without the use of physical wires, cables, or cords. Instead, radio frequency and infrared waves are used to transmit the data. For mobile computing, the most commonly used standards of wireless are:

• IEEE 802.11:This standard was developed by the working group 11 of the IEEE LAN/MAN Standards Committee. This term refers to a set of wireless standards (802.11b, 802.11g, etc.). With different enhancements the standard has been upgraded with each new later alphabet letter standard. The newest standards have reached maximum raw data rates up to 54 Mbit/s. This type of wireless is often referred to asWi-Fi

• Bluetooth:This standard has come to be used to connect and exchange information between devices through a low-cost, short range radio frequency. Each Bluetooth enabled device has its Bluetooth transceiver microchip. It was designed primarily for low power consumption with ranges of 10 centimeters, 10 meters, and 100 meters depending on the power class. It is used to wirelessly connect desktops, laptops, computer peripherals (mice, printers, etc), mobile phones, mobile phone headsets, etc. When two devices come into contact with each other at the appropriate range they begin to communicate with one another. Each Bluetooth chip will periodically send out a query to check for other Bluetooth enabled devices in the area.<

• Distinction between Wi-Fi & Bluetooth: Bluetooth is the technology that connects all the devices in specific vicinity. Wi-Fi is the wireless broadband connection to the internet.

Beginnings of Wireless Connectivity

Interesting enough, wireless networks for a large majority first sprouted up in areas where computers users cluster. One of these places is coffee shops. Around the world coffee shops were some of the first places to offer free wireless connectivity, well free in the sense of paying coffee customers. Today, in most major cities, many coffee shops have wireless. Due to a collaboration between the wireless broadband startup MobileStar, Microsoft, and Starbucks most Starbucks have wireless connectivity.

Academic campuses, another area where computer users cluster, have been another area that have been at the forefront of providing wireless networks. Many major universities, Stanfordincluded, have wireless connectivity widely available to its inhabitants.

The Growing Wireless Community

In many major cities open wireless networks are common place and even encouraged. For example, in San Francisco the Bay Area Wireless User Group (BAWUG) publishes a map of voluntarily open Wi-Fi networks in the area. This trend is taking place all over the United States and in many other parts of the world. Technological tycoons such as Bill Gates have publicly said that wireless will be in most places people spend time. This includes corporate offices, campuses, hotels, convention centers, airports, shopping centers, etc. Just by looking around today one can see that all of this is happening and happening very rapidly.

Wireless is even being used to drive community formation. Various public community development groups are using wireless to form stronger communities. Parks are a perfect place for this to take place. On nice days people will bring their laptops, whether for recreation or work, and sit outside in a park to enjoy the sun and outdoors while being on their computers. This has already happened in New York at Bryant Park. They’re even going as far as designing voluntary “buddy lists” that allow individuals to see whether their friends are logged in at the park. This type of community development using wireless as tool to achieve more is being applied to many other public contexts.

Again, looking at academic campuses this same type community forming mobility enabler is taking place. When the wheather is good many students take their wireless enable laptops outside to enjoy the sun while they continue to study. Furthermore, students are computing in a broader range of areas. They bring their laptops everywhere. They bring them to class, the library, the bookstore, their friends’ dorm, and even into their beds.

Unwiring the World

Just as wiring the world with telegraph, power, broadband, etc. caused disruption and adaptation within sociological contexts so too will unwiring the world. With wireless becoming available everywhere it is changing the where, when, what, who, and how of societal activities. This is already being seen in the workplace to a large extent and it will only continue to change rapidly in both foreseeable and unforeseeable ways. This same evolution is migrating to many other sociological aspects.