The Apple Core

Jason D. O'Grady & David Morgenstern

Forget the iPad, I want a Rolltop

By | March 14, 2010, 7:32pm PDT

Summary: A concept video of a roll-up computer that would beat the pants off the iPad — and you can use it as a yoga mat.

It’s obviously a concept, but this video by Orkin Design shows what could be in store for the future of tablet computing. The video reminds me of those futuristic digital paper concept videos that surface now and again.

The device of the flexible display allows a new concept in notebook design growing out of the traditional bookformed laptop into unfurling and convolving portable computer. By virtue of the OLED-Display technology and a multi touch screen the utility of a laptop computer with its weight of a mini-notebook and screen size of 13 inch easily transforms into the graphics tablet, which with its 17-inch flat screen can be also used as a primary monitor. On top of everything else all computer utilities from power supply through the holding belt to an interactive pen are integrated in Rolltop. This is really an all-in-one gadget.

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Topics

Jason O'Grady is a journalist and author specializing in mobile technology. He has published six books on Apple and mobile gadgets and his PowerPage blog has been publishing for over 15 years.

Disclosure

Jason D. O'Grady

Jason D. O'Grady is the creator and editor of O'Grady's PowerPage, which has been publishing mobile technology news since 1995. He maintains an advertising relationship with the following legacy advertisers on the PowerPage:

  • Amazon Associates
  • Google Adsense
  • Tekserve
  • Advertising on the PowerPage is brokered by a third-party agency (BackBeat Media) and he recuses himself from these negotiations.

Biography

Jason D. O'Grady

Jason D. O'Grady developed an affinity for Apple computers after using the original Lisa, and this affinity turned into a bona-fide obsession when he got the original 128 KB Macintosh in 1984.

He started writing one of the first Web sites about Apple (O'Grady's PowerPage) in 1995 and is considered to be one of the fathers of blogging. He has been a frequent speaker at the Macworld Expo conference and a member of the conference faculty. He also co-founded the first dedicated PowerBook User Group (PPUG) in the United States.

After winning a major legal battle with Apple in 2006, he set the precedent that independent journalists are entitled to the same protections under the First Amendment as members of the mainstream media.

O'Grady is the author of The Nexus One Pocket Guide, The Droid Pocket Guide, The Google Phone Pocket Guide, and The Garmin nuvi Pocket Guide (Peachpit Press), the author of Corporations That Changed the World: Apple Inc. (Greenwood Press), and a contributor to The Mac Bible (Peachpit Press). In addition, he has contributed to numerous Mac publications over the years, including MacWEEK, Macworld, and MacPower (Japan).

When he's not writing about Apple for ZDNet at The Apple Core, he enjoys spending time with his family in New Jersey.

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ROLLTOP forums
rolltop 2nd Sep
0 Votes
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It may very well be doable in the next few years, if not now. Let's wait and see how it turns out.
For giant home screens. Mind you, it'd be fun to see how it all could work in a laptop/tablet/pad or whatever.
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RE: Forget the iPad, I want a Rolltop
bhaydama 14th Mar 2010
I don't think I would want a roll-up that close to my eyes. From the image it would appear that for the curved part your eyes would have to re-focus a lot which might generate fatigue, and having to assemble a laptop rather than pop it open might be kind of annoying. On the the other hand a roll away screen or a roll away TV for the home would be kind of cool. No more big permanent cabinetry for storage/support.
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Wow!...
windozefreak 15th Mar 2010
Kool and futuristic in one concept. I would like to have one -- Kool!!
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Basically imagine a block of electronic touch sensitive paper folded up in a block the size of candy bar cell phone.

Completely folded up it works as a smartphone

Unfold some of it and you have a airplane sized laptop.

Unfold more and you have a full sized laptop.

Unfold more and you have a big screen computer

Unfold it completely and you have a huge screen television.

Add in some sound and networking and you have the device of the future.
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Sweet!!
rhonin 15th Mar 2010
I need one of these.

Would make a great interactive wallscreen for an entertainment room or workspace....
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@mr1972

ROLLTOP forums:
http://www.rolltopforums.com
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RE: Forget the iPad, I want a Rolltop
winesipper 15th Mar 2010
You'll age a few years before it appears, if at all...
0 Votes
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And he looks old enough already! (NT)
The Danger is Microsoft 15th Mar 2010
N T
0 Votes
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They said the same about,...
windozefreak 15th Mar 2010
wireless communications, the internet, ipad and ipods, tablet pcs, etc,etc....
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RE: Display Question
barry@... 15th Mar 2010
Not totally sure but that one and the CSI: Miami one kind of look like a Microsoft Surface.
0 Votes
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Special Effects
JonA_z 15th Mar 2010
That's all.
0 Votes
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Just keep waiting...
JonA_z 15th Mar 2010
in the mean time, I (and many others) will take advanatge of
the real technology that exists in the here and now.
0 Votes
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RE: Forget the iPad, I want a Rolltop
jeff.fostermedia@... 15th Mar 2010
I'm sure that's in Apple's stock collection of designs. Logically it
would need to be less flexible to work without damage and
breakage.
0 Votes
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Very bad design...
i8thecat 15th Mar 2010
When rolled up it has exposed, open seams...
Seams that would attract a ton of gunk and
junk...

Lame...
0 Votes
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RE: Forget the iPad, I want a Rolltop
LostAndFound07 15th Mar 2010
You know, with what I've seen over the past 40+years,
ANYTHING is possible. Hell, just in the past 10years, with greater
RAM, HUGE amounts of storage in SMALL HD's, OS's and
software-not to mention web apps and "cloud" computing...the
possibilities seem endless. Heck, I remember Jughead &
Veronica, BBS's, then compuserve, freenets...my ex kept an early
80's HD in our garage-it filled half a single car garage!! Of course,
he was a boyhood neighbor of Jobs...lol, we met when I was on a
listserve on my brand new Apple, he was on it on his Unix box...
Anyone remember Plato? We had the first PC in any school in FL
in the 70's-was connected to FSU's "Super Computer".
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Liar. Find a new life. Quit lying about HD space. (NT)
The Danger is Microsoft 15th Mar 2010
NT
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[Off Topic] ...remember Plato?
UnCommonCents Updated - 16th Mar 2010
Yes, fantastic system for its time (see... http://thinkofit.com/plato/dwplato.htm) In mid-1970's programming
course at U of Illinois "augmented" with this computer-based learning system (PLATO's birthplace). Allowed me to
sleep-in happy
0 Votes
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38 words! MUST be a record for being paid. You suck.
The Danger is Microsoft 15th Mar 2010
PLEASE! You get paid for this 38 word crap?

Get over it!
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38 words! MUST be a record for being paid. You suck.
The Danger is Microsoft 15th Mar 2010
Hope you are paid by the word. In otherwords, this article was worth 38 bucks...LOSER!
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Why all the anger??
windozefreak 15th Mar 2010
As all the kool-aid drinkers think, no one innovates but apple. So, don't get fried because someone burst your watery bubble. My God!!!
0 Votes
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iPad insn't Out Yet & it's OLD :P
jimiznhb 15th Mar 2010
When the RollTop comes Out Everything Else will be Obsolete... Especially the iPad grin
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... and this sounds like a nice idea. They even thought about webcam and USB ports. I bet any sane marketing person would also demand that the product supports certain standards ... like the Flash for example.
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Still doesn't work...
dmendels 15th Mar 2010
problems in flexible displays are related to the glue,
wherever it stands. Not durable... Besides I don't like the
design. Anyway, in 5 years time, I believe we won't have
screens anymore, probably no keyboard, everything will be
projected out of my iPhone wink
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RE: Forget the iPad, I want a Rolltop
Bit-Smacker 15th Mar 2010
Yeah, they had those on the movie "Red Planet"...
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RE: Forget the iPad, I want a Rolltop
aj.redmond@... 15th Mar 2010
If Sony had to discontinue its OLED screen manufacturing because of its inability to produce the technology for a competitive price, I doubt this is going to be a viable product for a while.

Also, this looks like it will be too expensive for the Windows community to accept. And Apple won't look at it since Steve Jobs only supports his own computer designs.

So my question is: where is this going?
Answer: Nowhere!
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Oh please, you think a screen that can bend like that can
compete with a screen that's flat all the time? Consider the
workman ship of most computers today, and how almost all
computer makers go with the lowest bidder to make parts.

This is like flying cars and jetpacks. And they have it bend up to
look like a laptop? Why did you mention iPad? This is a
replacement for netbooks at best, not iPads. As long as you
compare iPads to notebooks of any kinds, you simply do not get
what the iPad is.
0 Votes
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Flat displays need to die
PacoBell 15th Mar 2010
Bring on the high-resolution mobile eyewear I say. Lightweight, outdoor-
readable, and possibly even fashionable.
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Thank you for saying it!
drkimca 16th Mar 2010
Eyewear/HMDs would be the best solution for mobile computing.

They are much smaller and lighter than flat-screens (while emulating large displays) they provide absolute security (no nosy peeking by seatmates) they offer easy 3-D stereo because they have intrinsically dual displays.

I can't figure out why it's still near impossible to get an HMD with a higher rez than 800x600 at a reasonable cost. There is a lot of small screen display technology since the advent of mobile devices.
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And those of us who wear glasses
hiraghm@... 16th Mar 2010
can just go to hell, is that it?
I watched Avatar in 3D, and had a heckuva time getting those 3D glasses to go over my prescription glasses. Now they're coming out with tvs that take those cursed things.

Thing is, while I was impressed by the graphics in Avatar (never has such a crappy piece of propaganda been packaged so beautifully), the 3D aspect of it did not impress me much at all.
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RE: Forget the iPad, I want a Rolltop
Rob.sharp@... 17th Mar 2010
personally i'm waiting for the toilet paper version so I never have to leave my thrown!
0 Votes
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RE: Forget the iPad, I want a Rolltop
Juan2772 23rd Mar 2010
My view on the evolution of the personal computer:

Desktop > Laptop > Slate/Tablet Computer > Eyeware
computing with voice input > digital chip surgically
implanted at birth providing a HUD that will have
interaction via neural connections. The final stage will
come to fruition somewhere in the next 125 years (If we
have not already been overthrown by SkyNet).

Cool concept device. My question is what happens to the
creases when it is in slate mode? Is there something
magical about OLED technology I don't know, like self-
healing? It is "organic," right?
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RE: Forget the iPad, I want a Rolltop
hellospam9 5th Apr 2010
The porn music is what really sells this thing.
0 Votes
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Yup, it's a cool thing ....
rolltop 2nd Sep
0 Votes
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ROLLTOP forums
rolltop 2nd Sep

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