So the current tech craze is netbooks. First we had tablet PCs, which never took off. Then it was UMPCs which sort of died off when devices like the Nokia N800 and iPod Touch came out. Then the world finally got a grip, realised the Internet was important, that we liked keyboards and big screens and concentrated its effort on making laptops smaller and netbooks took off big time.

Only, go back to 1989 and you’ll see Atari created the Atari Portfolio, then go forwards a few more years and Amstrad came out with the NC200 notebook (really, that’s what it calls itself). And if you’re a bit daft, you can go into Maplin and come out with a Datawind Pocket Surfer, which uses good old GPRS and a proxy in Canada to render popular websites in several shades of off-blue. Using these ancient devices is like watching history slowly being created, with different companies trying to work out what portable computing should be like.

Amstrad NC200, Atari Portfolio, Datawind Pocket Surfer and a Lenovo S10e netbook

I wonder what future portable computers will be like…

I’ve just ordered a Texas Instruments TI-85 calculator from eBay. I need a real calculator, and I always wanted a TI-85 when doing my GCSEs at school.