Clara ([info]anotherthink) wrote,
@ 2007-12-05 18:55:00
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Should I buy an XO?

Pros

  • Get to help this cool project

  • About as cheap as plausible laptops get

  • Free software

  • Environmentally friendly

  • Physically resistant to all kinds of abuse

  • Lightweight

  • Cute

  • Bonus: 1 year of T-mobile wifi



Possible cons?

  • Secret early adopter problems!?

  • Too-small keyboard/screen?

  • OS may be impractical? It seems like I ought to be able to replace their OS with Ubuntu(/whatever) if I don't like it, but since I can't find any examples of people who have done this yet, I'm a little nervous.

  • EDIT: no ethernet port


90% of what I want to use any laptop for is Firefox/SSH; if I need to do anything heavy-duty, I'll use my desktop, but I want a laptop so that I can work while traveling, on-site with a client, or getting out of the house to a coffee shop.

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[info]agnoster
2007-12-06 01:04 am UTC (link)
I ordered one. It's all FOSS! I imagine that there's a fair amount of customizing I can do if I don't like the default system - also, you missed a few pros:

- ridiculous battery life
- lots of hackers will be getting them, helping to offset any problems with the default OS by hacking around them
- way better status symbol than an apple :-)
- reflective mode for screen makes this probably the most usable laptop for out doors (once it's sunny where you are again, I mean - I love working outside, but most laptops make that hard)
- rechargeable without electrical outlets
- python (now with more antigravity)
- shell, gecko browser (not FF, though)
- microphone/camera (videoconferencing, perhaps?)

But yeah, an incredible amount of cool stuff. This is quite possibly one of the coolest devices we've seen this century, and a radical departure from the "bigger/faster is better" in favor of "more useful/cheaper is better". It's good design, good philosophy, and a good cause for a good price. I say, "yea."

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[info]anotherthink
2007-12-06 01:15 am UTC (link)
"rechargable without electrical outlets" isn't true by default, since it doesn't ship with crank/solar panel, right? but that's definitely a potential pro for the future.

hmm. can the gecko browser do extensions? not having things like firebug/web developer would mean lowered productivity. though as you point out any software issues will probably be corrected quickly, since it's FOSS and will be in the hands of a lot of smart programmers.

This is quite possibly one of the coolest devices we've seen this century
I know! WANT! but will it really have the functionality to probably be the only laptop I use all year?

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[info]agnoster
2007-12-06 01:30 am UTC (link)
Ethernet? Where in God's name do you have ethernet, but no wifi? Maybe I live in some sort of freaky technology-happy bubble, but I don't think an ethernet cable has touched my laptops in years. Public internet is almost always wireless, and I certainly don't plug in at home or other people's houses, either.

But yeah, I'm sure Firefox will run on it sooner rather than later. Firefox is a big ol' memory hog though, so I'm not sure I'd go for it. Although Firebug is pretty indispensable... since the browser in question uses XULRunner, I'm assuming many firefox extensions could conceivably be re-tooled to run on it (if that is even necessary).

The only thing about this machine that disappoints me is that it does not appear to come with any Lisp at all :-( Good thing I have my new tiny lisp (weighing in at 875 lines right now).

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[info]anotherthink
2007-12-06 01:47 am UTC (link)
the place where I do on-site work recently moved offices; their current office has wifi, but their previous office did not, so I had to use laptop-ethernet there. but yeah, I don't consider that a major con.

it doesn't come with ruby, either. :(:(

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Buy!
[info]derloos
2007-12-06 07:25 am UTC (link)
Well I guess pros are obviously overweighting, especially knowing that there's someone poor out there who's using a brother of your own laptop thanks to you help.
Now let's turn to cons.
1. It could probably become a pleasure for you to fight those problems and help other people overwhelm the same difficulties.
2. It never hurts to try before buy, does it?
3. Probably that would become a common point so other hackers may someday solve it. Mark Shuttleworth will definitely join their efforts.
4. If you really know places with Ethernet but without wifi, just go get yourself a portable hotspot like AirPort Express.

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Re: Buy!
[info]anotherthink
2007-12-06 04:11 pm UTC (link)
Yeah; mostly what is holding me back is that I can't really try before I buy, so I'm paranoid that it will come and then somehow be totally impossible to work on. But it is certainly true that a lot of hackers will be getting this and working on ways to improve it right away, so probably it will be fine.

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Re: Buy!
[info]derloos
2007-12-07 08:11 am UTC (link)
Well, there were so many people working on it so I doubt it could possibly be uncomfortable to use in anyway... On th other hand, the thing is made for children - smaller keys, touchpad and so on...

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