Subcultural engagement for the 21st Century...
Barbelith is a new kind of community (find out more)...
You can login or register.

Underground > Laboratory >

I've Got Soul But I'm Not a Soldier... In Fact I'm a Supercomputer

Our Lady Has Left the Building

15:22 / 11.08.05

Personal computers could soon fit entirely on a key ring. Researchers at IBM in New York, US, have developed a way to carry a powerful, personalised virtual computer from one PC to the next, without losing the user’s work. Click here.

...The trick is to store the virtual computer on a USB key, or any portable device with substantial storage space, like an MP3 player. The virtual computer’s "soul" - as the researchers dub it - can then be uploaded to a new PC simply by plugging the portable device in. This host machine needs no special software or even a network connection to take on an entirely new personality.

So, does this mean that we will soon have truly 'personal' computers? One computer that we carry everywhere to do everything, that we clip to our belt next to our iPods and our memory sticks... before it too supplants them?

16:33 / 11.08.05

How is this different to any other usb bootable device?
e.g knoppix , busybox etc.. etc..

Bard: One-Man Humaton Hoedown

17:29 / 11.08.05

I think it means that you're basically carrying around a super harddrive that contains all your preferences and programs on it, but since it has no RAM, or other processors aside from the memory function, you need to plug it into other computers.

The advantage of this, though, seems to be in the fact that it means that you have all the advantages of having your own personalized computer (right down to desktop and icon preferences) that can be used on any computer you jack it into.

Its more a convenience than anything else, but it does suggest a future of MUCH smaller computers, since really the most sizeable things that you'd need are the monitor and the keyboard, since, independent of the harddrive, the actual size of the rest of the technology is relativly small. That may also open the way to much more modular portable systems. Hell, it may mean a move completly over to tablets since your actual "computer" is now just a big ole' keychain.

That is, of course, if I'm understanding the technology correctly.

On a slightly less sensational note, it means that you could basically turn any computer into your home PC/laptop. Which is a definite comfort plus, I think, especially for travellers who don't mind using internet cafes, or for students.

18:17 / 11.08.05

Thanks for the reply bard.
But what you have just described has been around for a long time now. You simply boot from a USB device.
Plug it in. Turn the computer on. Whatever you had installed on the stick uses the host pc`s ram processor etc.
Just had a google and you can get Fedora on a pen now.

Bard: One-Man Humaton Hoedown

18:37 / 11.08.05

I have a 30meg memory stick built into a pen (rather Batman-like that gizmo), and use my iPod for backup storage.

But at the same time...I dunno...this technology just goes beyond that, I think. I need to read the article again. After that I'll see if I can be a bit clearer on it.

18:57 / 11.08.05

Aha. You put an operating system on a USB stick (50 quid for 1GB now). Then get your/any PC to boot from the stick rather than it`s hard drive. You can then carry your own personnal computer in your pocket and use it at work, friends PC`s, net cafe`s etc.
I`ve got one. Runs Busybox. As soon as I get an urge to do something nerdy I`ll grab a 1GB pen and install Fedora.

I`m a little annoyed because it seems like IBM have taken something open-source , re-branded it and are marketing it as the greatest new IBM invention ever. Grrrrrr.

Now if you could boot windows from a 1 GB flash....then I`d be impressed...hang on...I`m gonna google zip compression factors.

19:47 / 11.08.05

I remember reading about hacks that would allow a person to boot another Mac from an iPod that has Mac OS loaded onto it using the Firewire drive option.

Wombat, I agree that this does seem like a cross between the Linux thubdrive distros and the old Unix dummy terminals, but bear one thing in mind: Most people would rather have their liver pulld out throught their nose than use Linux or Unix, especially the command line interface versions.

Now, if a person could load SUSE, Linspire or one of the more user-centric Linux distros onto an enclosed laptop drive (which is what I imagine IBM is talking about) THEN you'd have something that wouldn't give the "I don't care as lng as I don't have to think about it" set nightmares.

Now, surely someone has figured how to boot a Wintel box from a iPaq or a Clie...

Bard: One-Man Humaton Hoedown

22:44 / 11.08.05

Aha. You put an operating system on a USB stick (50 quid for 1GB now)

Interesting. Memory just keeps getting cheaper. Still...if I couldn't put it in a pen, or possibly some secret compartment in one of my canes or tophats, I'm not sure how much more interested I'd be.

Frankly, I'm still just amazed by my iPod and its ability to hold more memory than my actual computer. Then I took the iPod, held it up to my laptop, and realized that the iPod's harddrive and the laptops hard drive probably were exactly the same size, its just that the iPod was missing things like that pesky graphics card, internal modem, CD drive, A: drive, multiple USB slots, built in speakers, fan, and that sort of thing. When you think about it, that hardware really adds up.