"All your files and programs, all the stuff you need, all with you all the time. If you have a pocket, you can carry this PC."

So my boss wanted me to do an article on this new computer. He told me it was extraordinary and while it had flaws, it exemplified the future of the personal technology device. He gave me some links to visit in order to see the thing and I went.

I didn’t know what to expect. Will it just be some box with a faster processor? They finally perfected hologram projection systems for the mass market? Could it be me some of that cool wearable technology?

I emptied my mind of preconceived notions and opened the page.

The site loaded and I gulped. I said out loud “Oh my God.”

I called my child from the next room to reaffirm was before me. She begrudgingly left her television and came over. When she saw what I saw, she said “Oh my God.”

The OQO is a personal computer. It has a 1GHZ processor, 20GB HD, 256MB RAM and a screen resolution of 800x480. The OQO comes installed with the Windows XP Operating System. What? That’s it? Surely you know Titmowse, that there are faster chips, bigger hard-drives, greater RAM capacities and totally better screen resolutions out there! If this is your idea of impressive, you’re stuck in the 90’s!

Oops. Silly me. I forgot to mention another small detail about the OQO.

The whole computer, keyboard, motherboard, monitor…is 4.9” x 3.9” x .9”.

Oh my God.

On the OQO, the keyboard slides out so compacted; it’s mostly mini monitor. It comes with one USB port, one FireWire port, it’s WI-FI and Bluetooth enabled. The LCD screen is indoor/outdoor readable and works with a provided digital pen. It’s even got an audio jack. If you dock it in the included desktop stand, you can plug it into a power source so you won’t waste the removable Lithium battery. When you’re ready to move, you just slip the OQO out of it’s station, tuck it in your pocket and go.

Imagine it.

You can ride a bike with your PC! You can access software, login into your email or send your kid an IM while you’re at the grocery store or waiting in line at the burger joint! You can take your office everywhere and you don’t have to uplink anything! All your files and programs, all the stuff you need, all with you all the time. If you have a pocket, you can carry this PC.

Obviously there are drawbacks to the OQO. The keyboard is one. When you push back the monitor, the unit reveals a QUERTY keyboard that has dimensions of approximately 4.7” x 2.0”. The keys themselves are tiny buttons not quite as convex as those of a BlackBerry. However the keyboard has left/right mouse buttons and a touch-sensitive pointer that operates like an eraser mouse.

This leads to the second major defect in the OQO; there’s only one USB port. That means you pretty much can’t use an external keyboard and external mouse simultaneously when the PC is undocked from its station. Fortunately, when you slide the OQO into its docking stand, the docking/power cable comes equipped with extra ports. Unfortunately, the docking cable only has one USB port as well. I’m pretty sure Apple makes a FireWire keyboard, but that doesn’t help with this Windows-based PC.

Be warned. I haven’t seen the OQO in person. I’m basing my opinion on what I’ve read from their site and from reviews by others. Having done so, I’m merely hypothesizing what it would be like to have one of these things.

I know the drawbacks. I understand the flaws with the OQO. I would absolutely have to buy one of those roll-up keyboards if I wanted to write with it. I have little hands but I am positive it would be a bitch to type real text on that teeny keypad. I’d probably be jonesing for a hand-held mouse even though its eraser-like mouse and the left/right buttons sound pretty cool. I have an eraser mouse and left/right buttons on my laptop. I get by without an external mouse but I hook one up to my notebook whenever I can. The OQO could really use at least Two USB ports. If the PC was just two inches wider and the keyboard was just a bit taller, it might be typeable. As far as the monitor size is concerned, I’ve got my old GameBoy Advance in front of me and its screen is three-and-a-half inches wide. The extra inch or so makes a difference but I get the feeling one can’t look at the OQO monitor for too long without eyestrain.

The final negative is the cost of the OQO:
$1999.00. Ouch.

There are cheaper handheld devices. The HP iPAQ is the most powerful of the lot. It has a 624 MGHZ processor, 128 MEGS of RAM and a 3.5” display. It runs on the Windows Mobile 2003 SE OS. You can get one for about five hundred bucks.

There are scads of thin laptops that have much faster processors than 1GHZ. They contain slots for tons more RAM than 256MB. Notebook PCs have bigger screens with better resolution than 800x480. Big-fingered folk complain that laptop keyboards are too small but they’re a hell of a lot better than the one on the OQO.

So why is the OQO so sexy to me? Why do I want one anyway? Maybe it’s the gee-whiz factor but I think it’s the portability.

I used to have a PDA and I would use it in combination with a sweet hard-shell mini keyboard. It crapped out on me after about a year. I own a laptop and I love it as if it was my baby. That’s why I always felt a little disconnected with my notebook. When I travel with it, I carry to my side. If I hug it to my chest, I’m satisfied but I look goofy to other people. The idea of a full-strength PC, cradled in the safety of my pocket gives me a warm, cuddly feeling.

The OQO is a glimpse of our future. A future of intimate, portable technology. A time of true mobility. A time that has arrived.

If you want to see the OQO, visit their site and watch the video at: http://www.oqo.com. If you want to buy one of these little marvels you get it directly off the OQO site.