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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

#61

Post by jxramos »

Products to help the macbook out with work from home variation

- a lapdesk, to rest the laptop directly or an external keyboard for stability

- https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MJ2R2LL/A/magic-trackpad-..., best when paired with an external keyboard to gain distance to the macbook.

- https://www.raindesigninc.com/mstand.html, to elevate the laptop for more comfortable viewing

- https://www.goalzero.com/shop/portable-power/goal-zero-yeti-..., to work on the road anywhere, 60W USB-C -> C cable can run a macbook all day and some.

- https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/viewsonic-vg1655, get that portable second monitor experience.

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

#63

Post by throwanem »

ghaff wrote: post #54
roland35 wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

It's a little of both. A larger lens gathers more light from a given scene and thus doesn't need to crank the sensor gain as high (which adds both luminance and color noise) for a given exposure value. Even a fairly basic webcam will have a larger lens than the camera built into a laptop's lid.

So, while my laptop from 2016 almost certainly has a better sensor than my webcam that hit the market in 2013, the 2013 webcam still looks better, because it can do more with the same amount of light - for example, I'm facing three windows in full sun right now, and the laptop video still manages to be washed out and grainy while the webcam looks just fine.

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

#64

Post by asdff »

If we are to redesign the laptop why can't we admit that it's current design and use cases are at odds? People are running zoom and docker and slack and a dozen other things at once. We waste more resources than ever doing the same chat/etc. stuff we've been doing for 25 years. Things aren't moving faster, fans are going full tilt and CPUs throttle down.

What the people need more than anything is for manufacturers to take a step away from making a 2.5lb aluminum blade and instead offer a sufficient cooling solution.

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

#66

Post by betaby »

jswizzy wrote: post #62
rasz wrote: post #52

Desktop. Laptop for working-from-home is called a DESKTOP.

Now convince management that they should purchase a desktop for you. Probably not gonna happen I've tried for years to get a desktop.

I know some companies what purchased beefy NUCs for the employees.

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

#67

Post by asdff »

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…

It's going to be tough to claw back to a decent thickness. Imagine the cooling you could run and the performance you could have today if laptops were still an inch thick in the market.

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

#68

Post by pwinnski »

drcode wrote: post #24
sandworm101 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> or at least a physical cover. I want a mechanical microphone switch too. Being seen can be embarrassing but being caught saying something can end your career instantly. See that school board that all had to resign after they were caught badmouthing parents.

Of course, let's not forget that the core problem here is the "end your career instantly" part, not the design of the microphone.

By which I assume you mean that the core problem is that they were casually denigrating the parents rather than trying to work with them?

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

#69

Post by ArkanExplorer »

podiki wrote: post #7

I don't really understand the point of this article as "redesigning the laptop." Nearly all of the things they mention is either software (e.g. better processing of mic input) or called a desktop (screens, noise, etc.). If people are working from home that negates a big reason for the laptop: portability. Sure it is nice to move to the couch or kitchen or whatever, but maybe that could be having a keyboard and using…

You don't need a desktop - you just need a monitor arm, two monitors, and a good keyboard and mouse.

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

#70

Post by monocasa »

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…

One issue is that laymen know enough to not trust that switches are true kill switches, but don't generally have the skill set necessary to verify for themselves what their hardware has in that regard.

A piece of tape is a very low technical skill system that you know will cut off a video feed.

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