Now, folding laptops are a thing
Asus
The clamshell laptop format hasn’t changed in three decades.
Maybe it’s time for a shakeup with folding laptops.
But don’t laptops always fold, you’re probably asking?
Asus
And the answer is, of course, “Yes.”
Ever sinceApple’s Powerbook 100 seriesin 1991, portable computers have used a folding clamshell design.
Asus' new Zenbook Fold adds a bendy, folding screen to the mix.
Asus
“Personally, I can’t see myself getting a folding laptop any time soon.
“I don’t often find myself wishing for more screen space while still being able to fold it.
Similarly, if I want to watch television, I’m just going to do that.
I don’t need a laptop with a bigger screen.”
Zenbook
The Asus Zenbook 17 Foldwants to be everything.
It is a laptop.
It is a desktop with a separate Bluetooth keyboard.
Its a touch-screen tablet, and it comes in at 1.8 kilos or just under four pounds.
The design is kind of genius.
You get two parts: the folding screen and the keyboard.
you might also use the touch screen (which contains the computer part) as a huge tablet.
It does seem like Asus really has come up with a good use for folding screens.
But this really does add to the laptop paradigm, with no downsides.
Well, one downside, and its a big one.
Screen Trouble
That problem is the screen.
For a start, it has a plastic surface, which is less resilient to scratches than glass.
Then, theres the folding action itself.
Eventually, this is going to wear out.
Asus isnt the only company doing this.
And Apple?
Speaking of Apple, imagine if it made something like this.
Its Apple Silicon chips are designed from scratch for mobile use.
The M1 is already used in the iPad Pro, so the tablet part is already taken care of.
And then we get to the kicker.
The Mac can already run iPad and iPhone apps.
Not that they’re not there, just the implementation always seems an afterthought.”
And those early laptops were also as thick as a San Francisco burrito.
If the folding-screen problems can be solved, these things could eventually be a compelling alternative.
