Unpopularity of Elba

[Saqib Shaikh]

Hi

I talked to someone I know at Papenmeier UK.  He very much likes the
machines, but there are a few reasons he thinks noone else likes them.

1.  Size.  We're talking 2.something kg, or 5 pounds.  That's the weight of
a laptop.  In fact you can get laptops weighing 1.2 kg.  In terms of size
you're talking 12 inches by 8 inches, which is also not all that small.  It
is also made of aluminium and is "built like a brick".  This may be good in
terms of not breaking if you crash into a brick wall, but it has its
disadvantages too.

2.  Inconsistency of Linux.  I think they should have done more to adapt
Linux for the Elba.  They maybe should have put a slightly nicer user
interface on the underlying apps.  He mentioned, for example, that new users
never understood why they should press ctrl+g for help in Pico, but ? in
Pine.  I don't use these programs so don't know.  But in general it doesn't
have the polish of the Keysoft suite of applications.

3.  Upgrading the system is a pain - you have to download the file, unzip it
onto a flash card, and then boot from the flash card.  Problems are that you
need to buy both a flash card, as well as a flash card reader for the PC.

4.  While a minor point, it boasts all this network functionality.  But
since they only have 16MB to play with you can only copy files to your PC,
but not from your PC (or maybe it was the other way around).  In any case,
it is only one way.

So, I still think it is a nice machine, and I'd probably still get it if I
had the money, due to its open nature.  Many people on this list may also go
for it.  But at the end of the day it comes down to whether you want a
powerful tool that you can do a lot with, or a beautiful, elegant box which
takes inputs and produces neat, precise output.

I'll be seeing a demo of it for myself in a weeks time, and I'll report my
findings.

Saqib Shaikh
Email me at saqibshaikh.com
Web site www.saqibshaikh.com