how so? at the time of writing almost 1,000 backers would disagree with you.
> It could be improved a bit if they used a smartphone > instead of a card, but that still leaves the problem of > there being no "base stations" around.
smartphones are typically DRM-locked, have unethical OSes that make it impossible for people to say that they truly own their own devices, are so full of spying at the HARDWARE level it's just flat-out nuts, and the components are so cartelled it's just.... gahh :) google "qualcomm 900 million security vulnerability" and you'll start to understand why i didn't start with a smartphone!
> Perhaps a better idea would be something like an HDMI > computer - a stick that carries everything and is > pluggable into a regular TV, but that's invented already.
it is... but look at what you have: a morass of cables. by total contrast, you can simply plug the Computer Card snugly into the Laptop Housing (or any other Housing) and it won't get destroyed accidentally.
Would it even be possible to make a free/libre machine which uses HDMI? One of the reasons I don't use HDMI/HD equipment is because of they use DRM (and, of course, because there's nothing wrong with my VGA equipment)
PS3 is shitty and runs in HDCP mode all the time, but that's Sony for you.
As far as I'm aware even on HDCP-compliant hardware none of the Linux drivers can even use it if they wanted to.
It could be improved a bit if they used a smartphone instead of a card, but that still leaves the problem of there being no "base stations" around.
Perhaps a better idea would be something like an HDMI computer - a stick that carries everything and is pluggable into a regular TV, but that's invented already.