(Newswire.net — April 11, 2022) —
In a world where bigger often speaks to better, the size of our tech continues to diminish. Often the newest or best tech is the smallest. The tech industry continues to look for unique ways to make hardware more powerful while making it lighter.
Thirty years ago, portable computers were still a hefty size. Many early models were more like sewing machines or bulky suitcases that you carried with a handle attached to the top. You didn’t get much in the way of a monitor, but you were a little more mobile than co-workers who were tethered to their desks.
Since then, great effort has gone into shrinking these devices so each generation is a little lighter and thinner. Today, you would be pressed to find a laptop that’s more than 5 pounds. Manufacturers diligently seek ways to lower the weight and bulk of each component in a standard laptop. The same is true for other popular tech including phones, tablets, and the chargers that power them.
In some cases, manufacturers look for ways to remove components to reduce the cost further. One of the selling points of the Google Chromebook is that it doesn’t have a built-in hard drive. People who want to store documents and other files are invited to use the Google Cloud.
In this case, it’s a perfect marketing tool for Google. It can use “cloud storage” as a bonus, sell a lighter laptop, and in many cases, sell it significantly cheaper than other manufacturers who include hard drives in theirs.
For those who follow the development of computers, “smaller is better” has been a consistent approach for technology. The earliest computers and mechanical calculators filled entire rooms and required a tremendous amount of power. Some were powered by vacuum tubes, some even by steam power. One of the first mechanical computers was more than 50 feet long, weighed five tons, and included 750,000.
ENIAC, considered the first digital computer, was 1,800 square feet, included more than 18,000 tubes and was 50 tons. The Univac computer, which came a little later, used 5,200 tubes and weighed 29,000 pounds.
Certainly, the transistor was one of the electronic components that helped computers get smaller and lighter and also increase their performance. Printed circuit boards, which compress components, further reduced tech size and improved overall efficiency.
Televisions, monitors and other screens are going through their own technological shifts. Due to advances in screen technology, the screen areas are getting larger but, they’re lighter and thinner, the perfect tradeoff. Only a decade ago, the larger the unit, the heavier it was. Whatever size the screen was, the actual device was big and bulky and required a team to move.
But improvements in screen technology, including high-definition electronics, have made devices lighter and more manageable. Where your grandparent’s console TV had to sit in the center of a room as a massive piece of furniture, today’s TVs can be easily mounted on the wall.
AUKEY, a leading tech company, understands the power and appeal of shrinking tech. “From bulk to weight and maneuverability, smaller tech is the way forward,” said a representative of the company. “Personal tech is the standard now, and making it convenient and manageable means continually shrinking components.”
Some of these technological trends are based on style and functionality too – mobile phones are getting smaller and smaller. It’s nice having something that fits in a pocket or purse, but a phone that’s too small, however, makes it hard to push the buttons or read the display though.
Technology watchers expect many tech items to continue to shrink especially as development continues into products that perform better and faster.