Computers used to be the size of large rooms, consuming enormous amounts of power and requiring a full time staff of employees to run and maintain them. That was about 40 years ago. Now, desktops are gradually being replaced by laptops that can do more every day. Recently however, there has been a new generation of laptops with lesser processing power, smaller hard drive, memory, weight, and screen size that are targeted at people who use computers to browse the web and use the word processor or spreadsheet. These new laptops are called "Netbooks."
As the name suggests, these smaller laptops are made to browse the internet and have basic functionality because people seem to just want a laptop that is light, cheap, and can handle the necessities. Netbooks are being powered more by Intel's new Atom processors. Extremely small 
and versatile, Intel's Atom processors are shaping the future of the mobile computing industry.
In addition to having the speed of regular processors, Atom processors also consume about half the power of a regular processor. Couple that with Solid State Hard Drives that consume about one tenth of the usual power consumption of a regular hard drive, it equates into a laptop that is not only cheaper, but can also last longer and more lightweight than its regular sized counterparts.
If versions of Atom processors make their way to mobile devices such as cell phones, then we might be looking at the possibility of integrating much of the functionality of a laptop into a cell phone better than it has been done before and with greater flexibility.
Netbooks?
Political Tech 2
This is the second of a 2 part series focusing on the uses of technology in political coverage by the media. I focused on CNN last time and I'm going to use the same news network again because they had another breath taking technology that was presented on election night, holograms.
A hologram is a light representation of a figure or object but for the most part, it has been only seen in movies such as Oceans 12, however, CNN was able to make an aspect of this technology work, and even though it is not a true hologram, as I will discuss, it brings the idea of a true hologram for commercial use closer now than ever before.
The CNN 'hologram' of reporter Jessica Yellin was made possible with the use of about 40 high definition cameras and an array of computers. The high definition cameras were set up in a tent, in a circle and Jessica was told to stand in the middle of the circle and report from there. What she saw around her were a bunch of HD cameras and computers.
For viewers at home to see what they saw, technicians in the field set up the cameras to send their digital feeds to stacks of computers that would analyze the data and send it to CNN headquarters where even more computers would overlay the digital image of Jessica Yellin into the scene.
Wolf Blitzer and everyone else in the studio saw a round circle marker on the floor where Jessica would be standing...in essence, they saw nothing. Now you might be wondering that this is no hologram at all...and you're right. What makes this technology worth talking about is that this is a constantly updating, true to life digital image of the reporter. In the past, the so called 'hologram' would have to be taped before the show and then added into the scene. That is why there was such a big deal made about this technology.
We can only expect that in the near future, there will be less cameras used and a better image represented, only to be once again replaced by a real hologram of the actual person.
