# Classmate no longer vapor, it seems...

- Site: Analog Industries
- Author: Chris Randall
- Date: 2007-04-17
- URL: https://analogindustries.com/2007/04/classmate-no-longer-vapor-it-seems/

![Classmate no longer vapor, it seems...](https://analogindustries.com/images/blog/classmate.jpg)

Apparently, the Classmate platform that Intel announced last year is actually going to come to fruition. This has interesting implications from a musical standpoint, so I thought it worth mentioning here. [Here](http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20060927PR207.html) is a little article that followed the announcement, that talks a bit about what the Classmate is. But that's like "whatever." [Here](http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/archives/2007/04/17/2003357074) is the money shot from today. Long story short, Asus will roll out a range of Classmate-based 'puters in Q3 '07 that are priced from $199 to $549 (MSRP), have embedded Windows, 7" LCD, and a 1G to 40G flash drive.

Assuming it has a USB port (why wouldn't it?) this would probably be a perfect computer for all kinds of tasks, from being a dedicated MIDI sequencer to being a soft-synth for live performance, to getting integrated in to a modular system. I can come up with 20 ideas off the top of my head, so I'm sure there are dozens more, since the top of my head is full of other stuff.

## Comments (10)

**Jeremy Cox** (2007-04-17):

bet we could do some fat rails of coke off that screen

**herrprof** (2007-04-17):

embedded windows? yuck

**brandon daniel** (2007-04-17):

Midi sequencer? yeah, maybe. Softsynth? Not any good ones on a machine with specs like that...

**moyashi** (2007-04-17):

What stands out there for me: flash drives. I want them in every computer, pronto.

**studio nebula** (2007-04-17):

Solid-state substitutes for hard drives are just about to hit the market, if they haven't already. See http://www.sandisk.com/Oem/Default.aspx?CatID=1520 for example.

--Adam

**Chris Randall** (2007-04-17):

There's lots of soft-synths that'll run on a computer like that. You just have to be creative. Pro-53, Wave, B4, Z3 (if that floats your boat), etc. I mean, Absynth and Reaktor 5 aren't gonna work too hot, but there's a lot of smaller synths that would work just fine.

-CR

**retrosynth** (2007-04-17):

It's nothing more than a cheap laptop though. The One Laptop Per Child units have a revolutionary high resolution transmode LCD - black and white in low power mode that is visible even in direct sunlight, and supports lower resolution color in not so bright sunlight or when power isn't an issue. I attended a highly technical talk on the OLPC displays presented by Mary Lou Jepsen (coincidentally a former Intel employee). The contrast in bright light is amazing, and would be very benificial for musicians on stage or outside in bright light. That display technology coupled with a touch screen surface would make a killer UI for hardware synths or effects devices. Think low cost more intelligent version of the Lemur.

**Gibbon** (2007-04-17):

TamTam on the OLPC is a fun little music program. If you get bored you can hack the Csound code to make it churn out alleatoric blip-hop and/or deathpolka.

**Chris Randall** (2007-04-17):

The difference between a Classmate and an OLPC are quite extreme. The OLPC is nearly useless to us for three reasons. One, it runs a hacked up Linux, and using that for anything at all is like trying to eat peas with a knife. Two, it has half the CPU power. Three, it's like Jeremy said.

Really, the Classmate is a gussied up PDA, while the OLPC is a _really_ dumbed down PC. Embedded Windows may suck, but it sucks less than _ANY_ Linux.

-CR

**afreshcupofjoe** (2007-04-17):

Man, if I had any cash to spare, I'd invest a bundle into Asus. Those things are going to sell like hotcakes. I swear it's going to be the next ipod. If it was Microsoft I'd be weary, but Asus has a fine reputation. I only buy Asus motherboards period.