Changing their weighs

"First International Computer, a Taiwanese computer manufacturer and the parent company of U.S.-based Everex, announced two new mini-notebooks at Computex this week," according to a post from the annual trade show. This is a fully functional notebook weighing in at just over two pounds.

Two pounds.
That is less than what my first cell phone weighed (back when they were still called "car phones").

How many more places would you take your computer if it weighed less than a six-pack? Granted, the two serve wildly different purposes, but this is an important development. The mini-notebooks are still too expensive for all but the senior executive corps, and the jury will be out on durability and battery life for at least another year. But these are very temporary issues, especially when you think about all the places that pounds matter: airplanes, spacecraft, a soldier's backpack, cars, and anything else that moves. Consider the salesman who has the permanent leftward tilt to his spine from carrying around an eight-pounder for the past umpteen years.

Keep an eye out for an at-first small, but steadily growing, number of indirect applications spawned from this development. And watch out for Everex.

Credit where credit is due: CNet News Roundup post by Michelle Thatcher