On Thu, Jan 28, 2010 at 8:58 AM, Attila Csipa <maemo@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > On Thursday 28 January 2010 16:36:16 Mark wrote: >> The thing is, Maemo is only necessary on small devices with limited screen >> real estate and non-X86-compatible processors. In a tablet of the iPad's >> size, there's no reason not to use an Atom and full-blown desktop Linux. >> Mark > > Finger based keyboardless input. That killed full-blown desktop Linux and apps > right there. In fact, that is one of , if not the most important reason why > the original TabletPC was a flop. I don't see any rationale in (current-gen) > embedded X86 if you want linux on it, either, but that's just me (ARM is > cheaper, is far more power efficient, allows always-on, and, with A9-MPcores, > *at least* on par performance-wise). > > Regards, > Attila > Huh? Desktop Linux (Ubuntu/kUbuntu, anyway) has a built-in onscreen keyboard, and all you need is a touchscreen for "finger based keyboardless input". Many touchscreen hardware implementations work just fine with generic mouse drivers. There are exactly *no* hurdles for keyboardless input on desktop Linux. Multitouch is only a driver away; it's hardly a big deal at this point. I personally don't like multitouch anyway, it's just more opportunities for accidental incorrect input. Using full-blown desktop Linux on x86 processors solves all kinds of problems: all applications are available and usable without even the most elementary porting or conversion, people can use almost any OS they wish, etc. And the gap in power efficiency between the Atom and ARM is rapidly dwindling. Instead of increasing the speed and raw power, Intel is increasing the power efficiency with every iteration. Mark _______________________________________________ maemo-users mailing list maemo-users@xxxxxxxxx https://lists.maemo.org/mailman/listinfo/maemo-users
