Feedback Form
Home Features Mastermind Forums About Advertise Blog Network Contact Be An Author

Notebook Systems Should Be for Real Work, Real Play

Notebook Systems Should Be for Real Work, Real Play

A Little Help – As powerful and versatile as notebook computers are it is a little frazzling and frustrating when the system goes dark after a few hours of working on a long flight. If that isn’t bad enough your hair becomes a mess and your brush is in the belly of the plane. Photo Source -- Paramount

“Our only hope is to build this man up. We gotta give him all the confidence we can.” – Rex Kramer (Robert Stack) – Airplane (1980)


Face it…you don’t fly anymore just for the fun of it.

Arrive two hours ahead of time. Fumbling full body search. Extra fee if you want to take a bag along (you know clothes). Extra fee for a drink of water. Extra fee for a snack. Quarter to use the restroom.

Shoehorned between a guy who drank his lunch and dude who forgot about physical hygiene. Behind a lady who wants to lie down the entire flight.

When we fly, we’d really like to be in control and say, “No dice, Chicago. I'm giving the orders and we're coming in. I guess the foot's on the other hand now, isn't it Kramer?”

Unfortunately the way agents, security and flight personnel push you around the trip that isn’t going to happen.

In the waiting area we watched a guy whip out his cute little Asus Eee and go thru his email. Cute but not really designed for a lot of “real” work.

Game On Dude
Sitting across the aisle we watched a young guy whip out some serious hardware, Alienware. Obviously he wanted to get some real work done.

Wrong…he came to play!

The graphics were awesome! The action was more so!!

We figured we could spend the time editing some family video on our new dual-core, 2GB RAM, reasonable weight notebook.

The work went reasonably fast but rendering took “a little horsepower” and time.

Three hours into the project the tray table had melted and the “save or else” battery warning light had the flight attendant stopping by to see what we wanted.

Gamer was still playing and the Eee user sitting two rows up was happily juggling his expense report.

As McCroskey said, “Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue.”

Our business system wasn’t cheap but right then it seemed like a poor compromise.

There are a lot of gamers but there are a lot more people who just want to work on their notebooks.


Figure 1 - More Than Games – High performance notebook computers are not just for gamers any more. People want to spend the time while flying working with their photos and music. They want to edit and author their video. Some of us even like to get a little work done. Source -- IDC

Why should the kid across the aisle have all the power?

CPU, GPU
Depending on whether you believe Intel or Nvidia (ok so you can throw AMD in the mix also) the secret isn’t the CPU alone but the best video power is generated by the GPU (Graphics Processor Unit) and its storage buffer.


Figure 2 - Complex Chips – Today’s advanced GPUs incorporate unique design features and advanced capabilities to relieve the CPU from the difficult task of background rendering. The specialized chips feature thousands uniquely designed cores to enhance the quality and performance of complex graphics. Source – Nvidia

To hear Intel tell the story they’ve embedded new capabilities in their CPUs that deliver the clock speeds and core-to-core communications that deliver the power and strength people like ourselves occasionally need when we’re using the system to render multi-layer video segments.

Oh yeah…the software has to be completely rewritten to be optimized for multi-core, multi-threading.

To which Nvidia responds, “The white zone is for immediate loading and unloading of passengers only. There is no stopping in a red zone.”

Ok!

We got the message loud and clear…they don’t agree as to what the system or the software should do.

Nvidia says that you really need a dedicated GPU and firmware. Then the video post production software needs to be designed use all of the GPU’s processors for video transcoding.

That’s all fine and dandy for the system at home. The kid had just souped up the system with a new $400 Nvidia card.


Figure 3 - Soft Side – Whether it is the specialized software that allows you to take advantage of the specialized GPU chips or third-party production software for content post production, today’s notebook computers deliver superior performance and capabilities to people who want everything at their fingertips…all the time. Source -- Nvidia

Made his games stream look like the best highdef TV you’ve seen.

Allowed the wife and daughter to fly through their photo and video editing.

Let us quickly cut the 10 commercials from the Dr. Who shows we wanted to watch on our trip.

Didn’t do much for our notebook because there was no slot available!

When we got home and looked at the notebook specs we found the GPU listed in the mouse type.

Buffer storage? 512K…we’ve got $10 USB drives with more memory than that!

Worker’s System
If you look at the numbers notebook system sales nearly equal desktop sales. Very few of the units sold are low end Eee or Apple Air systems.




They’re computers people want for all of their work – at the office, at home, on the road!

Today’s notebook user really wants it all. We want a system that will handle the information explosion.


Figure 5 - Everything, Everywhere – Today’s midrange and above laptop computers have the speed, power and capabilities to go beyond high performance number crunching and work processing. Today’s systems have become major repositories for all of our content – personal/family moments/memories, music, time shifted TV and even on-the-go communications. Illustration -- NYTimes

You know:
- 10 trillion person-to-person emails each year
- 220 billion digital camera photos
- Billions of hours of HD video, music
- Billions of document, ppt and other files

It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to see that people are now using their go-everywhere systems to do…everything.

That’s especially true of video whether it’s shot with a camera or a camphone.

Increasingly people are taking, post producing, sharing, storing more content.


Figure 6 - Drama Queen – The combination of economic, highdef cameras and camcorders, powerful notebook computers with lots of storage capacity and HD/AVCHD post production software puts a complete Hollywood studio in the hands of anyone who is ready to show their creativity. As a result – and the availability of online video outlets – more high quality video content is moving to the web. The entertainment shift has not gone unnoticed to Hollywood and broadcasters (and advertisers). Source -- eMarketer

That’s why 120GB drive in the notebook is overloaded and we carry a 120GB USB external HD to handle “the other stuff!”

We’ve got video. We use it. Even though some people look at it and say, “I haven't felt this awful since we saw that Ronald Reagan film.”

Of course working with all that content on the notebook during a flight helps raise the temperature 10 degrees thus forcing the airline to use more fuel to run the air conditioning.

Darn…bet they’ll start charging you a $10 fee for opening your notebook because you’re using more fuel than the obese person in the seat next to you!

We agree with McCroskey, “Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit amphetamines.”

Of course all of the power and storage capacity doesn’t really matter with today’s notebooks because since lithium ion batteries were pulled from the market. Sales were a little sluggish after a paltry few of them blew up.

The industry quickly modified the designs to solve the overheating and “poof” issue.

Power Solutions
Right now firms are aggressively trying to develop high-performance, long-life, economic portable computer power solutions that don’t weigh too much.


Figure 7 - Processor Support – Even as engineers work diligently to reduce power consumption of processes and minimize system overhead, it still requires a lot of battery power to keep portable systems moving forward without a long extension cord.

Problem is cobalt is in short supply.

And if you haven’t quite noticed it, almost everything your kids use today runs on batteries.

It’s not that the industry isn’t trying to solve these “minor” issues.

All they have to do is give us the:
- performance of an Alienware or Acer Ferrari notebook
- weight of a netbook
- graphics power of a GeForce card
- processing power of a quad-core CPU
- low power intelligence
- liquid cooling system
- dynamic load balancing and balanced architecture
- “reasonable” system price

We only want to take our system on the road with us.

That’s right… “I’ve been hearing that crap ever since I was at UCLA. I'm out there busting my buns every night. Tell your old man to drag Walton and Lanier up and down the court for 48 minutes.”

When will it happen?

Rumack simply replied, “I'm doing everything I can... and stop calling me Shirley.”

Until then we’re taking one more accessory with us on our business flights…a long extension cord.

Oh… “Excuse me doc, I got a plane to land.”



Steady Power – Today’s high power GPUs can make aircraft flight simulation extremely realistic. All it takes is a steady hand, lots of practice and a ton of battery power to land safely before the battery crashes! Photo Source -- Paramount

photos, illustrations can be obtained by contacting andy@markencom.com





Notebook Systems Should Be for Real Work Real Play - To learn more about this author, visit Andy Marken's Website.

Like this article? Share it with your friends

Article Feedback
 Article Feedback No article feedback found.
  Leave Your Feedback
article feedback

Article Feedback
David Barr
David Barr is the President of Venture Opportunities, Inc. David has been a professional business broker/intermediary since 1980 focusing on General Business Brokerage and Mergers and Acquisitions representing client transaction value from $400,000 to $20,000,000. Mr. Barr has handled the sale of over four hundred and fifty companies. David earned a university degree from the State University of New York majoring in economics and business. David holds the Mergers and Acquisition Master Intermediary and the Certified Business Intermediary designations from the International Business Brokers Association. He is also a Senior Business Analyst and a Texas licensed Real Estate Agent. For more information about David and Venture Opportunities, visit www.bizdealmaker.com. - Visit David Barr's Website

Staging Diva
Debra Gould, aka The Staging Diva®, is President of Six Elements Inc., an internationally recognized home staging company. Inspired by many requests from aspiring home stagers wanting to start similar businesses, Gould created the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program. Gould has trained over 1000 Staging Diva Graduates worldwide to start staging businesses. Buying decorating and selling six of her own homes in four years lead to an interest in real estate staging which she turned into a career with the launch of sixelements.com in 2002. Since then she has staged hundreds of homes in addition to teaching home staging training. Gould is the author of several home staging resources including a series of popular ebooks made up of a Design Guide, Color Guide and Portfolio Guide. For more information about Debra Gould visit stagingdiva.com. - Visit Staging Diva's Website

Jay Kubassek
(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek)  In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.

 

As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)

 

Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. 

 

Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper.  Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website

Joe Dager
Joe Dager is President of Business901, a progressive coaching company providing no-nonsense direction in areas such as Lean Six Sigma Marketing and organized referral marketing. What others say: In the past 20 years, Joe and I have collaborated on many difficult issues. Joe’s ability to combine his expertise with “out of the box” thinking is unsurpassed. He has always delivered quickly, cost effectively and with ingenuity. A brilliant mind that is always a pleasure to work with.” - James R. If you want to learn more about Business901, start a conversation with us. We can be found @ Web/Blog: Business901.com Web/Blog: FundingYourNonprofit.com LinkedIn Profile Follow me on Twitter - Visit Joe Dager's Website

Stephanie Robey
Stephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals.

She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com   Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences.  Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University.

Read Steph's Blog
Meet Steph and Dave
Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich
- Visit Stephanie Robey's Website


To learn more about the Evan Elite Author Program please contact us.

About The Author


Andy Marken
(Visit Andy's Website) G. A. "Andy" Marken President Marken Communications, Inc. Santa Clara, CA Andy has worked in front of and behind the TV camera and radio mike. Unlike most PR people he listens to and understands the consumer’s perspective on the actual use of products. He has written more than 100 articles in the business and trade press. During this time he has also addressed industry issues and technologies not as corporate wishlists but how they can be used by normal people. He has been a marketing and communications consultant for more than 30 years involved in the wild early days of the Internet/Web, heyday of the videogame industry and the maturing professional and consumer video industries. His experience includes years with Internet pioneer CERFnet, TCG and AT&T. Andy has worked in the software, Web 2.0, video and storage industry with Panasonic, Philips, Dazzle, Atari, NTI, ADS Tech, Pinnacle Systems, CyberLink, InterVideo, Ulead and Verbatim.

Andy Marken is a Platinum author on EvanCarmichael.com
About The Author

View Author Blog
View Author Blog

View Author Video
View Author Video

Free Downloads


Andy Marken's

Complete
List Of
Marketing
Articles

Name
Email
If you enjoyed this article, get Andy Marken's Complete List of Marketing Articles For FREE!

More Andy Marken
Marketing Strategies Tactics and Techniques
Intel Plays In All the Fields ButSize Matters
The Challenges of International Relations in an Internet World
Organically Growing Champions Sales Market Share
CHANNEL MANAGEMENT
Talespin
In the DRM CA Equation Someone Has to Protect the Consumer
Coming Out of the Trough Its Time for a Content Communication Course Correction
Death of the Handler in a Strategic Viral Environment
Branding Unbound
Free Downloads


 
 
 


Evan Elite Authors
Joe Dager  
Dave Kurlan  
David Barr  
Evan Elite Authors

Become An Author
Have you written articles that would be of value to entrepreneurs? Become an expert on our site by publishing them! Expose yourself to a wide audience, drive more traffic to your website and get more sales! Click Here for details.
Become An Author

Evan's Latest Video
Modeling the Masters: Learn the true secrets behind Walt Disney's business success factors & grow your company! Video produced by Phanta Media
Evan's Latest Video

Business Opportunities
"Learn straight from Evan how you can Make a Full Time Income (And More) from a Website"

How to Start An Online Business

Click Here To Learn More
Business Opportunities



Evan's Newsletter
Get advice & tips from famous business owners, new articles by entrepreneur experts, my latest website updates, & special sneak peaks at what's to come!
Name:
Email:
Evan`s Newsletter

Free Downloads
Self-Employment Guide Icon Self-Employment Guide
Quadruple Your Business Icon Quadruple Your Business
Elevating Your Business Icon Elevating Your Business
Marketing Effectiveness Icon Marketing Effectiveness
ACES Research Report Icon ACES Research Report
Free Downloads - Complete List

Entrepreneur Tools and Guides
Fortune Hunters - CBC Entrepreneur TV
Fortune Hunters
CBC Entrepreneur TV
 
The Top 10 Guy Kawasaki Posts - Best Posts for Entrepreneurs
The Top 10 Guy Kawasaki Posts
Best Posts for Entrepreneurs
 
Entrepreneur Tools and Guides

SEO For Africa
SEO For Africa
Amavi Mawuéna Amouzou Lomé, Togo,
SEO For Africa

If I Were A Startup...
Lee Segal, >1,800% Growth in 5 Years
Lee Segal
>1,800% Growth in 5 Years
Brian Scudamore, $200k to $8 Mil in 5 years
Brian Scudamore
$200k to $8 Mil in 5 years
If I Were A Startup... - Complete List

Famous Entrepreneurs
Dana White, UFC
King Gillette, The Gillette Company
King Gillette
The Gillette Company
Famous Entrepreneurs - Complete List

Entrepreneur Advice
Brad Feld, Venture Capitalist
Brad Feld
Venture Capitalist
Jeffrey Gitomer, The Sales Bible
Jeffrey Gitomer
The Sales Bible
Entrepreneur Advice - Complete List

Popular Articles
(Premium Authors)

     Business Cards - Small but Mighty
By Lillian D. Bjorseth
     "Thank You" is an Ongoing Process
By Lillian D. Bjorseth
     Build a New Kind of Wealth - Social Capital
By Lillian D. Bjorseth

Have A Suggestion?
Toronto Salsa Classes / Toronto Salsa Lessons Email us your ideas on how to make our website more valuable! Thank you Sharon from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for your suggestions to make the newsletter look like the website and profile younger entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez and Sean Combs!
Have A Suggestion?

More Evan Carmichael
More Information