Laptops giant Quanta, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Connect for Tech “TParty”

We all think about the future, in one way or another. Sometimes when we see children playing, or when we use a piece of new tech that looks like it is straight from an old episode of Star Trek — Or maybe it’s just me, who can’t shake off the concept of the communicator when ever I pick up my cell phone.

Seems like there are a few guys out there though who are thinking a lot more about the future, with the emergence of a pair of tech giants getting together for a huge “Tparty.”

The worlds largest manufacturer of laptops – Taiwan’s Quanta Computers, has joined forces with Massachusetts Institute of Technology, to create the “Tparty” naming their new venture with a wry nod to the Boston Tea party in 1773. But that’s where the joking around ends, as the purpose of this group is too create “self-organizing devices which make our lives more pleasant and productive.”

Now this might make sound like something out of an Asimov novel, but their goal here is they want laptops, PCs, cell phones and PDAs to communicate seamlessly, they also want to let your technology configure itself to where you are, whether at home, work, or on the road, where your demands for information may be radically different.

Of course Quanta are not doing this purely out of the goodness of their hearts. They have been dragging their feet a little with innovation over the past couple of years, and are hoping that this $20 million, 5-year project will yield some key benefits for them.

This will filter down to the companies that they build laptops for including Apple, Dell, IBM and Hewlett-Packard. On this basis, Quanta are building a $150 million research plant in Taiwan which will employ some 7,000 people.

Who knows what they will find with this bold new step, seems like Quanta are the ones to watch as they break free of their manufacturing egg and rise like a phoenix into the heady realms of vital research!

By Ian Bandy

Sunday, April 17, 2005