[0xEF]

I openly admit that I probably lack the vision others have about these devices with flexible screens, so I find this type of display functionality useless and prone to failure. I'm not the target audience, I guess.

I cannot possibly imagine what I'd do with a "rollable" laptop, but I do see one tiny benefit to foldable phones; reduced pocket consumption. Having a smaller device or a device that gets smaller is just two different ways to solve my main beef with modern phablets.

Personally, I wish someone would just make a clamshell smart phone where I open it up to a single screen on one half and a physical keyboard on another, but that's a different discussion.

That all said, I'm curious to hear from the people who want this device. What's drawing you to it? What problem does this type of display on a laptop solve for you? What are your concerns about its robustness or longevity, if any?

[whizzter]

Gave it a simulation-run and I think I really like this layout!

Working I usually prefer to have 2 normal + laptop screen when docked instead of a single extra-wide ones some at the office use when docking their laptops.

Part of it is that much software today is designed for 16:9 or 16:10 layouts and work less well in 4:3 squared form fashions (why splitting an external wide-screen is often less optimal than 2 "normal" 16:9 externals).

Now, for on the road use I've bought an external 16:9 screen but sitting next to the laptop the head-turn to the left/right is a tad too large to be fully comfortable (When docked I sit a tad further away so the 2+1 screens give a smaller angle).

Finally, coming back to this one, if as the article mentions you get 2x 16:9 layouts stacked on top of each other it'll be pretty neat for coding/debugging/testing. Top part for browser or other target environment and lower part for debugger/code editor without needing to lug anything apart from my computer with a reasonable head-turning.

Just physically tried the layout when writing this with my external USB-screen and it's probably as comfortable as goes without external keyboard+external screens, probably even an improvement over just regular laptop screen since you can look more straight ahead on the top part than with a normal laptop on a table!

[xnzakg]

Like the Cosmo Communicator?

https://www.www3.planetcom.co.uk/cosmo-communicator

[yjftsjthsd-h]

> Running Android 9 OS as standard.

- https://store.planetcom.co.uk/products/cosmo-communicator

It's really too bad that they can't do software, because the hardware is amazing

[amelius]

Install f-droid ...

[yjftsjthsd-h]

F-Droid is great, but it doesn't update your OS. I'm less worried about application availability than system security patches. (And, to a lesser degree, I do eventually want some degree of features from the newer systems as well. I don't mind slightly older versions of Android as long as they're still getting security patches, but after 5 versions I think we're starting to get a little bit painful.)

[0xEF]

Did not know about this, thanks for pointing it out. It is not precisely what I had in mind, but appealing none the less.

The phone I had in mind is akin to Motorola's RAZR Ultra. As opposed to opening like a book the way Samsung's latest does, unfolding the "top" half provides a smaller-than-average smartphone screen, leaving room for a Blackberry-style keyboard below.

I'm in that niche market where I do not need a large screen on my phone since I am mostly reading text as opposed to watching media. It's not likely I'll ever get precisely what I want due to practicality of both manufacturing and what the general market demands are. I've come to terms with it, but if someone ever drops such a device, I will get in line for it.

[culopatin]

Wow, the Motorola Milestone all over again.

[zorked]

I thought foldable phones were dumb until I saw a bunch of phones and tablets in person at a Huawei shop. They are super-neat actually and I now see how they make sense.

The rollable laptop seems to be something in the same vein? It is much smaller than a laptop with that screen size.

[snapplebobapple]

I wish the phone guys would stop folding and start rolling. Id buy a pixel9xl with a cigar round bit on one side (ideally left side for me) to rolls out tp a tablet sized screen when i choose.

[ryukoposting]

My desk setup has a single 27-inch monitor with my work laptop on a stand next to it [1]. That's really all the desk space I can allocate to screens.

I don't want a laptop larger than about 13.5" because it wouldn't fit nicely in my backpack anymore. So, the only way for me to add screen real estate is to expand vertically.

That said, the bendy screen tech is far away from having a place in my life. I value durability very highly in my technology.

[1]: these pictures should help you visualize it: https://postimg.cc/gallery/6pz9Gz1

[daveed]

I mean, I wouldn't buy this one, but I see the use case. A lot of reading (code, webpages) is done vertically, it's helpful to have more vertical real estate in a typical form factor.

I'm not sure about robustness, would have to wait and see tests.

[FirmwareBurner]

>I cannot possibly imagine what I'd do with a "rollable" laptop

Reach the cookie banner without having to scroll down

[0xEF]

Could you imagine living in a world where webdevs actually knew how to accommodate different viewports? Peace on Earth, guaranteed.

[RandomBacon]

So what you're saying is... it'll never happen?