Lenovo thinking out of the box

Lenovo has some wild ideas to share. At an event in New York today, the company showed off its idea of the future of personal computing with an image of a bendable laptop with a flexible display; a built-in keyboard; and even the signature ThinkPad pointing stick, or mouse nub — whatever you want to call it. With this concept, most of the interaction would happen over voice commands or a stylus. Lenovo says that this concept would be achieved through “advanced materials” and “new screen technologies.” That’s not very specific.

As much as I want to believe, I have to point out that this concept isn’t likely to happen, at least not for a while. We’ve seen flexible displays at CES events for years, and yet, we have no flexible displays in our daily lives. The concepts that have come out as physical prototypes, are often so thick that we wouldn’t even get a truly flexible experience like Lenovo is portraying. Plus, integrating stylus technology is only going to make this harder to build.

Also, can you imagine navigating your browser with only your voice? That sounds like a nightmare. But hey, I’m not here to crush dreams. I’m merely here for skepticism. Enjoy Lenovo’s vision of the faraway future.