There has been a lot of movement in the embedded space lately, especially with respect to Linux. So, let's take a look at where this is going. First, when I see the term "embedded", I think, no moving parts. The two things that typically move inside a computer are fans and drives. Fans are needed for cooling. Cooling is needed because processors generate heat when they process. So, to avoid cooling fans, we need a cooler processor, that can be cooled by air (and maybe a good heat dissipation system), but needs no fans. A processor can keep its cool if the code it processes is efficient. So, there you go. An embedded system needs efficient code and a cool running processor.

Next, we should get rid of moving hard drives. This is easy. Replace the hard drives with Solid State Drives. Even laptops are switching over to SSD technology. The advantage is that with no moving parts, we get less heat, and less power consumption. So, replace the hard drives with SSD, and use cooler processors with efficient code, and you have a great embedded system.

First, I have a rant. I attended OSCON, UbuntuLive, and LinuxWorld recently, where they talked  about Intel and Ubuntu's upcoming embedded effort. The device they were showing off was a Samsung Q1 ultra-mobile PC. This device had a warm draft coming off its side. Why? It has a cooling fan. And a spinning drive. Why does an embedded system have moving parts? It was originally designed to run Vista . Another similar device is the OQO which has cooling fans and rotating hard drives. Yet another one is the Sony UX, complete with a spinning drive and a cooling fan. Why? Vista, I suspect. Oh, and did I mention, you'll need large pockets to take the Samsung Q1 or the OQO or the Sony UX with you. Very large pockets.

Next, let's take a look at Nokia's 770 and N800. Two mobile embedded platforms that run off a ARM processor (actually ARM +DSP on one chip, a Texas Instruments OMAP processor).
Both devices run on a Linux kernel using GNOME-based tablet environment/platform called Maemo. They both run cool, with no fans, no moving drives, and oodles of battery power...kinda like a cell phone. In fact, these devices share batteries with other Nokia cell phones. The Nokia 770 (which I use a lot) and the N800 have improved their code efficiency severalfold over several versions of the OS.

Then there's the OLPC project's laptop. I recently got a B4 version for testing. This thing has no-moving-parts except the keyboard (rubberized waterproof keys), two antenna ears and a hinge to swivel the display. Again, runs on Linux. Another one that will hit the market some time soon is the Palm Foleo. Has flash storage, SD slot, CF slot, no fans and runs Linux.

So, there you have it. I hope these vendors will get the point and move to real mobile devices that run cool and have no moving parts. If not, you'll have to have large and deep pockets. The Samsung Q1 is 9 inches x 5.5 inches x 1.7 inches and costs a whopping $1400. You can buy three Nokia N800 for that much, and the Nokia fits (5.5 inches x 3.1 inches x 0.70 inch) in my back pocket.