Get the most out of your Inc. online experience by registering and joining the Inc. community today. Get access to all Inc.com content and priority invites to free Inc. networking events in your area.

Login using:


Or login directly through Inc.com

Office Technology;

 

The laptop computer has never lived up to its potential as a tool for traveling executives, thanks mainly to its unlighted liquid-crystal display (LCD) screen, which is often difficult to read. Of the two light-emitting alternatives, the most promising was the electroluminescent (EL) screen, which was simply too expensive for the market -- until recently, that is. Since 1985, when the first MS-DOS-compatible EL screen came out, the price has been halved to around $500. By 1991, it will be halved again, predicts market-share leader Planar Systems Inc., in Beaverton, Ore.

An EL display can be read at angles greater than 120 degrees, even in the glare of an office. Its resolution handles graphics and text as sharply as most office computers. No wonder Data General Corp., whose impossible-to-see LCD screen almost killed its laptop product, just began offering an EL screen as an option. More business machines are sure to follow. So if you've written off laptops in order to save your eyesight, it may be time to take a second look.