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Comment by pcunite | Hacker News Reader

Cool ... this gives me hope for the future I want.

The day will come when we will all hold cell phone shaped PCs. You'll be able to interact with them as you do now. However, when placed within 10 feet of a keyboard or mouse, they'll automatically (configurable) and wirelessly use those peripherals ... keyboard and monitors on the fly baby!

Imagine optional super thin foldable displays to pack in the bag ... keyboards too ... or, go big and use production color accurate displays like my NEC 2490WUXi2. Thus making our own like this seems appropriate.

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I'm not sure if the idea of "peripherals" matching such a device appeals to me.

Let's think about this... A keyboard is basically a device for entering text via mechanical (or touch) switches which appear on your console/screen. A mouse is a virtual index finger.

Even though most of us can't imagine our daily lives without them at the moment, they both seem archaic in a way. Don't get me wrong; I think that's part of their appeal (I have an IBM model M somewhere in storage), but their high-tech-ness(?) is a bit of a non-sequitur when the day comes when our phone/device/gadget/pc-thing can talk effortlessly to a keyboard and mouse.

It's almost as if a mirror with built in camera interfacing to your straight razor. Some things are best left old-fashioned.

Pens and pencils are archaic interfaces as well, but they're still perfectly suited for their task.

Yes, and we don't link them to our phones either. ;)

But we certainly do link them to our computers. http://www.wacom.com/

sure we do: http://www.2dayblog.com/2011/10/22/android-ice-cream-sandwic...

But keyboards and mice are still just as useful and likely to remain so in the forseeable future, I think for much the same reason that pen and paper are still around in the digital age. Ergonomically, they just work and they're pretty intuitive, especially when you've got a large screen to deal with.

Even in a future in which spoken commands become commonplace, using a keyboard and mouse has an advantage. After all, I don't necessarily want everyone to hear every word I speak into a textbox.

It's like the similar argument about digital books replacing print books. Even though printed material technically (depending on if your definition of 'printed' includes cuneiform) has been around since Babylon. Its being old is no reason necessarily to replace a peripheral, so long as its function is still adequate.

I see this coming too. On the go or sitting on the couch, your portable device operates largely like the smartphones we use today. In your pocket at your desk, it can seamlessly and securely interface with your other devices for a "bigger" experience.

So in the future if I carry a keyboard around folded up in my pocket I can get root on any phone within ten feet? Neato.

Re the actual article - very interesting. Wish I knew how to solder. Reminds me of the ancient days when people bought their computers as kits.

Keyboard and mouse availability ... it will be configurable. In your own home you'll be able to move from display to display as needed.

That does sound interesting, actually.

I might like to have some kind of charging pad that does it, you just take your phone out and toss it on the pad and there you are. Have it be 'automatic' only while in contact with a specific surface.

The somewhat reasonable mechanisms Bluetooth uses to control what to pair with already mitigate much of the problem.

Why bother with peripherals.

Project the display onto a wall and project the keyboard onto the desk, the unit would detect the position of your fingers over the keys using similar techniques to how Kinect works.

Infrared keyboards already exist, they're generally unsatisfying and tempermental.

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