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Loyd Case published a very thought-provoking article on Extremetech today about the concept of power in computing and how our perceptions have been changing. Certainly energy efficiency has become more and more important in computer products, as ways to make batteries last longer and devices run cooler. However, the way we look at power in terms of strength is also changing.

When I first started buying and using tech products, I was obsessed with size like everyone else…it was a numbers game. You wanted a PC with the fastest chip, the highest ram, the largest hard disk. You wanted a digital camera with the greatest number of megapixels. Now, as I have learned more about technology and the market overall has matured, I have learned that more important then sheer power is how well suited a device is to the task at hand. I hardly ever even look at CPU speed or megapixelage anymore, instead considering other features like what GPU is installed, RAM type, zoom factor or sensor acuity when making a tech purchase.

As Loyd says,

The way tech is marketed is still somewhat reminiscent of the “bad old days” of the Megahertz era. More is better, bigger numbers are better. Jim Lynch laments the lack of more memory in the new iPhone 3G. That’s old school thinking.

One interesting device I’ve been watching is the ASUS EeePC. The idea of a streamlined laptop that’s small, yet fully functional apparently hit a sweet spot in the market. No PC user would call the EeePC “powerful,” yet it’s a nicely balanced system for what it is: A compact laptop that you can almost forget you’re carrying around, but with enough power to get the job done.

Take a look at the full article and let us know what you think…does size still matter? Should it?

Zealot (468 Posts) - Website | Twitter | Facebook

By day a department manager and writer for a major network device vendor...by night Zealot stalks the mean magnetic streets, striking fear into the hearts of bandwidth abusers and theme park mascots. Zealot has been involved with mobile devices for more than a decade now, starting off with dumb phones, moving to PDAs and then to smartphones, notebooks and netbooks with the odd PMP thrown in. Most of his mobile time currently is spent on a Treo Pro, Zune HD, Thinkpad T61, Gigabyte M912M or a Hackintoshed Compaq Mini 704. He proudly groks the Geek community and considers himself a Neo Maxi Zune Dweebie (thanks Will Wheaton!).