[News] Vista Can't Compete with Linux on MIDs, Prices Likely to Fall Further
Roy Schestowitz
Hash: SHA1
Netbook? MID? Is This PC Category for Real?
,----[ Quote ]
| "We're providing a totally different value," Ho told InternetNews.com. "You
| don't need [Microsoft] Vista on these devices," he said, which means
| less-demanding hardware requirements.
`----
http://www.internetnews.com/hardware/article.php/3750841
Here Comes the Asus 'Freee PC'
,----[ Quote ]
| I'm predicting that the successful pricing model for "mini me too" laptops
| will look nothing like the notebook pricing model (where you always pay full
| price for the hardware), and a lot like the cell phone pricing model where
| you buy a service, and the hardware is heavily subsidized or given away free.
`----
http://www.internetnews.com/commentary/article.php/3750916/Here+Comes+the+Asus+Freee+PC.htm
Last week:
Otellini: 'MID revolution will be centred round Linux'
,----[ Quote ]
| Intel CEO says Microsoft's insistence on pushing Vista will hand market to
| open source rival
|
| Intel's CEO has said that he sees the revolution that is about to happen
| around mobile internet devices (MID) such as the Eee PC and other Atom-based
| sub-notebooks will be "centred round Linux", in an interview with Associated
| Press.
`----
http://www.pcretailmag.com/news/29939/Otellini-MID-revolution-will-be-centred-round-Linux
Recent:
Feeling the heat at Microsoft
,----[ Quote ]
| A couple of years ago you reiterated that IBM was Microsoft's biggest
| competitor and you said not just on the business side, but overall. If I ask
| you who is Microsoft's biggest competitor now, who would it be?
|
| Ballmer: Open...Linux. I don't want to say open source. Linux, certainly have
| to go with that.
`----
http://www.news.com/Feeling-the-heat-at-Microsoft/2008-1012_3-6232458.html?tag=ne.fd.mnbc
Intel CEO mum on Vista's impact
,----[ Quote ]
| Before the question could even be finished, Otellini shook his head and
| said, "no," he was not getting into any discussion about Vista.
|
| We considered that not just odd, given Otellini's history of taking on all
| questions, but a sign that Intel is seriously displeased with Vista. If that
| weren't true, why couldn't the CEO muster even a lukewarm response like, "We
| certainly think Vista a superior OS, but after five years in development we
| would have hoped it had more of an impact on creating a demand for PC
| upgrades."
`----
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9846349-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
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chrisv
news:11908602....@schestowitz.com...
[comp.os.linux.advocacy] FAQ and Primer for COLA, Edition III
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/linux/advocacy/faq-and-primer/
<quote>
* The trespasser has come to COLA in order to vent his dislike of
Microsoft and/or Windows. For that purpose several newsgroups have
been created.
* alt.crimehip.microsoft.sucks
* alt.emircpih.microsoft.sucks
* alt.flame.ms-windows
* alt.h.i.p.c.r.i.m.e.microsoft.sucks
* alt.h0pcr0me.microsoft.sucks
* alt.h1pcr1me.microsoft.sucks
* alt.h2pcr2me.microsoft.sucks
* alt.hh.ii.pp.cc.rr.ii.mm.ee.microsoft.sucks
* alt.hipclone.microsoft.sucks
* alt.hipcrime.microsoft.sucks
* alt.microsoft.crash.crash.crash
* alt.microsoft.sucks
* alt.os.windows95.crash.crash.crash
* comp.misc.microsoft.sucks
* microsoft.sucks.
* sk.sux.microsoft
Fsck you arsehole troll
PLONK
Mark Kent
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> Hash: SHA1
>
> Netbook? MID? Is This PC Category for Real?
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
>| "We're providing a totally different value," Ho told InternetNews.com. "You
>| don't need [Microsoft] Vista on these devices," he said, which means
>| less-demanding hardware requirements.
> `----
>
> http://www.internetnews.com/hardware/article.php/3750841
>
> Here Comes the Asus 'Freee PC'
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
>| I'm predicting that the successful pricing model for "mini me too" laptops
>| will look nothing like the notebook pricing model (where you always pay full
>| price for the hardware), and a lot like the cell phone pricing model where
>| you buy a service, and the hardware is heavily subsidized or given away free.
> `----
>
> http://www.internetnews.com/commentary/article.php/3750916/Here+Comes+the+Asus+Freee+PC.htm
>
The desktop is dead, long live the computer!
--
| mark at ellandroad dot demon dot co dot uk |
| Cola faq: http://www.faqs.org/faqs/linux/advocacy/faq-and-primer/ |
| Cola trolls: http://colatrolls.blogspot.com/ |
| Open platforms prevent vendor lock-in. Own your Own services! |
KUTLOZE SCHEEFGEPOEPTE
news:cvg5i5-...@ellandroad.demon.co.uk...
> Roy Schestowitz <newsg...@schestowitz.com> espoused:
>> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
>> Hash: SHA1
>>
>> Netbook? MID? Is This PC Category for Real?
>>
>> ,----[ Quote ]
>>| "We're providing a totally different value," Ho told InternetNews.com.
>>"You
>>| don't need [Microsoft] Vista on these devices," he said, which means
>>| less-demanding hardware requirements.
>> `----
>>
>> http://www.internetnews.com/hardware/article.php/3750841
>>
>> Here Comes the Asus 'Freee PC'
>>
>> ,----[ Quote ]
>>| I'm predicting that the successful pricing model for "mini me too"
>>laptops
>>| will look nothing like the notebook pricing model (where you always pay
>>full
>>| price for the hardware), and a lot like the cell phone pricing model
>>where
>>| you buy a service, and the hardware is heavily subsidized or given away
>>free.
>> `----
>>
>> http://www.internetnews.com/commentary/article.php/3750916/Here+Comes+the+Asus+Freee+PC.htm
>>
>
> The desktop is dead, long live the computer!
>
<bitchslap>
Mark Kent, Linux advocate by night and Microsoft partner by day.
"At BT Global, our crown jewels are the services we supply to our
customers. With jNetX we own the intellectual property for our services,
allowing us to evolve the services as and when required."
Mark Kent
Head of Technology Strategy
http://www.jnetx.com/index.php?id=products
Mark Kent's partner Microsoft:
http://www.jnetx.com/index.php?id=ourpartners
http://www.jnetx.com/fileadmin/images/partner_logo/small/logo005.jpg
Mark Kent's jNetX N(X) - Convergent Network Services for Microsoft CSF
https://solutionfinder.microsoft.com/SDK/Solutions/SolutionDetailsView.aspx?solutionid=9bf1884cf9354bbeb110ba73b82dbdb4
Download Mark Kent's Microsoft demo:
http://download.microsoft.com/download/1/2/b/12bedb1a-0b15-4fe9-be7b-275fb83964d4/Jnetx_Sandbox_Demo.pptx
The Ghost In The Machine
<mark...@demon.co.uk>
wrote
on Wed, 11 Jun 2008 19:09:16 +0100
<cvg5i5-...@ellandroad.demon.co.uk>:
> Roy Schestowitz <newsg...@schestowitz.com> espoused:
>> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
>> Hash: SHA1
>>
>> Netbook? MID? Is This PC Category for Real?
>>
>> ,----[ Quote ]
>>| "We're providing a totally different value," Ho told InternetNews.com. "You
>>| don't need [Microsoft] Vista on these devices," he said, which means
>>| less-demanding hardware requirements.
>> `----
>>
>> http://www.internetnews.com/hardware/article.php/3750841
>>
>> Here Comes the Asus 'Freee PC'
>>
>> ,----[ Quote ]
>>| I'm predicting that the successful pricing model for "mini me too" laptops
>>| will look nothing like the notebook pricing model (where you always pay full
>>| price for the hardware), and a lot like the cell phone pricing model where
>>| you buy a service, and the hardware is heavily subsidized or given away free.
>> `----
>>
>> http://www.internetnews.com/commentary/article.php/3750916/Here+Comes+the+Asus+Freee+PC.htm
>>
>
> The desktop is dead, long live the computer!
>
Far from dead; I happen to be sitting at one. I've yet to
see a phone that allows me to comfortably touch-type; most
of them have rather chicklety keyboards. Even my laptop's
keyboard is less than ideal in that respect, though at
least the keys thereon are full size. (The pictures I see
of the Asus Eee make it look slightly smaller than my nx9010,
and presumably a fair bit lighter as well.)
I like this Dell USB keyboard though I wonder where they
got it from.
(There is a device that might allow one to touch type
rather literally, but the tactile feedback is one aspect
thereof; how does one know one's pressed a phantom laser
key?)
Of course in an ideal world one could plug in a keyboard
with a USB port into one's phone, hook up a monitor
through another port, and happily type away.
And in an ideal world Microsoft would be open source.
Oh well, can't have everything. ;-)
--
#191, ewi...@earthlink.net
Linux sucks efficiently, but Windows just blows around
a lot of hot air and vapor.
** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **
Roy Schestowitz
Hash: SHA1
____/ The Ghost In The Machine on Thursday 12 June 2008 03:39 : \____
What about projected keyboard or speech recognition for input or more 'retinal'
devices for output? That stuff already exists, but some things (including the
market) are not yet ready.
- --
~~ Best of wishes
Roy S. Schestowitz | X-No-Archive: No. Stand behind what you say
http://Schestowitz.com | GNU/Linux | PGP-Key: 0x74572E8E
Swap: 1510068k total, 433128k used, 1076940k free, 73192k cached
http://iuron.com - next generation of search paradigms
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Gregory Shearman
>
> Far from dead; I happen to be sitting at one. I've yet to
> see a phone that allows me to comfortably touch-type; most
> of them have rather chicklety keyboards. Even my laptop's
> keyboard is less than ideal in that respect, though at
> least the keys thereon are full size. (The pictures I see
> of the Asus Eee make it look slightly smaller than my nx9010,
> and presumably a fair bit lighter as well.)
Hmmm... My Thinkpad has the best keyboard I've ever used, and I have
gigantic hands (I'm gigantic all over.... at nearly 2 metres.).
I can touchtype rapidly and with the mid-keyboard "nipple" (trackpoint)
I don't even have to move my hands from the "home" position on the
keyboard.
My desktop uses a standard Microsoft Keyboard and mouse which, though
rather good for the price (very cheap) are not a patch on my lappy.
I have to agree with the OP and say that the Desktop is dead.
> (There is a device that might allow one to touch type
> rather literally, but the tactile feedback is one aspect
> thereof; how does one know one's pressed a phantom laser
> key?)
>
> Of course in an ideal world one could plug in a keyboard
> with a USB port into one's phone, hook up a monitor
> through another port, and happily type away.
Or even unfold a screen and keyboard from your wallet and type away
without any plugging in at all.
> And in an ideal world Microsoft would be open source.
In an ideal world, Microsoft would stick to making good quality cheap
keyboards and mice.
--
Regards,
Gregory.
Gentoo Linux - Penguin Power
The Ghost In The Machine
<ZekeG...@netscape.net>
wrote
on 12 Jun 2008 11:42:30 GMT
<slrng522t5.b1...@netscape.net>:
> On 2008-06-12, The Ghost In The Machine <ew...@sirius.tg00suus7038.net> wrote:
>>
>> Far from dead; I happen to be sitting at one. I've yet to
>> see a phone that allows me to comfortably touch-type; most
>> of them have rather chicklety keyboards. Even my laptop's
>> keyboard is less than ideal in that respect, though at
>> least the keys thereon are full size. (The pictures I see
>> of the Asus Eee make it look slightly smaller than my nx9010,
>> and presumably a fair bit lighter as well.)
>
> Hmmm... My Thinkpad has the best keyboard I've ever used, and I have
> gigantic hands (I'm gigantic all over.... at nearly 2 metres.).
>
> I can touchtype rapidly and with the mid-keyboard "nipple" (trackpoint)
> I don't even have to move my hands from the "home" position on the
> keyboard.
I can't say I've liked those; they're a little hard for me to control.
Still, there is merit; any movement of one's hands away from the
keyboard is time lost.
>
> My desktop uses a standard Microsoft Keyboard and mouse which, though
> rather good for the price (very cheap) are not a patch on my lappy.
>
> I have to agree with the OP and say that the Desktop is dead.
Well, OK, you're making a distinction between desktop and
notebook -- an interesting subpoint. Nevertheless, I think
many notebooks (except for the ASus Eee) will have that
other solution preinstalled thereon as well.
And then there's the iPhone, which now has a competitor --
a Samsung unit running Windows Mobile. (Not sure what
happened to the Qtopia greenphone.)
We live in interesting times.
>
>> (There is a device that might allow one to touch type
>> rather literally, but the tactile feedback is one aspect
>> thereof; how does one know one's pressed a phantom laser
>> key?)
>>
>> Of course in an ideal world one could plug in a keyboard
>> with a USB port into one's phone, hook up a monitor
>> through another port, and happily type away.
>
> Or even unfold a screen and keyboard from your wallet and type away
> without any plugging in at all.
There is some research being done on a rollup display.
http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2006/09/22/Roll_up_monitor/
>
>> And in an ideal world Microsoft would be open source.
>
> In an ideal world, Microsoft would stick to making good quality cheap
> keyboards and mice.
>
Well, that too. ;-)
--
#191, ewi...@earthlink.net
Insert random misquote here.
The Ghost In The Machine
<newsg...@schestowitz.com>
wrote
on Thu, 12 Jun 2008 10:15:38 +0100
<2115494.M...@schestowitz.com>:
I'm not sure about the projected keyboard, as I've already noted.
Speech recognition is OS-agnostic (AFAIK) and has certain
limited applications, mostly in report generation where quickness
is important (and the choices for words are limited; I doubt any
contemporary system would be able to handle the homonym problem
effectively, though at least with grammar parsing they might have
a fighting chance).
As for retinal projection...I'd have to research the issue.
At best, it's an issue of comfort, and one has to be
careful regarding using same during driving, without some
careful programming (and a head position/accelerometer
attachment to give one a HUD-like display -- and even then,
lag enters into the picture).
At worst, it's an expensive gewgaw until mass production
can drive down its price.
I think mobiles will supplement the desktop, not totally
replace it.
>
> - --
> ~~ Best of wishes
>
> Roy S. Schestowitz | X-No-Archive: No. Stand behind what you say
> http://Schestowitz.com | GNU/Linux | PGP-Key: 0x74572E8E
> Swap: 1510068k total, 433128k used, 1076940k free, 73192k cached
> http://iuron.com - next generation of search paradigms
--
#191, ewi...@earthlink.net
Useless C++ Programming Idea #889123:
std::vector<...> v; for(int i = 0; i < v.size(); i++) v.erase(v.begin() + i);
Roy Schestowitz
Hash: SHA1
____/ The Ghost In The Machine on Thursday 12 June 2008 19:02 : \____
> As for retinal projection...I'd have to research the issue.
> At best, it's an issue of comfort, and one has to be
> careful regarding using same during driving, without some
> careful programming (and a head position/accelerometer
> attachment to give one a HUD-like display -- and even then,
> lag enters into the picture).
>
> At worst, it's an expensive gewgaw until mass production
> can drive down its price.
One option that you have is a tiny portable monitor that's worn close my one's
eye, maybe on some eyeglasses. I saw this type of technology on the Discovery
Channel when I was about 10. For input, a glove with sensors might work also,
so you can work on the go rather than sit down (for projected keyboard). Asus
is currently working on miniature and portable projectors. They could be
attached even to cellphones.
- --
~~ Best of wishes
Roy S. Schestowitz | Warning 0x12C: ispell feels tired
http://Schestowitz.com | RHAT Linux | PGP-Key: 0x74572E8E
08:20:02 up 59 days, 6:32, 6 users, load average: 1.53, 1.36, 1.51
http://iuron.com - Open Source knowledge engine project
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Moshe Goldfarb.
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
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>
> ____/ The Ghost In The Machine on Thursday 12 June 2008 19:02 : \____
>
>> As for retinal projection...I'd have to research the issue.
>> At best, it's an issue of comfort, and one has to be
>> careful regarding using same during driving, without some
>> careful programming (and a head position/accelerometer
>> attachment to give one a HUD-like display -- and even then,
>> lag enters into the picture).
>>
>> At worst, it's an expensive gewgaw until mass production
>> can drive down its price.
>
> One option that you have is a tiny portable monitor that's worn close my one's
> eye, maybe on some eyeglasses. I saw this type of technology on the Discovery
> Channel when I was about 10. F
Hopefully you are one of the first to receive one of these Roy Schestowitz.
Maybe then you will be able to see the voices in your head that pass for
your "reliable sources".
--
Moshe Goldfarb
Collector of soaps from around the globe.
Please visit The Hall of Linux Idiots:
http://linuxidiots.blogspot.com/
Rick
> On Fri, 13 Jun 2008 08:26:01 +0100, Roy Schestowitz wrote:
>
>> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
>> Hash: SHA1
>>
>> ____/ The Ghost In The Machine on Thursday 12 June 2008 19:02 : \____
>>
>>> As for retinal projection...I'd have to research the issue.
>>> At best, it's an issue of comfort, and one has to be
>>> careful regarding using same during driving, without some
>>> careful programming (and a head position/accelerometer
>>> attachment to give one a HUD-like display -- and even then,
>>> lag enters into the picture).
>>>
>>> At worst, it's an expensive gewgaw until mass production
>>> can drive down its price.
>> One option that you have is a tiny portable monitor that's worn close my one's
>> eye, maybe on some eyeglasses. I saw this type of technology on the Discovery
>> Channel when I was about 10. F
>
> Hopefully you are one of the first to receive one of these Roy Schestowitz.
> Maybe then you will be able to see the voices in your head that pass for
> your "reliable sources".
>
>
Snit
0cadnU9JtegdFc_V...@supernews.com on 6/13/08 7:47 AM:
You spew bile about me in many conversations... so please do not act like
you are better than anyone.
--
Satan lives for my sins... now *that* is dedication!
Gregory Shearman
> In comp.os.linux.advocacy, Gregory Shearman
><ZekeG...@netscape.net>
> wrote
> on 12 Jun 2008 11:42:30 GMT
><slrng522t5.b1...@netscape.net>:
>> On 2008-06-12, The Ghost In The Machine <ew...@sirius.tg00suus7038.net> wrote:
>>>
>>> Far from dead; I happen to be sitting at one. I've yet to
>>> see a phone that allows me to comfortably touch-type; most
>>> of them have rather chicklety keyboards. Even my laptop's
>>> keyboard is less than ideal in that respect, though at
>>> least the keys thereon are full size. (The pictures I see
>>> of the Asus Eee make it look slightly smaller than my nx9010,
>>> and presumably a fair bit lighter as well.)
>>
>> Hmmm... My Thinkpad has the best keyboard I've ever used, and I have
>> gigantic hands (I'm gigantic all over.... at nearly 2 metres.).
>>
>> I can touchtype rapidly and with the mid-keyboard "nipple" (trackpoint)
>> I don't even have to move my hands from the "home" position on the
>> keyboard.
>
> I can't say I've liked those; they're a little hard for me to control.
> Still, there is merit; any movement of one's hands away from the
> keyboard is time lost.
The trackpoint does take a little time to get used to, but once there,
it is like heaven... no searching for the mouse, no removing hands from
keyboard, even to move to a "trackball" or "trackpad". Bloody brilliant
idea IBM!
>
>>
>> My desktop uses a standard Microsoft Keyboard and mouse which, though
>> rather good for the price (very cheap) are not a patch on my lappy.
>>
>> I have to agree with the OP and say that the Desktop is dead.
>
> Well, OK, you're making a distinction between desktop and
> notebook -- an interesting subpoint. Nevertheless, I think
> many notebooks (except for the ASus Eee) will have that
> other solution preinstalled thereon as well.
Yeah.. I supposedly bought this IBM Thinkpad sans OS - from one of the
few companies in Australia that sell them, and yet when it arrived,
there was a copy of XP installed, with the OS serial number stuck to the
bottom of the unit with Microsoft's anti-tamper "technology". It stayed
on the machine about 15 minutes... repartitioned the HD (there was a
"hidden" partition, supposedly the clean install solution - taking up
about 5 gigs of the HD) and installed Gentoo. It's been on the machine
ever since.
As for the "subpoint" that the "desktop" is dead... hmmm, I can't really
think of another way to approach it.... other than the web-based apps..
which I don't use, though they look OK...
Mark Kent
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> Hash: SHA1
>
> ____/ The Ghost In The Machine on Thursday 12 June 2008 19:02 : \____
>
>> As for retinal projection...I'd have to research the issue.
>> At best, it's an issue of comfort, and one has to be
>> careful regarding using same during driving, without some
>> careful programming (and a head position/accelerometer
>> attachment to give one a HUD-like display -- and even then,
>> lag enters into the picture).
>>
>> At worst, it's an expensive gewgaw until mass production
>> can drive down its price.
>
> One option that you have is a tiny portable monitor that's worn close my one's
> eye, maybe on some eyeglasses. I saw this type of technology on the Discovery
> Channel when I was about 10. For input, a glove with sensors might work also,
> so you can work on the go rather than sit down (for projected keyboard). Asus
> is currently working on miniature and portable projectors. They could be
> attached even to cellphones.
>
I agree that such technology is very interesting, but there are some
wider changes going on at the moment which just cannot be ignored.
For example, the number of mobile devices in use around the planet
massively outweighs the number of "desktop PCs". The only computing
area which is seeing growth at the moment is the ultra-portable market,
like Elonex, Asus eee and so on. In fact, destkop sales had already
been more or less caught up by portable machines anyway.
Look at the interest in LiMo, OpenMoko, iPhone and Android, in the Nokia
800, 810 and so on.
But in terms of the actual likely replacement for desktop for most people,
then the household appliance is going to be the remaining spot, which will
be served from something combining the functions of mythtv and Sony PS3
(although Sony PS3 can run mythtv, of course), with storage being taken
up by something like Bubba's Excito (get one, it's the consummate device,
just plug it in and it works).
Whilst there will be some people who retain a desktop PC (probably
including myself), we'll be the same people who still have a vinyl
record player (like me), or an old leak valve amplifier, (like me),
or analogue radios of various kinds (like me), and so on.
For 99.999% of the population, the internet starts and stops on the
web, so anything with a browser will do the trick. Once sms and im
is properly integrated (look at where gizmo is going, for a very good
example indeed), then you should ask yourself that for most people,
what use will a desktop be?
We now have a situation where, eg., in the fair city of Manchester
(the 3rd largest city in England, once a global industrial powerhouse
and still a significant economic player), 28% of people do not have a
land-line at all. Consider - no land line implies no ADSL, and no ADSL
implies no desktop PC. They do have, instead, a mobile phone.
These numbers are from Ofcom this year, indeed, I used them in a
presentation in Barcelona last week. I'm afraid that the desktop is
very much a 1980s technology which has gone through its full adoption
cycle, and is on its way out, at least for most people.
There will always be exceptions, but that's what they are, exceptions.
Ta,
Roy Schestowitz
Some decades ago you'd laugh at the idea of a computer on a desk, let alone on
every desk. But we don't have 'computer chambers' anymore, do we?
> There will always be exceptions, but that's what they are, exceptions.
Another example: Sony WalkMan versus iPod nano. Quite a difference in terms of
scale and function.
--
~~ Best of wishes
Proprietary, lockin-based tools lead to regrets. Doc(umen)tor, heal thyself.
http://Schestowitz.com | Open Prospects | PGP-Key: 0x74572E8E
Tasks: 164 total, 1 running, 163 sleeping, 0 stopped, 0 zombie
http://iuron.com - knowledge engine, not a search engine
Mark Kent
Indeed not, or at least, not in the main. There are still telecom
hosting sites, and of course, data centres, offering specialist
capability beyond that of an ethernet wire and 240Vac, but for most
uses, they are no longer required.
>
>> There will always be exceptions, but that's what they are, exceptions.
>
> Another example: Sony WalkMan versus iPod nano. Quite a difference in terms of
> scale and function.
>
The WalkMan is a very interesting technology, in particular, what's
mostly forgotten (or indeed, never recognised) by most people is what
enabled the walkman at all...
********
*Cobalt*
********
Had it not been for cobalt, we'd never have had those tiny headphones
which everyone now takes for granted. Up until that point, miniature
headphones had terrible performance, with virtually no bass response at
all, indeed, little response below several hundred c/s or Hz, and
equally, virtually no response above about 4khz or so. They were really
only good for speech, and even that, at much less than PSTN quality
(real PSTN quality, not CS-ACELP).
And, one other thing - contra-rotating flywheels. Sony, when faced with
the problem of trying to get a cassette player to maintain tape-path-speed
within tight enough constraints to play music at the same pitch, realised
that the solution lay in exactly the same place as the solution for
keeping time which the Royal Navy had required, scores of decades before,
in order to measure longitude whilst navigating at sea. Minimise the
weight of the flywheels to just enough stored energy, and use a balanced
pair in contra-rotation. Thus, any energy gained suddenly by one wheel
is immediately balanced by an equivalent loss in the other one, so a
constant speed can be maintained.
By combining both cobalt-based headphones and contra-rotating flywheels,
the first walkman was born. Suddenly, we were able to carry music
around at a fraction of the size of previously "portable" players, with
headphones of commensurate diminutive size.
Of course, there'd been portable players before, but they changed speed
when moved around, and there were excellent headhpones around, too, look
up Koss & Beyer Dynamic for my favourites of the era.
What was special about cobalt? Well, it produces a much more
concentrated magnetic field than iron, so that a sounder of much greater
capability can be created in smaller dimensions.
The walkman ruled the roost for years, until the portable CD players
started to appear. They were never so robust as cassette players in
terms of being banged about during use, but CDs were smaller, stored
more music, and lighter, so the overall larger form factor and reduced
robustness were massively outweighed by being able to carry so much more
music.
Of course, now, just look at a all-electronic music and video player.
Mrs Mark's Archos has an 80Gig drive in it... and she uses
noise-cancelling headphones. How things have moved on.