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Let’s redesign the laptop for a work-from-home era

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Re: Let’s redesign the laptop for a work-from-home era

#51

Post by hc-taway »

skrtskrt wrote: post #40
hc-taway wrote: post #3

1) physical kill switch for camera (as in, it breaks the power or data connection to it, physically) or at least a physical cover. 2) physical kill switch for the microphone These are very much not "nerd" concerns, either. I see a lot of non-techies with stickers over their laptop cameras. [EDIT] teachers in particular spread the "put a sticker over the camera" practice, in my experience, both before and during the p…

Lots of companies distribute their employees laptops with a little plastic slider to shutter the camera, so it's further than not-just-nerds - corporate IT decisionmakers are recognizing the need too.

Trouble is, lots of laptops are subtly (or not so subtly) damaged over time by extra stuff being closed in the lid. Apple laptops, notably, but plenty of others too. It'd be much better for it to be built-in. Covers also ruin the (absolutely wonderful and hard to do without, once you're used to it) True Tone feature on Apple laptops, so they'd need some kind of secondary ultra-low-res never-exposed-as-a-real-camera color-temp sensor to properly support either built-in or add-on camera covers or kill-switches while still letting that work.

(I'm basically agreeing and elaborating, not correcting you, since your point isn't that that's a great solution, but that it's more proof that more than just security geeks and computer nerds consider this a problem)

Re: Let’s redesign the laptop for a work-from-home era

#53

Post by m-p-3 »

tpmx wrote: post #5

Having a built-in "ring"-light would be nice. Perhaps in the bezels? Or perhaps even done via detailed software-based control of the screen backlight via zones? Audio is already pretty great with a modern laptop, but it's tricky to arrange proper lighting for video conferencing.

I bought a USB-C rechargeable light bar, works like a charm.

Re: Let’s redesign the laptop for a work-from-home era

#54

Post by ghaff »

roland35 wrote: post #49
ghaff wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's also easier to get a good mic and webcam if you're not constrained by the thickness of a laptop screen. A lot of people would benefit from better lighting as well although some of that can be a function of their physical environment which can be hard to do something about.

Yes I should have added I bought a desk light which also helps the poor quality camera significantly!

I think a lot of what you see, given modern laptops, isn't so much low-quality webcam issues as it is poor lighting issues, whether because of low light levels, backlighting, or a combination of the two.

Re: Let’s redesign the laptop for a work-from-home era

#57

Post by sidpatil »

thomascgalvin wrote: post #41
mvip wrote: post #13

> Let’s Redesign the Laptop for a Work-from-Home Era Isn't that just called a desktop? ;)

I think there's an argument to be made for bulkier laptops now. The trend of the last two decades has been smaller form factors, which puts a hard limit on the battery, the hard drive, the number of ports you can support, and even how much thermal energy you can radiate. That was important largely because you were going to be lugging the thing around everywhere, and a pound or two could make a real difference. Now th…

These are known as mobile workstations. They can get quite bulky, quite heavy, and quite powerful.

Re: Let’s redesign the laptop for a work-from-home era

#58

Post by tokamak-teapot »

hc-taway wrote: post #3

1) physical kill switch for camera (as in, it breaks the power or data connection to it, physically) or at least a physical cover. 2) physical kill switch for the microphone These are very much not "nerd" concerns, either. I see a lot of non-techies with stickers over their laptop cameras. [EDIT] teachers in particular spread the "put a sticker over the camera" practice, in my experience, both before and during the p…

If you're on MacOS, open 'Audio MIDI Setup' and look at 'Built-in Microphone'. You can tick the 'Mute' box next to 'Master' and your microphone is now muted independently of Teams, WebEx, or whatever.

It's not a physical switch, but it's a good second safeguard. Teams is even polite enough to tell remind you that you're muted because it can detect this.

A slightly folded post-it note also works well as a camera cover that's easy to remove and easy to replace if you lose it. I also find that when I'm about to join a call and my video's dark pink (rather than black), it's a good reminder I have my 'shutter' in place and haven't noticed, despite it being physically in front of my face.

Re: Let’s redesign the laptop for a work-from-home era

#59

Post by sonofhans »

viklove wrote: post #38
brmgb wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are completely missing the point (it feels like I am now posting this everyday on HN). No one is asking for a Blue Snowball mic and Logitech webcam in their laptop. People are rightfully wondering why in world a ubiquous small competent cameras (see every iPhone from the past decades) and mic, the ones laptops are using are so poor. The answer is most likely because no one cared so I fully expect that to change b…

The answer is very simple: the display of your laptop is much thinner than your phone. So if you want something better, you will need to use an external camera.

This is entirely correct. Even phones are these days too thin to fit good cameras, thus the bump.

Re: Let’s redesign the laptop for a work-from-home era

#60

Post by rollcat »

Agingcoder wrote: post #43

I expected this to be about ergonomics, which laptops are anything but. I have seen too many people working on laptops ans getting hurt (hands, back, shoulders, etc). I'd start with a foldable keyboard which expands into something big and comfortable (I have RSI!), and a detachable screen which can be set higher on the desk.

My ideas exactly! I was just sitting in the bed today with a laptop (normally using a desktop) and thinking how nothing in this device really makes any sense wrt ergonomics, it's not really possible to use it for more like an hour or two without getting really uncomfortable.

I've accidentally bumped into r/cyberdeck today (not ergonomic at all but provided some inspiration), and now this thread.

How would you go about designing a portable computer that's also more ergonomic to use? How would you raise the screen? How would you split/tent the keyboard? What steps would you take to reduce wear / risk of damage on moving parts?

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