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Axiotron Modbook D5 DAY 5: Parting notes

GAMING

Forget about it.  Unless you have a USB controller that you want to carry around with you, there isn't really much you can say about conventional "PC gaming" on this thing. 

However, for the temporary distraction from your daily grind, you might - no you SHOULD check out all of the little flash games that are popping up everywhere, many of which are mouse/pen driven.   I have seen a ton of these free little games at KONGREGATE.com.  ugh - Desktop Tower Defense comes to mind (beware these are addictive to some... like me).


www.kongregate.com : beware - time suck


EDUCATION / COMMUNICATION

As a teacher, and as a tutorial creator, I use SnapZPro on the Mac.  It requires a keyboard command invoked to activate.  Modbook comes with Quickclicks which is a really great utility.  Quickclicks allow you to set up a virtual keyboard of shortcuts.  If you can't find CTRL-SHIFT-3 in the scripted buttons, and don't want to make your own, Axiotron is making efforts to write additional Quickclick scripts available for free based on suggestions from the user base.

With Apple Leopard OS X 10.5's ability to take control of other computer's screens through Screen Sharing, the OS feature might prove to be an excellent tool for my classroom use as well (as soon as the new OS gets installed in the coming term).  Otherwise Remote Desktop might work as well, although it's an expensive option.  If teachers wanted to, they could walk around the computer lab, or sit behind all of the students, looking over the shoulders of the students to see who needs help.  I pace, or stand at the main computer.  If I could pace WITH a computer that wirelessly broadcasted to the classroom's screen.... excellent.






One of the drawbacks to the hardware is that there is no feature that allows you to change the layout of the display from landscape to portrait.  On a Mac, you can change external screens to display either in landscape mode (horizontal) or in portrait mode (vertical).   Unfortunately, the way the modbook is currently set up as the computer's main (internal) screen, there isn't any resource for changing the layout on the fly.   Otherwise, reading and writing documents on the modbook would be a slam-dunk.

If you like to video conference, you can take advantage of the built in camera and mic on the top of the modbook.  With the typing such as it is on a modbook, it's nice to have the ability to check in with iChat Video or Skype.  While you do have all you need built into the modbook for this task, I would suggest a headphone/mic combo to make the experience a little better.  It's great for making those long calls to Australia.

GPS SYSTEM

The system also features a GPS-to-Google Earth application which allows you to pinpoint where you are.  I suppose it should work either on land or on water, but it doesn't work very well in the smog of Los Angeles (actually, it's pretty sunny and clear this week).

I'm not sure why I'd use this feature.  I suppose if I'm driving around a different city, without a Thomas Guide, in-car nav system or iPhone, I could use my modbook to find out where I'm at, and what the conditions are like. 



PROFESSIONAL USE

I don't think you'll be using this monitoring system to read XRays or MRIs, nor will you use it to check color correction (although Apple's application: Color won't run on this machine, Photoshop and other applications will).  I didn't try to run any calibration software on it, but with the glass surface and changing lighting conditions, you'll probably have no accurate confirmation of color other than numerically.

But there are many management workflow processes that would be made even more efficient with this in several professional settings.  For graphics professionals, there are many tasks that are less demanding on the mechanical spec of the machine, and require more creative input.

Signatures and checkboxes can be gathered by a supervisor or producer as they walk the company's entire property - with on the fly notes made with a simple scribble.

Architects could bring this to a job site and look up plans and view them in 3D applications; draw notes on revisions and even take pictures with the laptop for reference.  Perhaps a combination of the GPS-Google Earth, SketchUp Pro and other tools could help them as well.

There are countless ways this could be implemented well into a professional setting.  Some argue that it's "no MacBook Pro", and there are certainly some features that might be missed.


I don't think this is a drawback.  Sure you're missing a few ports and slots.  Sure you might be running under lower tech specs, but with current Apple laptop specs as they are, even the entry level macbooks are capable of running most everything you might want to load onto the modbook.

The modbook is great for:

? Picking up your project and moving to a darker/quiet room to work.
? Sketching out your latest character design - while flying to GDC
? Walking around the studio's campus while taking notes with the computer in your arm.
? Scribbling notes for presentation
? All of the previous days' findings
? More.

Most importantly - it's mobility.  If you're going to have a laptop, you want it to be portable.  This is why the people who are purchasing the Air  want it.  It's lightweight and can do all of the basic things you need a laptop to do.    You'll buy a modbook if you want portability and you want to have a Cintiq style tablet integrated into your machine.

Is this for everyone? No.  Making the assumption that it should be is like making the assumption that everyone needs Photoshop.   This is for a select few who realize the value of a Mac, require the creative and immediate response that a tablet computer offers, and don't want to be hampered with multiple pieces of external hardware.

Some people have made negative comments about the price, but the price is really a bargain if you break it down - it's about $1,000 over a macbook price.  It costs less than similar machines in its spec.  Actually - - - it's the ONLY Mac machine with the wacom driven screen on the market today.  Even if you purchased a Macbook and screen-tablet hardware for a similar price, you'd  gain additional weight and more cables (which aren't really mobile).

On the first day I didn't think I needed one of these.
Now, I'm convinced I should get one.  I wonder how long the waiting list is now.....

Check out the website at AXIOTRON.com. There are volumes of information on the regular site, and a forum for people who already have comments about their own modbooks.




For rants, ramblings and general announcements - check out a chaotic blog in the BlogZone:
http://blogs.digitalmediaonlineinc.com/ninjacrayon/

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Ko Maruyama is a freelance animator in Los Angeles.  In addition to working on film and broadcast animations, Ko teaches at Pasadena's Art Center College of Design - focusing on motion design.  When working, writing or testing software allows, you can find him lending a hand in the After Effects board and lurking among the Cinema4D, Visual Effects and Photoshop posts within the DMNForums.

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