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By David Rothman

Robert ScobleOver at Scobleizer and Business 2.0/CNN, they’re mentioning the TeleBlog’s observations on cellphones vs. MIT’s laptop project for Third World kids.

Robert Scoble says he can read better off a nice, big screen–but that when he goes to London he sees folks reading with phones, not laptops. He himself reads “thousands of words per day on my cell phone.” Heck, Robert, that’s cool, but with a larger screen it might be tens of thousands of words. Furthermore, typical TV screens, which billg wants used with cellphones via adapters, are excruciatingly fuzzy now and probably will be in the near future in the Third World.

Of course I’m wildly enthusiastic about efforts to reach the poor either way and am delighted to see partnerships between e-book-sellers/libraries and phone companies–or plain Web access to e-books via phones. Give people a choice. I just favor the laptop one.

Just the same, in the next few years, cellphones with rollout e-paper screens could alter the picture anyway.

Meanwhile, if the Tablet PC and similar machines can finally catch on, so much the better. I’ve been rooting for that the TPC for years, just like Robert; and in fact, the MIT gizmo itself can apparently convert from a laptop to a tablet. Look at the photos. For now, let’s just hope that the anticipated $100-$150 price tag will survive. If so, that’ll be much less than the $1,000 figure that Robert mentions in saying what kids can afford right now.

Also consider basic ergonomics and the lug factor. I use an e-book tablet but rarely take it anywhere–it’s for home. Similarly those Brits with cellphones may have laptops at home. Hey, over in the States at least,someone‘s buying laptops. If I remember the stats right, haven’t laptop/notebook sales walloped or at least equalled desktop sales? Update: Yep.

Detail: The ergonomics of laptops aren’t as good as those of tablets with detachable keyboards. The MIT machine, in its tablet mode, apparently will do.

Update: Slashdot discussion.

 
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