ST Book, the Notebook Atari ST

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Atari’s ST Book laptop and broader ST line prompt reminiscences about early portable hardware design, from passive-matrix LCD quirks (and tricks like mouse trails) to robust keyboards and tall screens many feel surpassed today’s machines in usability. Commenters explore why the Atari ST and Amiga were so influential for musicians and tinkerers—thanks to built‑in MIDI and experimental OS features—yet ultimately lost to IBM PCs and Macs, imagining alternate histories where Motorola CPUs, Unix variants, and more playful, media‑centric systems dominated mainstream computing.

Display tech, cursors, and usability

  • Passive-matrix LCDs on early laptops smeared motion, making cursors hard to track and motivating features like mouse trails.
  • Modern macOS is noted as lacking classic trails but offering a “shake to enlarge cursor” feature, which still isn’t ideal on large multi-monitor setups.
  • Some users increase cursor size but find very large pointers imprecise.
  • There’s a suggestion that platforms should define cursor size in physical units and offer options like dimming non-pointer areas or resetting cursor to a known screen position.

Atari ST, music, and live performance

  • ST/ ST Book appealing for musicians due to built-in MIDI and reliable sequencing; associated with the shift from trackers to DAWs like Cubase and hardware like AKAI samplers.
  • Discussion traces pre-MIDI computer-like sequencing (analog sequencers, drum machines, DIN Sync) through Fairlight/Synclavier to general-purpose computers on stage.
  • Examples span synthpop setups on Apple II, Amiga demo/tracker scenes, Japanese FM-chip machines, and live rigs using multiple Ataris.
  • Synclavier is highlighted as a powerful hybrid system whose workflow and sound justify modern emulations.

Industrial design and laptop form factors

  • ST Book is praised as “beautiful,” with a taller aspect ratio and full-height keys seen as superior to modern island keyboards and widescreens.
  • Others argue it clearly predates the PowerBook-era layout (keyboard pushed up, central pointing device, wrist rest).
  • Large modern laptops create practical issues (bags, backpacks) but users still chase vertical screen space.

Keyboards, Delete vs Backspace, and power buttons

  • Many prefer older laptop keyboards for feel and full key sets, especially having both Backspace and Delete.
  • Apple’s omission of a dedicated forward-delete key on laptops is heavily criticized; some argue most users don’t care, others cite complaints from non-technical users.
  • macOS Finder not mapping Delete to “move to trash” is called out as inefficient.
  • Power-button placement on keyboards (replacing keys like End or Eject) is seen as risky or annoying, though some report no practical issues.

Atari Portfolio and portable coding

  • Nostalgic references to using the Atari Portfolio with ATMs (popularized in media) and for serious work, including C coding and database recovery during travel.
  • Despite the tiny text display, constrained editing was considered tolerable for specific tasks; some even wrote games entirely on-device.
  • Hardware fragility and failure of surviving units is mentioned.

Alt-history: If Atari/Amiga had “won”

  • Some imagine a more media-rich, playful, less beige computing ecosystem with Motorola CPUs dominant and Unix variants on Amiga/Atari hardware.
  • Others doubt Amiga or Atari could have scaled: clone ecosystems drove PC progress, and neither company was clone-friendly.
  • AmigaOS is praised for preemptive multitasking and Unix-influenced ideas but criticized as fundamentally weak for long-term, protected, multiuser evolution.
  • Atari’s TOS/GEM plus MiNT/FreeMiNT is described as architecturally cleaner, with proper syscalls and Unix-like multitasking, and still maintained today.
  • Debate over whether big-iron Unix would have dominated servers, or Linux would still emerge from frustration with proprietary Unix, remains unresolved.

Amiga/Atari product strategy and laptops

  • ST Book is noted as a rare completed Atari notebook; some miss the classic ST styling and see more resemblance to the Portfolio.
  • Commodore’s rumored Amiga laptop is said to have effectively become the A600, originating as a cheaper A300 concept with genlock.
  • Management’s decision to discontinue the successful A500 in favor of the poorly selling A600 is described as baffling.
  • Amiga’s strong reliance on color made laptop adaptation harder than the ST’s monochrome-focused ecosystem.
  • Side discussion covers non-Atari Unix laptops (SGI prototypes, military remakes of Indy, Tadpole SPARC/PowerPC/Alpha portables) and alternate futures where workstation vendors or NeXT-like systems dominate.