Intel 4" Motherboard

[piasabird]

At the Intel Computex trade show Intel unveiled a prototype of a 4 inch Motherboard for extremely small i-3 computers.

http://www.teknoids.net/content/intels-4-inch-next-unit-computing-cost-400

The motherboard is 4" square with circuits on both sides of the PCB.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6267/intels-next-unit-of-computing-4x4-core-i3-systems-targeted-at-399

 

[Chapbass]

Pretty slick looking. We use the Lenovo Tiny SFF's here at work (6x6, give or take), these would be even better (and cheaper).

 

[piasabird]

I was just thinking what a diff it might make if Mini-ITX had a double sided PCB. Maybe you could put connectors on both sides and put some more SATA and USB ports on there or maybe add a mini PCI slot on the back.

In reality we take up too much space for things like a DVD or Blu-ray drive. Optical disks are so fragile, scratch easily and are such a pain. They should put everything on Flash Drives or make them downloadable. It is only the stupid musical and software rights people that are holding back the Computer industry from making everything smaller.

I noticed a while back that some manufacturers are using the mobile chipsets for things like Streaming TV and Internet boxes. There may be some advantages to having shorter circuit pathways.

 

[piasabird]

There is really no reason my work computer has to take up so many cubic feet. Other than a speaker and a monitor and the network cable it does not need much. I wonder how many landfills we will fill up with these old computer cases? I have one computer at work for scanning and another for other use like email and whatever. They take up way too much space.

I wish they could make a monitor that works like a TV with sound and video built in and you could easily switch back and forth between computers. Too many wires.

Also the smaller it is the more it costs?