http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...1LX/psxextreme

The above links to the Rexx 6000 the brand of credit-card sized computer I bought in 2000.

They really should bring something like it back. There must be a market for something that you REALLY CAN take it with you anywhere. I took mine to Moscow in my wallet; I practically forgot I had it. You really could put it in your credit card compartment and forget it.

It came with a cradle you'd use to sync with the Internet. It used the AvantGo news collection service. You could also use email. And it had a bunch of small apps like you would find on a phone today.

The problem was that it was not particularly configurable, and when Xircom abandoned it, you could no longer get info from the Internet because it had been provided by Xircom.

These days, it would come with wireless and you could easily fit an SDHC card in there, maybe it would come with 8 gigs! How's that for something you could stick in your wallet!

I used to sit on the subway in Manhattan reading the daily news on it, so I know it is readable. And I could read books, too; it had a primitive reader, a forerunner of Fbreader.

I think it would be really cool to be bored in a doctor's office, for example, and then REMEMBER that you have a device like this with you and start reading today's news. It would hopefully have auto-sync, so the news would have been automatically added to it at your house or whereever you were that had wireless.

If I had enough money, I'd start a company and manufacture them. In the future, all calculators will come with wireless Internet access...

that rocks

Neat-o!

-T.

This is a cool little device.

Along the same lines though, you always have your cellphone with you. I am sure you could find a way to read RSS feeds (somewhat easily) thru yahoo mobile or something similar. Even on a crappy Razr sized cell....

Could be an easy alternative.

I don't quite see it's appeal or advantage compared to a phone tbh - sure, it's smaller than most phones, but you always carry a phone with you anyway...I do, at least

Have you taken a look at the Samsung P520? Credit card sized phone with a reasonably big touchscreen and WLAN. Combine that with Opera Mini and its RSS reader, and it is somewhat close to what you want I'd say...

I always liked those little guys. Lots of complaints about limitations of what you could do, but there are some really cool options with a largely read-only device.

The iPod Nano isn't too far off in size, but you would want to shave off a millimeter or two to really make it fit today. (Second generation is almost the exact same size as the REXX 6000.)

Here's to hoping someone comes up with an innovative new spin on that form factor with some of the modern hooks like bluetooth and a universal connector for charging and docking...

Maybe they could make it the same size as an express card so we have something to put in our new laptops slots.....

There actually was one of those things in PCMCIA form-factor years ago.
I think it might have been a REX as well?
Oh yeah, it was the Rex 6000 too.

Pretty sure all of the Rexs (Rexi?) were pcmcia.

I still have a Rex...can't remember which version...unopened in a box. I'm waiting for it to become valued as an antique. :-)